Kurt Angle has explained how Shawn Stasiak’s WWE career was badly affected when he got a hair transplant.
Stasiak had two runs in WWE, with the first coming in 1999 when he was known as ‘Meat’ and involved with the Pretty Mean Sisters trio of Terri Runnels, Jaqueline, and Ryan Shamrock.
This gimmick lasted for several months, but by Survivor Series that November he had left the group and began using the Stasiak name.
At the event, Stasiak was defeated by Kurt Angle in the Olympic Gold Medallist’s official debut match. A few weeks later, he was released from the company for recording a private conversation in the locker room without permission.
After a brief run in WCW, Stasiak returned to the company as part of the Invasion angle on the side of the WCW/ECW Alliance. After the Alliance was defeated, they were all fired in-storyline.
Stasiak returned to Raw in 2002 with a bizarre persona, claiming he was an alien from ‘Planet Stasiak’ and talking to himself. This lasted until that September, when he was granted his release.
Kurt Angle believes a hair transplant prevented Shawn Stasiak from getting pushed in WWE
Speaking about Stasiak on The Kurt Angle Show, the Hall of Famer revealed that the star was losing his hair at the same time as himself. While Angle opted to shave his head and lost a Hair vs Hair match to Edge at the 2002 Judgment Day pay-per-view, Stasiak decided to get a hair transplant. This proved to be a costly decision.
“I want to tell you a story about Shawn. This also affected his career, and I hate to say this, but I have to let the cat out of the bag. Shawn was losing his hair just like I was.
“He decided to get a hair replacement surgery and it was a week before he was called up. He called the WWE and said, ‘Hey, I can’t be called up right now. I’m getting my hair done’, and they’re like, ‘Oh, okay. All right. We’ll take care of you then.’
“He didn’t lose his confidence because of that, but I think that painted him in a corner where, okay, this guy’s not going to be a team player. They were like, ‘We want you to debut right now’, and he’s like, ‘I can’t. I have to wait about two months.’
“I was like, ‘Okay, you can wait two months. Let’s see what happens then.’ When I look at it, I just wonder if that might have affected his career a little bit.”
H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the above transcription.