WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle has spoken about the match he believes made Vince McMahon decide to give him the WWE Championship.
Going into SummerSlam 2000, Angle was embroiled in a feud with both The Rock and Triple H over the championship and the three were in the main event of the ‘Biggest Party of the Summer’ in a Triple Threat match for the title. At the beginning of the bout, Angle and Triple H brawled on the outside of the ring, with the ‘Cerebral Assassin’ delivering a Pedigree to the Olympic Gold Medallist on an announce table. The table broke earlier than expected, and Angle sustained a concussion from the move, leading to him being taken out of the arena on a stretcher. However, he returned to the ring later in the match and made it through to the planned finish which saw him and Triple H fight over a sledgehammer resulting in Stephanie McMahon being hit with the weapon, distracting the two men long enough for The Rock to hit Triple H with the People’s Elbow and emerge victorious.
Speaking on The Kurt Angle Show [available via AdFreeShows.com], Angle explained that he thinks his ability to complete the bout at SummerSlam despite his injury led Vince McMahon to decide he should win the WWE Championship, something he achieved two months later at No Mercy when he defeated The Rock in a No Disqualification match to capture the gold and top off one of the most successful rookie years in WWE history.
“This match made me who I am. Vince McMahon saw a person that sacrificed himself and would do whatever he had to at all costs to make the show go on. I think that night he decided to give me the world title, which I would win in the next couple of months against Rock at No Mercy, and I believe he told me after the match or the next day on RAW. He said, ‘You really stepped up last night. What you did for me and what you did for the company, we are going to give it back to you, and before I knew it, I won the world title at No Mercy against The Rock two months later.”
While this episode of his WWE career showed how serious Kurt Angle was about pro-wrestling, he recently revealed that it was actually the comedy segments he loved the most.
Source: The Kurt Angle Show [available via AdFreeShows.com]
H/T for transcription: Sportskeeda