Kurt Angle
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[edit] Biography
- In 1987, Angle became a Pennsylvania State Wrestling Champion as a senior at Mt. Lebanon high school in Pittsburgh. Angle was also a linebacker on the football team.
- Angle earned freshman of the year honors at Clarion University in 1988. He earned two NCAA championships, one as a sophomore and the other as a senior.
- In 1989, Angle placed second in the Espoir World Cup and the Yasar Dogu Tournament (Turkey).
- Angle won the Canadian Cup Championship in 1990.
- Following college graduation, Angle accepted various wrestling-coaching jobs and started training for the Olympics.
- Despite not playing college football, Angle received a try out for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- Angle defeated Abbas Jadidi of Iran via referee's decision, to win the 1996 Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Gold Medal at 220 pounds.
- A tearful Angle received his Olympic Gold metal on July 31, 1996.
- Angle was first contacted about joining the WWF in 1996. At the time, Angle claimed pro wrestling was not in his future.
- In the summer of 1998, Angle became of a fan of the WWF. A short time later, he contacted WWF Chairman Vince McMahon to see if the company still had interest in his services.
- In October 1998, Angle signed a five-year contract with the World Wrestling Federation.
- Upon completing his training at the WWF Funkin' Dojo, Angle was sent to Power Pro Wrestling in Memphis for development.
- Angle defeated the "Irish Assassin" Mic Tierney on April 2, 1999, in a "Salute the Flag" match.
- On July 24, 1999, Angle defeated J.R. Smooth (Rikishi) for the Power Pro Wrestling title in Memphis, TN.
- Angle made his pay-per-view debut at the 1999 Survivor Series. He defeated Shawn Stasiak.
- Angle defeated Steve Blackman on December 12, 1999, at "Armageddon."
- On February 8, 2000, Angle defeated Val Venis for the European title in Austin, TX.
- At No Way Out, Angle beat Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental title in Hartford, CT.
- Angle defeated Chris Benoit at the U.K. only pay-per-view Insurrextion in London.
- On the June 12, 2000 episode of "Raw," Angle interfered in the Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley vs. Lita WWF Women's title match, allowing Stephanie to retain the title.
- Angle defeated Jericho, Crash Holly, and Rikishi to become the first King of the Ring of the new millennium.
- Despite tension between Triple H and Angle over Stephanie, the duo defeated the Acolytes on the August 21, 2000 episode of "Raw."
- On the August 24, 2000 edition of "Smackdown," Stephanie and Angle finally shared a kiss.
- The following week, Angle defeated Eddy Guerrero with Stephanie in his corner. Stephanie was urged to join Angle by commissioner Foley.
- On September 13, 2000, Angle worked an UPW (Ultimate Pro Wrestling) show, an affiliate of the WWF's. Angle defeated WWF hopeful Christopher Daniels.
- Angle teamed with Benoit on the September 29, 2000 episode of "Smackdown" to defeat The Rock and Triple H.
- Angle defeated Triple H on the October 2, 2000 episode of "Raw" to become the number one contender to the WWF title.
- With Stephanie voluntarily in his corner, Angle pinned Kane on the October 12, 2000 edition of "Smackdown" Stephanie announced that her relationship with Angle was purely a business arrangement.
- At No Mercy in Albany, NY, Angle defeated The Rock in a no disqualification match to capture the WWF title.
- At Survivor Series '00, Angle successfully defended the WWF title against the Undertaker.
- Angle pinned The Rock in the six man Hell In the Cell match at Armageddon to successfully defend the WWF title against Steve Austin, Rikishi, Triple H, and the Undertaker.
- At the 2001 Royal Rumble, Angle (who had Trish Stratus in his corner for a time) pinned Triple H to retain the WWF title.
- At Wrestlemania XVII in Houston, TX, Angle pinned Benoit.
- Angle defeated Benoit in a best "2 out of 3 falls/ladder" match, thanks to outside interference from Edge and Christian, to regain his Olympic Gold metals at Judgment Day 2001.
- On June 2, 2001 in Stillwater, OK, Angle was inducted into the National Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame.
- Nine days later, Angle defeated Benoit in a steel cage match on "Raw."
- At the 2001 King of the Ring, Angle beat Shane McMahon in a bloody "street fight" match.
- At the July 24, 2001 "Smackdown" television taping in Pittsburgh, PA, Angle pinned Booker T for the WCW title.
