Kurt Angle may be retired from in-ring competition, but when Angle was in his prime he was one of the fiercest competitors to ever step foot in the ring. Angle also had the skills to throw down outside of the ring as well thanks to his amateur wrestling background.
During a recent episode of the Kurt Angle Show the former WWE Champion talked about the build to his match with Hulk Hogan at King of the Ring 2002 and he noted that Vince McMahon made it clear he wanted Hogan to tap out to Angle. However, Vince was worried that Hogan would talk him out of the idea, so he asked to be present in the room when the idea was pitched, and he also indicated that he wanted Angle to intimidate the Hulkster.
“Vince told me beforehand, ‘I want you to get out of your seat and put your nose this close to Hulk Hogan’s nose.’ I am like, ‘Why do you want me to do this? It’s Hulk Hogan.’ What he’s trying to do is intimidate Hulk, and you can’t intimidate Hulk Hogan, he’s a freaking badass.”
“So, I am getting out of my seat and I am leaning in, and I’m like, ‘What the hell am I doing? Why am I doing this?’ And Vince says, ‘Hulk, Kurt’s going over by tap out next week at the PPV,’ and Hogan looks at me … He didn’t even say anything, he just put a thumbs up.”
Angle said that he didn’t know if Hogan knew what the situation was all about, but added “Vince wanted me to get out of my seat and get real close to his face like I was threatening him – it was ridiculous.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBAc0RQpRks
H/T Wrestling Inc.
