On the latest edition of his Kurt Angle Show podcast the Olympic Hero Kurt Angle reflected on his 2001 SummerSlam main event matchup against Stone Cold Steve Austin, and what his relationship was like with the Rattlesnake at that time. Highlights from the podcast can be found below.
Talks his relationship with Steve Austin, and what Austin said to him before their SummerSlam match:
“We were really tight. We were very, very good friends and we started trusting each other and bouncing ideas off of each other. Austin told me, ‘Listen, I laid everything down for you. Everything is set for you. All you have to do is show up and produce at SummerSlam. I did everything I can as a heel to make you look as good of a babyface as you can be, and I’m gonna continue to do that.’ And I can’t think Austin enough what he did for me. He didn’t have to do it.”
Says his rookie year and second year were his two favorites in his career:
“Surprisingly, since I just started out, my rookie year and second year are my top two favorites. I was very inexperienced and a nervous wreck when I went out there because half the time, I didn’t know what I was gonna do. My opponent would tell me, ‘Lead me through the match,’ and it was really difficult. But I really enjoyed the challenge and learn on the fly, and I also won a lot of titles those two years. I was pretty established as a wrestler.”
Says the match went great other than the finish:
“This is as good of a main event as it can be, other than the finish. Other than that, you can’t get a better match than this. Stone Cold and I were on that night….[Vince] was hugging us. He was like, ‘That was awesome. Thank you so much guys.’ That’s when you know you did something special is when Vince gets up and he’s really excited. Vince was very excited about this match….he saw money.”
(H/T and transcribed by 411 Mania)