Kurt Angle REAL NAME: Kurt Angle BORN: December 9, 1968 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 6-ft., 2-in., 220-lb ALIASES/NICKNAMES: Your Olympic Hero

Kurt Angle: young, clean cut, All-American boy with solid amateur wrestling skills and a former Olympian. Who knew he'd make such a great heel? Although Angle has been on both sides of the fence since his WWE debut in 1999, that initial appearance was received with the boos of the live crowd on an edition of Raw.

Kurt Angle's "gimmick" as an amateur standout and Olympic hero isn't the product of the WWE's hype machine. Attending Clarion University in Pennsylvania, Angle was a two-time NCAA Champion. And, just like he is fond of pointing out, he defeated Iranian Abbas Jadidi in the final of the 220-pound freestyle wrestling competition in the 1996 Olympic Games, held in Atlanta, Georgia, winning a Gold Medal for his country. When Angle was informed of the referee's decision during the over-time victory, he broke down and cried, an image used by Angle in the WWE ever since.

The Gold Medal was made all that much sweeter for all the adversity that Angle had gone through. His couch, Dave Schulz, himself a former Olympic champion, was murdered on James E. du Pont estate in January 1996. Later, Angle broke his neck at the U.S. National Championships, suffering two fractured cervical vertebrae and finally, he pulled a leg muscle while in competition at the Olympics.

After the Olympics were over, the WWE made Angle a "lucrative" offer to join the professional wrestling ranks. Angle turned it down and prepared for life after the Olympics.

In addition to running amateur wrestling camps and clinics around Pittsburgh, Angle did some promotional and public speaking work, as well as tried his hand at sportscasting for Fox Sports local affiliate. Finally, almost two years after the Olympics had ended, Angle decided to switch from amateur wrestling to pro wrestling, a move that shocked and dismayed some of his former colleagues in the amateur ranks.

Interest in Angle had cooled considerably but he still received a tryout. In October, 1998, Angle signed a five-year deal with the WWE. Before he could make it to Raw and Smackdown, however, he went to train with former NWA World Champion Dory Funk, Jr. at the Funkin' Dojo. Following six months of training with Funk, Angle traveled to Power Pro Wrestling in Memphis, TN for an additional six months where he competed as both a face and a heel.

SLAM! Sports covers The Games
SLAM! WRESTLING'S
OLYMPIAN STORIES
# Earl McCready, 1928
# Mad Dog Vachon, 1948
# Danny Hodge, 1952, 1956
# Dale Lewis, 1956, 1960
# Bob Roop, 1968
# Chris Taylor, 1972
# Bad News Allen, 1976
# Brad Rheingans, 1976
# Mark Henry, 1992, 1996
# Kurt Angle, 1996
# The other Olympians

Nearly a year after he had signed with the WWE, Angle made his debut on a November 1999 edition of Monday Night Raw. They referred to him as the "Most Celebrated Real Athlete in WWF (now WWE) History", a clear slam against the "fake" stigma often attached to pro wrestling, especially by members of the amateur wrestling community. His boastful manner and constant reminders of his Olympic glory (including wearing his gold medals to the ring) quickly earned him the ire of WWE fans.