Kurt Angle

Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler, Olympic gold medalist and former collegiate wrestler. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation/WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

Kurt Angle
Angle at GalaxyCon Raleigh in 2024
Birth name	Kurt Steven Angle[1]
Born	(1968-12-09) December 9, 1968 (age 57) Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States
Alma mater	Clarion University of Pennsylvania
Spouse(s)	Karen Jarrett ​ ​ (m. 1998; div. 2008)​ Giovanna Yannotti ​ (m. 2012)​
Children	6
Relatives	Eric Angle (brother) Jon Bernthal (nephew in-law)
Website	kurtanglebrand.com
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	The Conquistador Kurt Angle[2]
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[2]
Billed weight	237 lb (108 kg)[2]
Billed from	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Trained by	Dory Funk Jr.[3] Tom Prichard[3]
Debut	August 20, 1998[4]
Retired	April 7, 2019[5]
Sports career
Medal record Freestyle wrestling Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta 100 kg World Championships 1995 Atlanta 100 kg Collegiate Wrestling Representing the Clarion Golden Eagles NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships 1990 Maryland 275 lb 1992 Oklahoma City 275 lb 1991 Iowa City 275 lb

Angle won a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, winning with a broken neck. He is the first Olympic gold medalist in professional wrestling history. He wrestled for the WWF/E from 1998 to 2006. During this time he became a six-time world champion (along with many other championships) and won the King of the Ring tournament in 2000.

In 2006 he signed a contract to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling where he was the first TNA World Champion, a title he would also hold six times. Angle is also a two-time winner of the King of the Mountain ladder match. He competed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) because of their partnership with TNA. There he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. His TNA contract expired in September 2014.

Angle returned to WWE on April 3, 2017, as the general manager of Raw and wrestled on occasions. He retired on April 7, 2019 after WrestleMania 35. He is in many of wrestling Hall of Fames, most notably the WWE, TNA, and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fames. He is the only wrestler to have won the WWE, WWE's World Heavyweight, the WCW Championship, TNA World Heavyweight and the IWGP Heavyweight Championships, in addition to an NCAA wrestling championship.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	End Game	Brad Mayfield
2009	Chains	Deputy	Short film
2011	Dylan Dog: Dead of Night	Wolfgang
2011	River of Darkness	Sheriff Will Logan
2011	Waking Up	"Crush" Carlisle	Short film
2011	Warrior	"The Great" Koba
2012	Beyond the Mat	Coach Kamen	Still not released
2012	Death from Above	Thule
2012	Drummer for the Mob	FBI Agent
2012	Olympic Trials with Kurt Angle	Himself	Funny or Die short
2013	Pain & Gain	Benjamin Rowe
2013	Horse Cops	Eli Paste
2013	Pro Wrestlers vs Zombies	Himself
2014	Sharknado 2: The Second One	Fire Chief
2014	Not Cool	Security Guard
2015	The Last Witch Hunter	Bodyguard

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Fox 53 Ten O'Clock News	Himself	Sportscaster: "The Angle on Sports"
2000	SMTV Live	Himself
2001	The Weakest Link	Himself
2007	Inside MMA	Himself	Season 1, episodes 10 and 11
2008	Pros vs. Joes	Himself	Season 3, episode 1
2009	Criss Angel Mindfreak	Himself	Episode: "Car Wreck Vanish"
2011	Extreme Makeover: Home Edition	Himself	Episode: "The Lampe Family"
2013	Baal Veer	Himself	[6]
2016	Duck Dynasty	Himself	Episode: "Van He'llsing"
2016	Those Who Can't	Coach Joe Donnelly[7]	Episode: "A New Dog in the Yard"
2018–2019	OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes	Chip Damage	Voice; 6 episodes
2021	Ryan's Mystery Playdate	Himself	Episode: "Ryan's Super Tough Playdate"

Championships and accomplishments

Folkstyle/freestyle wrestling

Angle is a 1996 Olympic Gold Medal winner in freestyle wrestling

• Canadian Cup Championship
  • Winner (1990)
• Collegiate/High School
  • Clarion University Freshman of the Year (1988)
  • Pennsylvania State Wrestling Champion (1987)
• International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles
  • FILA Junior World Freestyle Champion (1988)
  • FILA World Championships gold medal in freestyle wrestling (100 kg) (1995)
• International Sports Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2016
• National Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • National Wrestling Hall of Fame Distinguished Member (Class of 2001)
• National Collegiate Athletic Association
  • NCAA Division I All-American (1990–1992)
  • NCAA Division I Heavyweight Champion (1990, 1992)
• Olympic Games
  • Summer Olympics gold medal in freestyle wrestling (heavyweight) (1996)
• USA Wrestling
  • USA Junior Freestyle Champion (1987)
  • USA Senior Freestyle Champion (1995, 1996)
  • USA Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 2001)

