Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions: Kurt Angle FULL RECAP
Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle’s long-awaited on-screen reunion has finally arrived. Read the full summary of this conversation between two Hall of Famers during the Broken Skull Sessions.
The two reminisce on how it has been a while since they have last seen each other.
Kurt has been running his supplement company, Physical Fit Fitness.
Austin joked that Kurt still has the bright blue eyes and Kurt’s a good looking guy, but a grizzled vet now. The two last connected at Raw 25, but prior to that, it was since those two were wrestling and discussing their necks.
Kurt discussed meeting with his neck doctor and bringing up how the doc still believed Austin’s was the worst neck he’s ever seen.
Austin asked about his neck injuries and Kurt noted that the neck bridges are not good for a human being to go through.
Kurt introduced a gift in a bag for the Texas Rattlesnake which was an inside joke on a shirt that said, #ForgetFresno. Kurt shared the full story as Austin will randomly text him, “Fresno” while Kurt will reply with FU. The two had a match together in Fresno and it was the only time in Kurt’s life where he got a little tired as his condition is impeccable. The only person to blow up Kurt was Austin. Steve joked that with all of Kurt’s accomplishments it means that if entered the Olympics instead of Angle, Austin would have won gold. A genuinely hilarious moment. Kurt noted that Steve was particularly intense in the ring.
Steve was watching some footage of Kurt in the 1996 Olympics and was amazed by the tiebreaker and the fact it came down to the wire. Angle noted his opponent was easily the best in the division and was destined to win gold, but somehow emerged as the victor. Despite getting his arm raised, Kurt seriously injured his groin but toughed it out.
Kurt noted it was a very trying time for him since he previously broke his neck and his coach David Schultz was murdered 6 months prior to the Olympics, so he felt completely on his own. About 10 minutes before his matches, Kurt would be injected with Novocain into his neck since his pain reached an agonizing level of 10/10. Although Kurt had coaches, he considered his brothers as true coaches. Kurt put in 8-9 hours worth of training per day for 4 years straight with only one day off.
Steve asked Kurt about how Vince reached out to him. Kurt noted that Vince offered him a 10-year, multi-million dollar contract deal, which equalled $500,000 per year. Angle’s agent said, “you’re not doing that fake crap.” Several years later, Kurt parted with his agent and reached out to WWE again, but was informed he would need to work his way up. The previous contract was off the table.
Steve asked Kurt about his friendship with Shane Douglas and the ECW incident as Angle felt mislead. Basically, Shane got a hold of him and explained their style of wrestling was much more legitimate. By the time Kurt arrived, he quickly realized it was hardcore wrestling with weapons and noted the crucifixion between Raven and The Sandman really turned him off. Kurt asked himself, “what the hell am I doing here?”
Vince referred Kurt to Jim Ross who noted the deal was off the table and as opposed to $500,000 per year, Kurt would be making $50,000 per year instead. Based on how impressed he was by Kurt, JR quickly offered him a 5-year deal that would be adjusted once he made television. Kurt’s fight to make more money was pretty easy since his first year was considered a great success. Angle joked that he asked for what Steve Austin was making, which popped Steve.
Footage is shown of Kurt training with Dory Funk Jr and Dr. Tom Prichard. This revealed that Dory was talking Kurt through their lockup. Angle noted that he wanted to first learn how to properly bump and sell prior to getting aggressive.
Steve brought up how during a television taping in Jacksonville, himself, Taker and the Godwinns were sitting and watching Kurt put on killer, short 10-minute matches. Steve asked him how humbling starting off in shark infested waters must have been. Kurt admitted that it was difficult and concerned about how he would be embraced. He had to learn to respect other people, especially the main eventers. Kurt would sit and watch all the matches and rapidly improved due to constantly studying them.
Steve brings up the vignettes related to Kurt’s introduction where it concluded with, “The most celebrated REAL athlete in WWF history.” Kurt revealed that Vince worked with him on the promos and that he constantly disagreed with the Chairman. Furthermore, Angle noted he got into the business specifically because of Austin and wanted to be him. Steve was cool, but Kurt was left talking about the Olympics and the three I’s but didn’t realize Vince was creating a heel. Steve would then compliment Kurt’s range and timing.
