Kurt Angle has lifted the lid on how Shane McMahon kept him from getting heat backstage early in his WWE career.
Navigating the political waters of a wrestling locker room can be a tricky business, especially for someone who is new to the industry. While if you’re Kurt Angle and you’ve been taught your entire athletic career to look down on professional wrestling, it’s even more of a minefield.
Perhaps surprisingly, Angle has now revealed that it was Shane McMahon who played a part in keeping him out of trouble, and on the right side of locker room etiquette.
Speaking on his podcast, The Kurt Angle Show, the WWE Hall of Famer recalled McMahon pulling him to one side and offering some advice. Angle explained that Shane O’Mac told him he needed to stop leaving right after his dark match while the show was still going on. McMahon said that not only would this stop him having heat with his fellow Superstars, it would also help him improve.
“Funny story. I was doing my match and I was leaving right afterwards. Shane McMahon caught me one night and he said ‘Kurt, you can’t leave, you’re gonna get heat with the other wrestlers. You have to respect them and watch them have their matches, you have to stay to the end of the night. And not only that, you’re going to improve so much more.’
And Shane was right. The longer I stayed, the more I stayed, the more I improved. Watching those guys and seeing what they did and how they sold and the moves they did, I was learning so quickly because of that. I was studying every match and Shane was exactly right.”
While Angle and McMahon had a good relationship off-screen they also had impressive chemistry in the ring. The former World Champion giving ‘The Boy Wonder’ his finest match to date at the 2001 King of the Ring.
Despite the match being an instant hit with fans, and still praised to this day, Angle recently revealed that Vince McMahon was less than impressed with the brutal action the pair showcased that night.
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