411 Wrestling Interviews: Kurt Angle

Professional wrestler, Kurt Angle, to this day remains the only Olympic gold medalist to compete in the history of professional wrestling. This week, Kurt will also be appearing in the highly anticipated new movie, Warrior, in the role of the undefeated fighter Koba opposite such actors as Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, and Nick Nolte. Kurt Angle debuted in the WWE (then WWF) in 1999. From there, he had one of the most impressive and meteoric rises to fame in recent memory and became a multiple time world champion in the company and had some of the most classic and amazing match-ups with the likes of The Undertaker, The Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels, Edge, John Cena, HHH, The Rock, former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Angle was ranked 34 out of of 50 in WWE’s Top 50 Superstars of All Time DVD release of which there was some controversy from Angle himself on his Twitter account (which he later recanted and apologized for).

In 2006, Angle transitioned to TNA/Impact Wrestling. There he would also go on to win the world title multiple times which he also now holds as the reigning champion. Currently, Angle is gearing up to compete in the 2012 Olympic games and promoting the Warrior movie. I got the chance to speak with the Olympic gold medal winner this week while he was doing a press tour for Warrior. This was despite a recent incident over the weekend where Angle was arrested on an alleged DUI charge and was later released on a $2,000 bail bond. Angle did address the alleged incident when we spoke:

Jeffrey Harris: Kurt, how are you?

Kurt Angle: I’m doing well, thanks for having me on.

Jeffrey Harris: It sounds like you had a bit of a rough weekend?

Kurt Angle: Yeah, unfortunately my attorneys told me not to comment. But I had a little incident and I was lost in a small town and didn’t really know where I was going, got pulled over. I passed the sobriety test and my attorneys are seeing if the case will even go to court. It was an unfortunate incident. I really can’t comment on it, but the officers were gentlemen. They were very good to me. It was just an unfortunate that it happened.

Jeffrey Harris: On to the movie, Warrior. I saw the movie and it was fantastic. The early reviews are fantastic. It’s about 90% on Rotten Tomatoes right now. From last week to this week, the box office tracking has already gone up from $11 million to about $13 million on the opening weekend. The buzz on this movie is getting to a fever pitch. So how did you get your role as Koba in this movie?

Kurt Angle: *Laughs* You’re not going to believe this. This is unreal. I have a friend who owns a fight club in Pittsburgh, and thank god you know he was hosting Lionsgate and the director, Gavin O’Connor, and producer, Greg O’Connor, for all the fighters who train at the Pittsburgh Fight Club. And he’s the owner, his name is Eric Hibler and I’m good friend with him because when I trying to — when I was going to sign with UFC, Eric Hibler trained me. Eric Hibler kept calling me. One week he called me, he said “Hey, this movie is coming out. You’d be perfect for this part, Koba.” And I said, “Well, I’m traveling. I don’t have time for the movie. I’m on the road 250 days with Impact Wrestling, and I just don’t know when I’m going to find the time.” He’s like, “Well you got to to come down and just try out.” So I didn’t go down. I waited a week. He called again and I waited another week. Finally he said, “Kurt. You’re home, just come down. They can’t find the right guy for this part. I believe you’re the perfect person.” So I went down and I sparred. I put the gloves on and threw some punches, did some takedowns, submissions, jiu-jitsu, and the director Gavin O’Connor came to me and he said, “Hey, how much do you weigh?” And I said, “230 pounds.” And he goes, “Well, can you lose 30 pounds?” And I said, “I certainly can.” He said, “Can you stop tanning for a couple of months?” I said, “Yes sir.” He said, “Do you have any tattoos?” I lied to him. I said, “no” because obviously he couldn’t see any on me so I figured he didn’t want any on me. And I do have one on my back, but thank god they were able to cover it in the movie. So I said, “No I don’t have any tattoos.” And he said, “Well, we’re going to make you Koba.”

And at the time Koba had a much bigger part in the film. He actually had a speaking role. I had to learn Russian. I had to learn how to speak Russian. I had to take lessons for three months. When they edited the movie, they felt it was better that Koba didn’t speak at all. So i was a little bit disappointed when I didn’t see that, but when I saw the movie, I was so overwhelmed and happy by how good it was and what an incredible, awesome job Joel [Edgerton] and Tom [Hardy] and Nick [Nolte] did as far as their characters. I was completely blown away, I totally forgot that I had a speaking role. So it just gave me practice and gave me more depth as a character as far as acting. At least I know how to speak Russian now. Obviously I forget everything that I was taught, but at least I know how to speak a Russian dialect. But it was a key role in the film because the person who played Koba had to look and be a certain character because he was supposed to be the baddest dude on the planet. He was the guy that everybody was paying to see. He was a guy that people were buying tickets to see this guy in the tournament of Sparta in the movie, Warrior. So when they did the Koba entrance, it was the only time in the movie where they had to try and fill the arena because they wanted as many people as possible to be in the stands because the Koba entrance was like the highlight of the movie. It was the first time he was going to leave country and everyone was excited to see Koba.

