On a recent edition of his “The Kurt Angle Show” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recalled wrestling Eugene at WWE SummerSlam 2005, being disappointed about the match taking place at the pay-per-view event, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Eugene winning the Angle Challenge and working with him: “You know what’s crazy? They did the Kurt Angle challenge for Matt Striker. And then they were like, ‘Hey, let’s keep this going, and let’s do something with Eugene.’ Because they didn’t have anything for me at SummerSlam. So this actually was a gift, to be honest with you. Listen, Nick Dinsmore is very talented. I don’t know if you know him personally, but he’s a perfect guy and very talented. And I was excited about working with him.”
On whether he liked the storyline with Eugene: “It worked with me because I did a lot of comedy beforehand. Not at this particular time, I wasn’t doing much comedy. But I think if you pair Eugene up with anybody, the Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle might be a good pairing. I think we had great chemistry, and the way he rubbed me the wrong way really worked. I was able to create some heat with it. But to be honest with you, if I remember the fans were cheering for me. I believe when Eugene and I wrestled, I remember this. So it didn’t go the way it was planned.”
On Dinsmore staying in the gimmick: “He wasn’t on TV. He was on and off so he wasn’t there that consistently. So, I mean, what else would they do with them? It was a great gimmick, especially when he first started. People really bought into it. he did an excellent job of it. So I liked it.”
On whether he felt wasted by working with Eugene: “No, because you have to transition in and out of different levels. You can’t be at the top of the card every single PPV. It doesn’t happen that way. You kind of — you have ebbs and flows. And in doing that, you will have to do other things. You’re going to be mid-card at certain times. Sometimes you’re going to be semi-main event, the main event. Or you’ll be opening card which is, Vince McMahon always told me this. That’s the second most important match on the card besides the main event. I was all of it. I was all over the place. I never stayed at the main event or the opening card. I went back and forth up and down all the time. So I was funneling in and out of the main event, but I was happy doing it. It wasn’t so bad.”
On whether he was disappointed about wrestling Eugene at SummerSlam: “Okay, I’m not going to babyface it. Yeah, I was a little disappointed. At this point in my career, I was considered one of the top guys in the company. I was in great shape, I was wrestling well. You know, I was expecting to be the main event at SummerSlam. That’s where I was at that particular time and that’s what I deserved to be. But you know what, wrestling Eugene wasn’t such a bad thing. I really think the kid is talented, and I didn’t mind doing it with him. It was pretty fun… I did not take it easy on him. I was told not to, I was told to stiff the crap out of him. And I’m sorry, Eugene. [laughs] It was the Wrestling Machine [Kurt Angle]. Probably worse, the wrestling nightmare.”
