Jim Ross On Kurt Angle’s Rise In WWE In 2000, Angle’s Feud With Triple H, Rumors That Triple H Halted Love Triangle Storyline

In a recent edition of Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed Kurt Angle’s rise in WWE in 2000, his feud with Triple H, rumors that Triple H halted the feud, and much more. You can view his comments below.

Jim Ross on Kurt Angle’s rise in WWE in 2000: “Kurt came into his own as an entertainer. There was never a doubt, obviously – you’ve got a legitimate gold medalist in freestyle for the ’96 Olympics – we all saw that. I remember talking to Dory Jr. when we brought Kurt in, and Dory and Tom Prichard were both invaluable in training a lot of guys, including Kurt, and they did a great job with him. But Kurt finally got comfortable with his own skin and got comfortable being an entertainer and not just a shooter or a badass, which we all knew he was. He became more than one-dimensional. He acquired the skills of being an entertainer really rapidly. He got really, really good at it.”

On the feud and chemistry between Angle and Triple H: “I’ve always enjoyed the chemistry between Triple H and Kurt, and Stephanie added to the presentation as well. I liked their chemistry. It’s easy to pick on Triple H because he’s married to the boss’ daughter and a lot of the more insider fans have that animosity against Paul Leveque, which isn’t really fair. But the bottom line is, those guys just worked their ass off and told a great story……those guys always had good chemistry. And another thing about this is, Angle is such a world-class athlete. And the reason I bring that up – that’s not a revelation – is Triple H always stayed step for step with a gold medalist in a pro wrestling ring. So, for guys that say Triple H isn’t that good of an athlete, I beg to differ. He had great chemistry with Kurt.”

On whether WWE could’ve extended the Angle/Triple H feud in 2000: “I did not think it had run its course. Kurt wasn’t the champion and Triple H had his sights set on being the champion, and I’m sure Kurt did as well. But whatever the reasons were, I would’ve loved to see more Angle and Triple H. Their matches told good, viable stories, and their stories were more often than not logical – as logical as you can get in pro wrestling. It’s still pro wrestling, folks. I thought there were some more legs on that horse.”

On the rumors that Triple H halted the feud because it wasn’t believable for a woman to leave him for Angle: “If Triple H made that statement, it’s completely out of his wheelhouse. Because that statement itself is so stupid. Triple H isn’t a stupid guy. So, I don’t believe that. I never heard that on any authority. That match – those guys are so good, either guy could’ve gone over and it was still gonna be a great match and a good outcome. The match itself was gonna be outstanding, but I have a hard time believing that. Kurt had great respect for everyone there and he was really coming into his own as that entertaining character. Because he’d already proven he was a badass. And that’s the thing, quite frankly, I used to have some issues on Kurt with that because I thought sometimes he acted too silly and acted too dumb. Dumb jock – the Cowboy hat thing with Austin and things of that nature. I liked the badass. I liked the Kurt Angle that was the Olympic gold medalist that could whoop anybody’s ass in the building and people knew that. I could’ve watched Kurt Angle and Triple H wrestle every week and it would’ve have bothered me a bit because I loved their chemistry and they were true to the business and they told great stories.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Grilling JR with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.