Kurt Angle

Guide Note

Kurt Angle is a professional wrestler and former Olympic gold medalist amateur wrestler. He currently works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

Fast Facts

1. Born: December 9, 1968
2. Birthplace: Mt. Lebanon, PA
3. Billed height: 6'0"
4. Billed weight: 250 lbs
5. Finisher: Ankle lock, Angle Slam
6. Quote: "It's true, it's true"
7. 2-time TNA World Champion
8. 4-time WWE Champion
9. Won gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics

After winning numerous NCAA and Freestyle wrestling titles, Angle won a gold medal at the World Championships in 1995. During the 1996 Olympic Trials, however, Angle fractured two vertebrae in his neck, threatening his chances to compete in the Summer Games. Still, after wrestling Abbas Jadidi to a draw at the Games, the officials decided Angle the victor, earning him a gold medal in the heavyweight weight class.

Though Mark Henry was also an Olympian, Angle remains the only active medal-winning professional wrestler to date.

A "heel" (or "bad guy") for most of his WWE career, Angle won fans over with his intense submission wrestling style, and his cocky charisma on the mic. Within the first months of his debut in 1999, Angle won both the European and Intercontinental titles simultaneously, and would win the WWE Championship from The Rock in 2000.

After feuding with Triple H, Eddie Guererro and Shawn Michaels during his seven-year stint with WWE, Angle was released from his contract in August 2006, only to appear on rival TNA programming a month later. He continues to wrestle for the organization, feuding with Samoa Joe for the World Title.