Ric Flair Claims He Kept Kurt Angle From Going to WCW

Kurt Angle signed to WWE in 1998 and made his debut on television just a year later. In an interview with Busted Open Radio (via Fightful), Ric Flair claimed that Angle almost went to WCW but Flair himself talked him out of it by having him talk to Vince McMahon.

He said: “We were at a gym in Nashville, TN. I had met Kurt several times. He walked over and said, ‘I think I’m getting into wrestling. What do you think? What do you think of me going to WCW?’ I said, ‘If I were you right now….Give me a minute.’ I went into the locker room, got my phone, called Vince, put him on the phone. He was working out with Dory Funk Jr. two weeks later. WCW, they would have destroyed…no one is going to destroy Kurt Angle, but they would have seen him coming with all that talent. Kurt, when healthy, absolutely one of the great ones. Kurt is a special kind of athlete and a special guy.“