Kurt Angle in Olympics return

In perhaps one of the most extraordinary stories of the week, Impact wrestling superstar Kurt Angle has revealed that he will be attempting to return to the Olympic wrestling scene at London 2012.

Angle told The Sun: “I won an Olympic gold medal but last time I didn’t really enjoy it.

“I’m wiser, I’m smarter and I won’t make the mistakes I did last time and I’m going to enjoy it”.

Angle burst to fame after winning gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. His background in wrestling, similar to Brock Lesnar, made him a prime candidate to make the switch to sports entertainment. He duly signed a multi-year deal in 1998.

However, where Angle differed from Lesnar and others who attempted the transition to sports entertainment was his remarkable charisma. He displayed a natural talent for mic work. His character in WWE played on his Olympic triumph and Angle excelled in his often comedic role as an arrogant, egocentric and cowardly heel.

In his thirteen years in the business, Angle has become one of the industry’s biggest stars. Over the years he’s produced a showreel of outstanding matches with the biggest names of the era: The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H.

Since leaving WWE in 2006, Angle has been a mainstay of Dixie Carter’s Impact wrestling promotion. He remains a standout performer. Indeed, in 2010 Angle was named “Wrestler of the decade” by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Like many of his peers in an industry which takes a relentless toll on the human body, Angle has reportedly had ongoing issues with substance abuse and injuries. It’s the consequence of a decade spending 300+ days a year on the road, performing across the world and performing when stricken with injuries.

Given these circumstances, how can it possibly be realistic to expect a 43-year old, out of competition for 15 years, to qualify for the US Olympic team?

A few years ago I had the pleasure of reading Angle’s autobiography “It’s True, It’s True”. The story behind his 1996 gold medal triumph is an inspirational tale of beating the odds. He overcame fractured vertebrae in his neck to win the US Olympic trials, and a few months before the Games his coach and mentor David Schultz was murdered. Kurt trained on and emerged victorious in Atlanta, despite only being able to compete with the aid of painkilling injections in his neck. 

The Angle of that era was phenomenally driven; a fearsome competitor willing to push his body – and mind - to the very limits in order to reach his goal.

If this Olympics can inspire Kurt to such devotion once again, then who can say what might happen?

Angle maintains: “I’ve been training for the past two months. I have another nine months to train until the Olympic try-outs, so I’ll be ready”.

I know one thing for sure; it’s hard to bet against Kurt Angle when he picks up a pair of wrestling boots.

It’s true, it’s damn true.

Ralph Welch

Email: info@ultimatefightclub.co.uk

Twitter: @ralphwelch