Kurt remembered the first night he cut a promo with Vince basically just explaining a promo the crux of it in 5 minutes. Angle would reveal he likely nailed about 70% of it, but it was enough for Vince to acknowledge, “he’s got this.”
Vince would share with Kurt that he knew what to do this time around since it backfired with The Rock. That’s why Vince knew despite being an Olympic Gold Medalist, Kurt would be arguably the top heel in the business.
Kurt noted that he was having good matches and worked his way up. The build and momentum were undoubtedly working.
By having an identity that Vince built, Kurt felt everything became much easier. Brian Gewirtz handled Kurt’s verbiage.
As Kurt starts climbing up the card, his relationship with Vince was always good. McMahon would give him advice and always be honest. Kurt compared it to a father/son relationship but noted he wasn’t business savvy enough, so likely didn’t receive enough. Kurt brought up how he wanted to make more money in merch to which Vince nonchalantly replied with, “you won’t” since his merch couldn’t feature anything to do with the Olympics. Kurt would put over how Steve, Cena and The Rock possessed such a vision and business sense.
Steve relives Kurt’s historic first year in the business which included the European Champion, IC Title, King of the Ring and the World Heavyweight Championship over The Rock. This took Kurt by surprise since he was losing matches against The Undertaker and The Big Show. He also believed that the main event at WrestleMania with Steve Austin could be possible.
Kurt noted that during the entire first year, he just shut up and listened, so was far from a ring general.
Footage is shown of Angle defeating The Rock to capture the World Heavyweight Championship. Kurt joked that the giant booger in his nose was incredibly embarrassing.
Kurt noted he was just as excited to win the World Heavyweight Championship as he was to win a gold medal since it validated the fact he was one of the best. He also credited Steve, The Rock, Undertaker and Triple H for really leading him.
Switching gears, Steve brings up the program with Triple H and Stephanie. Austin noted that Hunter is very methodical and always has a plan. Kurt brings up his first big main event featuring a Triple Threat at SummerSlam between him, Triple H and The Rock. The commentary table spot is shown where it collapses pre-maturely and Kurt got legitimately knocked out due to hitting the concrete floor with the Pedigree. Triple H would carry Kurt through the remainder of the match. Angle would point out how Hunter was so great at improvising on the fly while still sticking to the plan.
Steve believes that Kurt often downplays his incredible improvising skills. A clip is shown of Kurt kissing Stephanie backstage after taking a bump in the match, which Angle noting it wasn’t done on the fly, but rather, concocted and directed by Vince. Kurt joked that he kept his mouth shut during the kiss and Stephanie noted he kissed like a fish but brought up how Vince was merely feet away, so that’s all he could think of doing.
Austin transitions the conversation to the King of the Ring match against Shane McMahon with Kurt noting this was the best thing to ever happen to him. The two were quite snug with each other. The two agreed they would rather absorb chair shots than take blows from the kendo stick. The tailbone injury following the suplex from Shane is shown with Austin noting if Kurt had got his feet down sooner, it could have been avoided. Angle agreed and chalked it up to inexperience. He couldn’t move and sustained broken bones. The spot with Shane being thrown into the plexiglass and crashing down on his head is shown. The plexiglass had an additional seal added that caused it to be remarkably difficult to break. Kurt could barely stand and the second spot with Shane failing to go through is shown. Angle brought up how Vince nearly called an audible to wave off the match until Shane waved it off with Kurt tossing him headfirst through the glass instead. Kurt asked the ref for anything to carry Shane back to the ring and was given some equipment featuring wheels to assist. Austin noted that the conclusion could have easily gone south given the risk of the Angle Slam off the plywood. Austin believes that match made a statement that Angle is a bad motherf**ker.
The Invasion Angle is brought up with Angle asking Steve about Booker T. Austin broke several vertebrae in his back after being put through the announce table.
Angle believed getting injured at King of the Ring was the best thing that ever happened to his career. Austin didn’t enjoy being half-throttle during his heel run, but he was soon paired with Kurt since they were both physically unable to compete. Kurt believed this was the biggest opportunity of his life to be paired with Steve as he could further develop his character. Steve’s mindset at the time was, “what can I do to survive by getting people to hate me in the process?” The photo on the screen is the infamous cowboy hat segment. Kurt whipped out the hat.