The funny thing is, I’ll tell you briefly, they were shooting in New Jersey, Atlantic City. I’m sure you saw those parts. And there was a MMA fight going on next door. And there was a picture of me and it said Koba underneath it at Caesar’s Palace. And there was this guy, I guess it was a guy . . . a scalper. He was at the fight and he was selling tickets that had Koba on it, saying that he [Koba] was coming. And people were buying them. He [the scalper] got arrested. So some of the actors came up and told me there were scalpers selling Koba tickets saying that he was coming to Caesar’s Palace when it was really a Lionsgate movie, Warrior. I thought that was very ironic and very funny that someone was trying to make a buck out of a movie that was being shot there. But I was very honored to be a part of the movie. I knew that because it was a real first MMA movie, and I didn’t really know how good the movie was going to turn out. But I knew it was going to be a number one movie, I just didn’t know it was going to be *this* good. I watched the movie, it literally brought every emotion out of me. I cried four times in the movie. I just was so happy and excited that I was just a small part of that movie. It’s going to be remembered forever.

Jeffrey Harris: It was a small but very memorable role and one of the best fight sequences in the film I think. Your character seemed very evocative of a real life MMA fighter, Fedor Emelianenko. Did you model in your head at all, this persona of Koba, after Fedor at all?

Kurt Angle: That’s who they wanted me to be. The producer Greg O’Connor and the director Gavin O’Connor, they wanted me to be — to act like Fedor Emelianenko. So I did everything I could to be him. Exactly.

Jeffrey Harris: 2012 is coming up and you recently talked about aspirations to compete in the 2012 Olympic games for wrestling. Do you still plan on training and going in for the Olympics again?

Kurt Angle: Yes sir. I’ve been training for five months. I got my weight down to 215 from 245 (lbs). I didn’t want to lose that much weight because the weight class is 211.5. So I’m trying to put weight back on, but the training is going phenomenally well. I’m on par and I do expect to try out for the Olympic team. I should do really well.

Jeffrey Harris: If you make the Olympics team, at that point, would you retire from TNA or would you hand over your spot and the world title if you were still champion?

Kurt Angle: That’s a hard question to ask. I do want to be around for TNA because I believe they’re in a transition where they are going to make a huge impression in the next few years as far as competing with the monster company, the WWE. So, I’d like to stay around, but you know what? You don’t know. I mean if I medaling in the Olympics, I don’t know where it’s going to take me. But I did sign a 3 year deal with TNA, so I do expect to be there. But as an Olympic gold medalist and if I do medal again in the Olympics, I don’t know where it’s going to take me to be honest with you.

Jeffrey Harris: Regarding MMA, you talked recently about taking a UFC physical which you passed, and Dana White offered you a contract. To clarify, can you tell us when that event took place?

Kurt Angle: Yes sir. It was a little over two years ago. Because I respect Dana, and I love him to death and he’s a great guy, I don’t want to comment any more on that due to his privacy and the respect for him. I don’t believe he wants me to talk about that. But yes, I did take the physical. I did pass, thank god. And we did come to terms, but it just — for different reasons, let’s just say differences between starting dates and everything. Dana is a great guy, and if I’m going to fight for anybody, it would be Dana. Out of respect for him, I’m not going to say much more.

Jeffrey Harris: Five years ago when you came into TNA, you talked about being overworked in WWE. You worked your last WWE match in August of 2006. And just a few weeks later you debuted in TNA and right off the bat started doing some very intense, physical in-ring confrontations with guys like Samoa Joe.

Kurt Angle: Yes.

Jeffrey Harris: And earlier you mentioned working 250 days a year for TNA. Comparatively, it seems like you are just as overworked in TNA. And did you really have enough time to recuperate when you switched companies?

Kurt Angle: I want to you to understand that TNA wasn’t expecting to basically grow as fast they did, god willing. When I came down there, they only had about 20 to 30 house shows a year. When they signed me, they literally went to 125 house shows and they got from 1 hour to 2 hours on Spike TV. So when I got signed, that was a huge deal. That was kind of like the icing on top of the cake for TNA. I didn’t expect it. They didn’t expect it. And it was just something that I had to work with them, but when I felt run down, I could always call and say, “Listen. I don’t feel that good to be able to work this week.” And they would say, “OK. You don’t have to work.”

Jeffrey Harris: And that wasn’t the case when you worked for Vince McMahon?

Kurt Angle: I don’t want to comment on it because I love Vince to death but I can tell you that when you are expected to work, you got to work. And that’s just the way it is.

Jeffrey Harris: In your opinion, what do you think it’s going to take for TNA to get to the next level?

Kurt Angle: I believe what they need to do is highlight their young talent. That’s what I’m here for. I’d be retired right now if I didn’t care so much about Impact Wrestling. And I believe that AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Robert Roode, James Storm, the young guys, even Amazing Red being another Rey Mysterio — I just, sometimes it boggles my mind why they’re not up there as far as being top guys. It’s time for them to make that change and hand the ball to the younger guys. You know we still got Sting around. I love Sting and he’s great and awesome. I love Ric Flair, he’s awesome. I love Hulk Hogan, he’s awesome. You know me, I’m getting up there too. It’s time to hand that ball over and let the younger guys take the company.

Jeffrey Harris: Thank you so much for your time and congratulations on the movie. I can’t wait to see how it does. Thanks for making what I think is the first Great American MMA movie. I really appreciate it as a huge MMA fan.

Kurt Angle: Thank you very much. Take care.

Thank you to Kurt Angle for taking time out of his schedule to speak with us. Warrior featuring Kurt Angle opens in theatres on September 9.