- On the September 10, 2001 episode of "Raw," Angle defeated Rob Van Dam for the WWF Hardcore title, but moments later, Van Dam regained it thanks to interference from Austin.
- At Unforgiven '01 in Pittsburgh, PA, Angle forced Austin to submit and captured the WWF title.
- On the October 22, 2001 edition of "Raw," Angle defeated Rhyno for the WCW United States title in Kansas City, MO.
- One week later on "Raw," Angle turned against team WWF and joined the Alliance.
- At No Way Out '02, Angle defeated Triple H. Stephanie served as the special guest referee.
- At Wrestlemania X-8 in Toronto, Angle defeated Kane.
- At Backlash '02, Angle downed Edge.
- A bald headed Angle defeated Hulk Hogan at the 2002 King of the Ring PPV in Columbus, OH.
- At Summerslam '02, Angle defeated Rey Mysterio Jr.
- At No Mercy '02 in Little Rock, AR, Angle and Benoit defeated Edge and Mysterio Jr. to capture the newly created Smackdown brand Tag Team title.
- Angle defeated the Big Show at Armageddon '02 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL to capture the WWE title.
- On the December 19, 2002 episode of "Smackdown," Angle introduced Paul Heyman as his agent.
- At Royal Rumble '03, Angle successfully defended the WWE title against Chris Benoit.
- On April 11, 2003, Angle underwent neck surgery by Dr. Hae-Dong Jho.
- At Vengeance '03 in Denver, CO, Angle won a three way match over Brock Lesnar and the Big Show to regain the WWE title.
- At Summerslam '03, Angle defeated Lesnar to successfully retain the WWE title.
- Angle defeated John Cena at the 2003 No Mercy PPV in Baltimore, MD.
- At the 2003 Survivor Series, Team Angle (Angle, Benoit, Cena, Bradshaw and Hardcore Holly) defeated Team Lesnar (Lesnar, Matt Morgan, Nathan Jones, Big Show, and A-Train).
- At No Way Out '04, Angle defeated Cena and the Big Show in a three way match to earn a WWE title show at Wrestlemania XX.
- On March 23, 2004, Angle was named "General Manager" for the Smackdown brand.
- At Summerslam '04 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Angle defeated Eddy Guerrero.
- At Wrestlemania 21 in Los Angeles, CA, Angle forced Shawn Michaels to submit to his ankle lock submission.
- On the June 13, 2005 edition of "Raw," Angle was the second pick in the 2005 draft lottery by Eric Bischoff.
- After losing his Olympic gold metal to Eugene, Angle regained it at Summerslam '05.
- At the January 10, 2006 Smackdown tapings in Philadelphia, PA, Angle (moving over from Raw) won a battle royal to capture the vacate World Heavyweight title.
- Angle defeated Mark Henry at the 2006 Royal Rumble to retain the World Heavyweight title.
- Angle defeated The Undertaker at the 2006 No Way Out to remain World champion.
- On the May 29, 2006 edition of "Raw," Paul Heyman drafted Angle from Smackdown to the ECW roster.
- At One Night Stand 2, Angle defeated Randy Orton.
- On August 25, 2006, WWE's web site announced "Due to personal issues, Kurt Angle has been granted an early release from his contract."
- At the September 24, 2006 PPV No Surrender, TNA revealed Angle coming in as the company's promised major announcement.
- In his first TNA match, Angle defeated Abyss on the "Impact" special on November 16, 2006.
- At Genesis '06, Angle forced Samoa Joe to tap out, ending his unbeaten streak.
- At Final Resolution '07, Angle defeated Samoa Joe 3-2 in a 30-minute iron man match to earn a NWA title shot at Against All Odds '07.
- On February 18, 2007, Angle and Yuji Nagata defeated Travis Tomko and Giant Bernard in Tokyo, Japan.
- At Destination X '07, Angle defeated Scott Steiner.
- At Lockdown '07, Team Angle (Angle, Sting, Rhino, Samoa Joe, Jeff Jarrett) defeated Team Cage (Christian Cage, Scott Steiner, Abyss, Tomko, and AJ Styles) in a lethal lockdown cage match.
- Angle defeated Sting and Christian Cage at Sacrifice '07 in Orlando, FL to capture the NWA/TNA World Heavyweight title.
- Angle won the 2007 King of the Mountain match over Chris Harris, Samoa Joe, Christian Cage and AJ Styles to become the first TNA World Heavyweight champion.
