Kurt Angle on His History of Neck Issues in WWE, Beating Brock Lesnar in Japan

– Fightful recently spoke to WWE Hall of Famer and Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle, who discussed his career, beating Brock Lesnar in Japan in 2007 for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (also known as the IWGP Third Belt Championship) and more. Below are some highlights from the interview:

Angle on his repeated neck issues during his WWE career: “Well, you know, I damaged my neck in the Olympics—right before the Olympics. But, when I went to the WWE, my neck was still damaged. Once you break your neck, it’s not gonna be 100% forever. It’s just the way it is and I kept getting injured over and over again in WWE. I broke my neck four more times between 2003 and 2006. That had a lot to do with the injury that I started off with. So, it just kept happening over and over again,” Angle said.

Kurt Angle on adapting to TNA’s six-sided ring: “The ring’s smaller. It’s six sides. It’s really harder to adapt to. Especially if you’re wrestling in a four-corner ring. It was difficult. It took me a few months to adapt to it, but eventually, I got it. I actually liked it better. It’s a faster-moving pace, yeah. The matches are a lot faster. You’re flying off the ropes and before you know it the guy’s right there. So, it’s a lot different than a four-sided ring.”

On Brock Lesnar agreeing to lose the IWGP 3rd belt to him in Japan: “I had a good relationship with Brock. He actually told New Japan that he wasn’t gonna lose to anybody over there. If they wanted him to do a job, they would have to bring in Kurt Angle. That’s what I was told. So, I decided to do it because Brock wanted me to and I’m a good friend of his and there’s no shame in beating Brock Lesnar for a World title. So, I went ahead and did it. It actually gave me more business over in New Japan. I started doing matches, defending the title. I wrestled Yuji Nagata, which was an awesome match. Nakamura, Tanahashi. I lost the title, I think, to Nakamura. They went with him. He was their future and I completely understood it. But I was a transitional champion. I was there to get the title off of Brock and hand it over to Nakamura.”

On NJPW having a stiffer style than the US: “Yeah, it’s a very stiff style and they do a lot of worked shoots over there. So, they kinda mix it up. It goes extremely well. The matches look incredible. They do a very good job with that. I like the worked shoot concept.”