We often don’t look at our heroes as people. Stardom and accomplishment can propel the ones we cheer to mythical proportions in our minds often blurring the lines of humanity. Someone who can so easily entertain millions of fans around the world still crave the basic human emotions we all do. We all achieve, we all climb, and we all fall. Sitting down in the chair of reflections is a man who has achieved the highest honor anyone could possibly hope to achieve in athletics. It was with that honor and his given ability that launched him on the fast tract to stardom in the world of professional wrestling. What would take his peers years and countless traveled miles to obtain he seemed to achieve effortlessly. With success failure never seems to loom to far behind and it is only with that failure that we can truly find ourselves. It was our honor and pleasure that we conducted this very special interview with none other than the Olympic gold medalist , Kurt Angle.
Kurt doesn’t hold back as we reflect upon his early years and what it took mentally to compete and train in the amateur ranks when you often only had yourself to rely on. We go in depth into the Murder of Dave Shultz by the eccentric millionaire John DuPont and get a first hand account of what Kurt witnessed at the fox catcher facility. Kurt gives an interesting perspective on the sport of amateur wrestling and describes his thought process on a possible transition to the pro ranks. Kurt discusses how he “never wanted to lose” in the world of sports entertainment and how it took him time to completely understand the business. He reveals how certain competitors didn’t want to step in the ring with him, how wrestlers were intimidated by him, and how he would not want to leave the ring until he was completely exhausted. He talks of his early relationship with Vince McMahon, the ups and downs, and what would eventually lead to his ugly departure from World Wrestling Entertainment. He stops along the way to discuss memorable feuds, classic matches, and how he felt it was a demotion to go to ECW. He goes in depth into what lead to his move to TNA and how he feels about that move today. He is candid on his past discretions and talks openly about his mistakes. In an interesting moment Kurt is asked point blank who he thinks is the greatest professional wrestler of all time and his answer may surprise you. In fact he said he has never said that answer before anywhere.
Let’s forget about the accomplishments and listen to the man. Look past every preconceived notion you may of had of the performer and you will hear the words of a person much like yourself. Honest but flawed. Dedicated but imperfect. For every championship and medal he has earned came with a lesson that only life can teach. After the interview Kurt Angle extended his hand to the host and said that was the best interview he has ever given. To that we say thank you but not for the interview. Thank you for being one of the greatest competitors to ever grace the ring and giving us one of the most open and honest interviews we could of ever hoped for.