Steve asked, “is that the same hat?”
Kurt laughed and admitted, “it’s still the one you got me!”
WWE wanted to put the hat in the archives, but Kurt stole it. Steve got the hat at the airport, half hungover on the way to Raw. Steve didn’t enjoy much of what was going on in his career at the time other than his segments with Angle. Kurt believes that those segments provided him with layers where he became an idiotic sidekick to Steve Austin. “Nobody likes Robin!” The Jimmy Crack Corn segment is shown with Vince walking out. Austin noted how all of those segments were filmed in one take with Vince requesting that no one laugh.
Steve Austin tapping out to the Ankle Lock at Unforgiven was shown, which took place in Kurt’s hometown. His friends and family would celebrate with him in the ring. Steve believed it was a difficult crowd to work for that evening. Kurt admitted that defeating Steve in his hometown given how much he respected him is right beside his Olympic victory as his two biggest career achievements. Angle revealed that he wasn’t supposed to win the world title, but convinced Vince that following 9/11, the hometown crowd and the fact he was an American Hero, it warrants the title change. McMahon noted that Angle would have to ask Steve for permission and agreed to do it.
Steve rolls footage of the first “You Suck” chants with Edge instructing the crowd to direct it at Kurt. Angle believes the “What?” chants eventually set it up.
Austin brings into the brand split and asked if Kurt felt as though he was a locker room leader at this point, which Kurt acknowledged. Angle brought up a conversation with Triple H where he mentioned the bar was raised and Kurt was already one of the best in the business just three years in. This was a big compliment. Angle also originally intended to only be in the business for 5 years, but after getting hooked, he enjoyed a 20-year plus career.
The epic cage match is brought up without Chris Benoit ever being mentioned by name.
Kurt’s neck injury in the match against Brock Lesnar at No Way Out was shown on the screen with Angle admitting he couldn’t even lift 10-pound dumbells at the time. Angle called Vince and offered to put off the neck surgery while being cleared to compete at WrestleMania 19 in the main event again Brock. The botched Shooting Star Press was brought up with Austin believing he should have never done it with Angle also being too far out. Kurt did interject to note that Brock was landing the move at that distance all day. Both Kurt and Steve believed Brock broke his neck at the time. Kurt called an audible with Lesnar giving him the F5. The two put over Brock as an animal with Kurt mentioning Lesnar was the best overall athlete he’s ever been in the ring with. Given his size and agility, no one compares. Footage is shown of Brock angered backstage with Austin noting that he purposely sought him out to question him about the move. Steve would further put over Brock as one of the great workers calling him scary good. “Any kind of match you want to have, Brock can do” Steve would add. Kurt also pointed out that if Brock wants to sell for you, there’s nobody better.
Steve asked Kurt about his initial thoughts on Brock upon entering WWE. Kurt had a lot of initial respect for Brock’s accomplishments. The boys would stir up trouble between Brock and Kurt as they told the newcomer he was never an Olympic Gold Medalist. Kurt highlights the vast difference between an NCAA Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist. The two competed against each other in a grappling match, which was close, but Kurt ultimately won after scoring one takedown. He attributes this to experience, patience and positioning. Angle showed the boys he was tougher than Brock. Steve joked that Lesnar looked like a billion dollars upon debuting.
Steve asked about the relationship between Eddie Guerrero and Kurt as they were close, but there were some rough patches too. Kurt admitted they were like brothers where they fought and loved. Some nights they would joke and other nights yell at each other. Angle brought up how from an in-ring perspective, Eddie was a vastly different wrestler in WWE in part to a car accident years earlier in WCW. Guererro was forced to adjust, which allowed him to become a more main event caliber talent as opposed to a Cruiserweight. Kurt brought up that Eddie would often need to catch his breath and struggled to keep up or getting going, which no one knew it had to do with his heart. Other nights, Eddie was on fire. There was one night where they had a fight where Guerrero pushed and attacked Angle for allegedly stiffing him, which Kurt denied. Eddie would leap at Kurt, which was countered. Big Show would pick up both men by the tights and sit them in opposite areas. Kurt apologized to Eddie, but it was not accepted, so they got into it again. Kurt noted how there were times backstage Eddie would appear white as a ghost, but when he walked through the curtain, never missed a single beat. Angle speculated that he was living to perform as away from the ring, Eddie struggled. Angle concluded by once again stating, “we loved each other, we hated each other.” Both Steve and Kurt believe Eddie is one of the greatest ever. In fact, Steve once requested to work with Guerrero.