Professional wrestling

Angle is a record six-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion (right hand), and former IWGP Heavyweight Champion (as recognized by IGF)

• The Baltimore Sun
  • Best Worker of the Decade (2010)^[8]
• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Future Legend Award (2000)^[9]
• Inoki Genome Federation
  • IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2012^[10]
  • Special honoree (2015)^[11]
• Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2021^[12]
• Power Pro Wrestling
  • PPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[13]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Comeback of the Year (2003)^[14]
  • Feud of the Year (2000) vs. Triple H^[14]
  • Feud of the Year (2003) vs. Brock Lesnar^[14]
  • Feud of the Year (2007) vs. Samoa Joe^[14]
  • Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2001)^[14]
  • Match of the Year (2003) vs. Brock Lesnar in an Iron Man match on SmackDown! on September 16^[14]
  • Match of the Year (2005) vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21^[14]
  • Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2000)^[14]
  • Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (2003)^[14]
  • Rookie of the Year (2000)^[14]
  • Wrestler of the Year (2003)^[14]
  • Ranked No. 1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2001^[15]
• SoCal Uncensored
  • Match of the Year (2000) vs. Christopher Daniels on September 13, 2000 (Ultimate Pro Wrestling)^[16]
• Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
  • TNA World Heavyweight Championship (6 times, first)^[17]
  • TNA X Division Championship (1 time)^[18]
  • TNA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Sting (1)^[a] and A.J. Styles (1)^[19]
  • King of the Mountain (2007, 2009)^[20][21]
  • Second TNA Triple Crown Champion^[22]
  • TNA Hall of Fame (2013)^[23]
  • TNA Year End Awards (5 times)
    • Feud of the year (2006, 2007) vs. Samoa Joe
    • Match of the Year (2007) vs Sting at Bound for Glory
    • Memorable Moment of the Year (2006) Debut at No Surrender
    • Who to Watch in 2007 (2006)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Gimmick (2000)^[24]
  • Best on Interviews (2002)^[24]
  • Best Technical Wrestler (2002)^[24]
  • Feud of the Year (2003) vs. Brock Lesnar^[24]
  • Match of the Year (2002) with Chris Benoit vs. Edge and Rey Mysterio at No Mercy on October 20^[24]
  • Most Improved (2000)^[24]
  • Most Outstanding Wrestler (2001–2003)^[24]
  • Readers' Favorite Wrestler (2002–2003)^[24]
  • Wrestler of the Year (2002)^[24]
  • Wrestler of the Decade (2000–2009)^[25]
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)^[26]
• WWE / World Wrestling Entertainment / Federation
  • WWF/WWE Championship (4 times)^[27]
  • WCW Championship (1 time)^[b][28]
  • World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[29]
  • WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)^[30]
  • WWF European Championship (1 time)^[31]
  • WWF Hardcore Championship (1 time)^[32]
  • WCW United States Championship (1 time)^[b][33]
  • WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time, first) – with Chris Benoit^[34]
  • Fifth Grand Slam Champion^[22]
  • King of the Ring (2000)^[2]
  • 10th Triple Crown Champion^[22]
  • WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament (2002) – with Chris Benoit^[35]
  • WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2017)^[36]

World Championships/Olympic Games matches

Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event	Location
1996 Olympic Games at −100kg
Win	9–0	Abbas Jadidi	1–1	July 31, 1996	1996 Olympic Games	Atlanta, Georgia
Win	8–0	Konstantin Aleksandrov	4–1
Win	7–0	Sagid Murtazaliev	4–3
Win	6–0	Wilfredo Morales	2–0	July 30, 1996
Win	5–0	Dolgorsürengiin Sumyaabazar	4–0
1995 World Championship at −100kg
Win	4–0	Arawat Sabejew	Referee Decision	August 13, 1995	1995 World Championships	Atlanta, Georgia
Win	3–0	Oleg Ladik	Referee Decision
Win	2–0	Josef Glazer	3–0
Win	1–0	Kenan Şimşek	2–0

Footnotes

1. Angle originally won both tag team championship belts from solo championship holder Samoa Joe. Sting won a four-way match to win the other share of the title, and joined Angle in his reign midway through.
2. Won during the Invasion storyline.