Kurt Angle Recalls Learning About His First WWE Title Win, How Vince McMahon Wanted Him To Be Irritating to the Fans

WWE Hall of Famer and wrestling legend Kurt Angle joined The Ariel Helwani Show this week to discuss his illustrious career and historic first WWE Championship Title win at No Mercy in 2000. At the pay-per-view event, Angle defeated The Rock to win the title.

According to Angle, the moment of his title win was Angle, at Vince McMahon’s direction, trying to re-enact his victory celebration at the 1996 Olympic Games. Below are some highlights:

Kurt Angle on learning about the WWE Title win at No Mercy, the day of the event, from The Rock

“You know what? Nobody told me until The Rock. Rock came to me, and he said, ‘Listen, Kurt, I’m going to put you over tonight. And I was like, holy crap. You have to remember, I was wrestling main events for the, you know, up until then, I was in the business for ten months. Yeah. So I started on TV, in late November the year before. And this was October. So I was in the business for ten months, and I didn’t win a lot of matches. Like my first, my first few months, I had an undefeated streak. But after that ended, they started putting me in main events, and I was losing every pay-per-view for like five or six pay-per-views in the world. I even lost a triple threat match the month before No Mercy to The Rock and Triple H [at SummerSlam]. So I was wrestling main events, which was putting me up there with them, but I wasn’t winning. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Vince McMahon decides to make me champion against The Rock. And, so when I showed up at the arena, The Rock pulled me aside and said, ‘Listen, you’re going over tonight, brother. This is your chance.’ I was like — I hugged him, I’m like, Dwayne, thank you so much, man. I have so much respect for you. And you know, you’re one of the greatest of all time. And to be able to take the title from you, it’s going to be an honor.’

“So, that was the really cool thing about it is, me only being ten months in the business. Yeah. And beating the rock for the world title. And not winning a lot of matches up until then, it was, I mean, you don’t have to win every match to be made. You know, if you’re wrestling with the main eventers, you’re up there mixing, you know, mixing with those guys, and then the fans envision you as a main eventer and say, okay, yeah, Kurt’s now a main eventer. He’s up there with the mix. But I had no idea they were going to give me the title until that day.”

On whether the emotion after his title win wasn’t genuine

“So yes, it was. I was excited and I was elated, but I was like, doing the same thing I did when I won the Olympics. Vince McMahon wanted me to be so irritating to the fans. He really wanted me to be the top heel in the business, and eventually I was. And it worked. And you know, the crazy thing is I see fans today and they say, ‘Kurt, I hated you when you were wrestling, but I appreciate you now. So, you know, when they were younger and they were kids and they hated me for real, hated me. Finally, when they grew up and understood the business, they were like, you know what? You did your job,
Kurt, and we thank you for that. And that’s the best feeling in the world.”

Kurt Angle was later inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in the Class of 2017. He wrestled his last match at WrestleMania 35 in 2019, losing to Baron Corbin at the event.

If using any of the above quotes, please credit The Ariel Helwani Show, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.