Steve turns his attention to one of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all-time, the classic between Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 21. The Sexy Kurt promo is shown with both men putting over how awesome Sherri was. Brain Gewirtz wrote the lyrics with Vince instructing Kurt how to dance. Steve then reiterates how he considers Shawn Michaels to be the greatest in-ring performer of all-time. Kurt was excited to wrestle him as the two never previously locked up or practiced much of anything. The two essentially talked through the match. Kurt brought up the story of Shawn telling Angle, “I’m not afraid of you. If something breaks out, it’s on.” This surprised Kurt since he questioned if someone told him he was difficult to work with. Steve brought up how Shawn is a cocky guy. Kurt agrees with Steve’s earlier assessment that Shawn is the best performer he’s ever been in the ring with. The two watch in amazement at Shawn’s movement and timing.
Steve asked, “Why did you decide to start using the Moonsault?”
Angle: “Because I’m stupid”
Kurt revealed that Shawn was happy just to be in the match and wanted Angle to get the win. Kurt also credits Michaels with putting over the Grapevine Ankle Lock. Angle considers this encounter at WrestleMania with Shawn to be his greatest piece of work.
Austin brings up how at this point, Angle had about 6 years into the business and was likely starting to face a bit of burn out since it was close to the end of the road for his first WWE tenure. Angle admitted that the neck, groin and back injuries were particularly rough to deal with on a weekly basis. The painkillers went from 2 to 4 to 8 which he was able to scale back prior to the match against Shawn at WM 21. Kurt revealed his sister then died of a heroin overdose that made him reliant on painkillers again along with another neck injury. By this point, Kurt was sending Vince text messages that he was going to beat the hell out of him when he saw him, why aren’t you answering my calls etc. Kurt was taking 20 Percocet at night, a few Xanax and a Soma, so he doesn’t remember even texting him. Shockingly, Kurt also revealed he wrestled Undertaker at No Way Out 2006 with a broken neck, which was one of his best matches. Kurt wrestled in the main against at WrestleMania against Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio then Vince wanted him in ECW. At that point, Angle determined he didn’t want to be with WWE anymore. Austin asked, “how did you get out?” and also, “do you remember calling me?” Kurt told Austin he was going to do something drastic if Vince didn’t let him go. Vince didn’t want to release Angle and felt he should head to rehab then return in 6 months. Kurt felt he had to break away and told Vince, “if you don’t release me, I think I’m going to kill myself.” Angle would elaborate that this didn’t mean a bullet to the head, but accidentally through a drug overdose. At that point, Vince released him on the spot, but still advised he go to rehab and chat again in 6 months. Angle felt his time with WWE had concluded and he would sign with TNA. Kurt did also note he felt Vince passed him over for Cena and specifically mentioned a movie part that was originally promised to him which later went to John. The day before Kurt quit, he pulled down his pants and revealed a nasty injury sustained at a house show the day earlier featuring bruising all over his lower body just for Vince to see what’s going on.
Kurt shares a story where he overdosed on Soma’s by taking one every hour, which ended up being 8 and he didn’t wake up. This also lead to another meeting with Vince where he advised Kurt, F sleep. If you don’t sleep tonight, you’ll sleep tomorrow night or the next night. “Don’t do it again.” As Kurt noted, it was just a perfect storm of injuries, drug addiction and losing his sister. Kurt also clarified that he never wrestled on drugs and that was only away from the ring.
By the time Kurt started in TNA, he stopped taking Percocet but was still struggling with sleeping and taking Xanax. Angle noted that upon arriving at the promotion, he noticed everyone drank, so he started to as well while still popping pills. This lead to horrible decisions such as drinking while he was driving. “I would take to Xanies and drink a 12-pack of beer while I was driving.” He would also text while driving and received four DUI’s in 5 years. When his current wife threatened to leave him, that’s what lead to his full recovery through rehab. He spent 30 days in rehab and has been clean and sober for 7 years.
Austin: “How was the process?"
Angle: “The first week was hell. The problem with painkillers is enough is not enough. Your body builds a tolerance. At some point, you’re going to go through withdrawal when you don’t have it anymore. That’s what you want to stay out of. You’re not trying to get high anymore, you’re just trying to make sure you don’t have withdrawal symptoms. That’s the hardest part.”
Angle would admit that once he got through the first week, he would learn about the disease he suffered from, so you must make it to the full 30 days. He never relapsed.
It’s his wife and 6 kids that keep him clean. It’s about them now and not his career.
Austin didn’t want to discount his career in TNA, but he didn’t catch a lot of it. Kurt wishes that his TNA career was in WWE because much of the WWE Universe didn’t get to see it. While Kurt noted it was a lot of fun with a great crew, it was never WWE and nothing truly is.
The subject of the WWE Hall of Fame was brought up with Kurt noting he was shocked to headline the class. He wanted to wrestle as opposed to being immediately conducted. Kurt brought up spending the entire year wrestling in the independents. Once he was inducted and acting as the GM on Raw, he stopped wrestling and his body became arthritic.
Regarding Ronda, Kurt would admit it was “me, Stephanie and Triple H promoting this woman and elevating her.”
“When I wrestled Baron Corbin, I would have preferred to be wrestling Stone Cold, The Rock or John Cena, but Baron was a good kid. Tough worker. Great guy. But to have that as a retirement match, it was a little umm. They never treated me the same as they did the first time.”
Stone Cold brings up a photo where Angle is facing the WrestleMania audience during the Hall of Fame portion of the show and that it’s a relationship that started way back in the day. Kurt feared that no one would remember him.
Austin asked Kurt about his legacy. Kurt would articulate that you can’t consider yourself the greatest of all-time when you didn’t put the years into it that you should have put into it and you didn’t. He doesn’t believe he became an icon as a babyface but as a heel. Angle pointed out how fans would tell him, “I hated you when I was younger, but now I appreciate it. You’re awesome. I love you.” Now fans really appreciate his work as heel, but he will never go down as the greatest of all-time due to not putting in the years. He will never be on the Mount Rushmore, but maybe if there were three separate Mount Rushmore’s, he would be considered for one of them. Austin would disagree by saying, “if you talk to the boys, you’re on everybody’s list. Everybody knows how awesome you were.”
Austin brings up the Plane Ride from Hell and Angle wrestling Vince with Undertaker choking Kurt out, believing it was a shoot fight.
Here’s Kurt’s version of the story: “Vince was feeling risky and he was drinking a lot of wine. There were a lot of wine stains on the floor everywhere cause we were wrestling. He kept getting girls to come up to me and to say I wanna talk to you for a second. He thought I was this Romeo. So, he would have Terri Runnels or Lita or Trish say hey, I wanna talk to you. So every time I would go to talk to them, Vince would jump on me. He’d come out from a seat or the bathroom and he would start wrestling me and then I would reverse it and get them down and say, are we good and he’d say we’re good. Then I would go back to sleep. And he kept bringing people. So, there was one point, you know near where you open the thing, we’re wrestling and we’re hitting that. The flight attendant is like you guys better sit down or we’re going to land this plane right now. Vince looks at her and says, tell the pilot to go f*ck himself, I’ll buy this f**cking plane. I couldn’t believe it! Finally, he calms down, I go to the front, he goes to the back and they tell everyone, put your seatbelts on we’re landing. As we were landing, Jericho’s sitting in front of me, he looks down the aisle and going, Vince is army crawling as we hit the ground. Do you believe what this son of a bitch is doing? So, I look and I see Vince coming to get me. While we’re landing! So, he jumps on me, I let him jump on me and he ends up getting me down. So, I have him down, I gut wrenched him and Taker’s strong as hell, he knows submissions, so he locks on me and I tap.”
Kurt gave Steve chicken snacks and plant protein from his supplement company.
Steve presented Kurt with a little gift and they both get handed guitars. Austin puts on his big cowboy hat, with Angle putting on his tiny one. They never got to do a duet together, so send us home happy. They badly played Old MacDonald Had a Farm.
Verdict: Highly recommended!
This was undoubtedly one of the best Broken Skull Sessions episodes to date highlighting the life and times of one of the greatest all-around performers in the history of the business, Kurt Angle.
