Wanted to make this after seeing Kurt star in River Of Darkness alongside a few WCW guys and well he is a part of a company that people brand "WCW 2.0", so this was bound to be made eventually. Like the title says what if he had chose to go to WCW instead of the WWF, how do you think he would've been treated? Would he be a jobber or a mid-carder going for the likes of the TV Title & US Title or would he be a main eventer? Also where do you think he would've headed off to after WCW closed down and where do you think he would be today?
What if Kurt Angle had gone to WCW?
- Thread starter Wolf Pac
- Start date
wrestler36
Championship Contender
Good thread. With the politics and ego in WCW, I think at best he would have be US champ. With guys like nWo, especially Hogan, I think Angle was too green (backstage, not wrestling) to maneuver his way around. I think he would've been exactly like the Jericho's, Guerrero's, Benoit's. He would've been over, but hit a glass ceiling and not be a threat to the guys in the nWo.
Then again, I could be completely wrong. I think people underestimate Bischoff and his creative ability. They could have brought in Angle with a similar streak like Goldberg. Not dominating guys forcefully like him, but with wrestling. He could've been a dominant mid-card guy, but not have the cocky personality he showed his first few years of WWE.
Then again, I could be completely wrong. I think people underestimate Bischoff and his creative ability. They could have brought in Angle with a similar streak like Goldberg. Not dominating guys forcefully like him, but with wrestling. He could've been a dominant mid-card guy, but not have the cocky personality he showed his first few years of WWE.
frostbite2819
Pre-Show Stalwart
Too much too even think about. of course we would have got one of the only true dream matches left in bret/angle, and wcw had much better 'pure' wrestlers when angle showed up in WWE in late '99.
i doubt he would have been world champ due to all the politics except maybe at the end when they were desperate but it is my firm belief that the cream rises to the top 99% of the time so he still would have made something of himself there, but the real question is: how would he have been treated as a WCW guy coming into WWE in '01?
Probably not good. Would he have been given the chance to shine like he did?
Doubt it.
but i digress; he sure would have put on some clinics with guys like malenko, raven, DDP, bret hart, etc. "sigh".
i doubt he would have been world champ due to all the politics except maybe at the end when they were desperate but it is my firm belief that the cream rises to the top 99% of the time so he still would have made something of himself there, but the real question is: how would he have been treated as a WCW guy coming into WWE in '01?
Probably not good. Would he have been given the chance to shine like he did?
Doubt it.
but i digress; he sure would have put on some clinics with guys like malenko, raven, DDP, bret hart, etc. "sigh".
He might have been pushed up to the US Championship because of the Olympian gimmick and name recognition, but there is no way the nWo would have let him get in. Knowing how bad the booking got in that company, he probably would have just been sent home with pay or he would have been leader of the nWo. Who knows with that company? But, he would have been just as talented, and it's fortunate for him that he ended up in WWF where they would have utilized that better.
King Patrick Star
K. O. T. R. 2007 - Team Undisputed
If Kurt Angle went to WCW instead of WWF, he would have been WCW Tag Team Champions with Chris Benoit, WCW Hardcore Champion, WCW Television Champion, WCW United States Champion, and a 4 time WCW World Champion. Meaning he would have ended up doing pretty much the same thing only with different opponents. His talent is far too great. We might have even seen a Kurt Angle vs. Bret Hart feud, Kurt Angle vs. Curt Hennig feud, Kurt Angle vs. the rest of the Main Event Mafia, etc. I do feel that he would have jumped to WWE with Big Show, The Radicalz, and Chris Jericho before Vince bought WCW.
T2KFreeker
Getting Noticed By Management
Only thing I know for sure? He would have had to lay down for Hogan. The guy walked all over anyone that was a threat. Hogan beating an Olympic Gold Medalist would have been more to feed the monster. Before the Hogan Marks come in and run off at the mouth, think about it, you know it's true. Not to say that the nWo wouldn't have had anything to do with it, but it would have happened because Angle would have had the potential to become a bigger star than Hogan just for his background. At the time, it was all about Hulk's Ego and Bischoff was all about fanning the flames. Sad really.
justtxyank
Championship Contender
Angle didn't debut with the WWF until October 1998. By that time, Hogan was no longer going over everyone and everything. He only ended up back in the main events in 1999 because WCW and Bischoff got desperate for something to bring fans back.
Yeah, no matter how over Kurt would have gotten he would have had to lay down for Hulk at some point. Just look at how Hulk burried Sting at Starrcade 1997 (Sting was the most over wretler on the market at the time). Hulk would have use his same creative control card and obliterated Angle to fuel his own insatiable desire to stay atop the card despite the fact that his time was up. It's too bad Bischoff would have agreed with Hulk.
A Kurt Angle vs. Lance Storm feud during Storm's US Championship run during the end of WCW would have been fucking EPIC. However, that would have never happened if Kurt went to WCW.
I'm not one to give much credit to Vince McMahon, but the one genius creative move he did pull off was bringing Kurt Angle in as a heel. Being the perfect, goody-two shoes athletic superstar wasn't going to get anyone over as a face during that era in professional wrestling, and Vince realized that. WCW, would not have realized that. They would have brought him in as a face, and when he didn't get over, WCW would then go on to bury him because of that, and also because of his size. Kurt would in turn become cynical to the business and most likely wouldn't have amounted to shit.
So, thank God Kurt didn't end up in WCW. That would have been a travesty.
I'm not one to give much credit to Vince McMahon, but the one genius creative move he did pull off was bringing Kurt Angle in as a heel. Being the perfect, goody-two shoes athletic superstar wasn't going to get anyone over as a face during that era in professional wrestling, and Vince realized that. WCW, would not have realized that. They would have brought him in as a face, and when he didn't get over, WCW would then go on to bury him because of that, and also because of his size. Kurt would in turn become cynical to the business and most likely wouldn't have amounted to shit.
So, thank God Kurt didn't end up in WCW. That would have been a travesty.
Nothing would've changed. He woulda been pushed to the backburner like Bret Hart. or at best it woulda turned out like his TNA run, some success but he's just 1 person and can't save a company from drowning under it's own stupidity
WCW had starpower they just threw it all away and had no backing to help them recover.
WCW had starpower they just threw it all away and had no backing to help them recover.
No one can know for sure, but here's how I think it would have went. He wouldn't have been held off tv for aslong as the WWE did so he'd be thrown in there in 98 instead of 99. The gap between the main event and the midcard would be pretty tough to bridge so I'm guessing he'd get a decent amount of fan fare at first from the announcers but wouldn't be seen on tv with Hogan or Nash or any of those guys.
I'm thinking Angle would debut being touted as an olympic gold medalist and would be confronted by Earnest "The Cat" Miller who would have some "legit athlete" beef with him. Miller and Angle would then fight on the undercard of one ppv and the feud would be put to bed and never spoken of again.
Angle would then disappear from television for a few weeks because this happened all the time when they didn't know what the hell to do with somebody.
Angle would re-appear and this time probably do a little better for himself in there with the likes of Benoit, DDP, Raven and eventually probably Bret Hart. But WCW doesn't work with him on his character because everyone was sort of on their own so Angle sticks with his straight laced "good guy" image. You know, the same one that caused him to walk out on an ECW event and threaten to sue Paul Heyman over. And this would get him no where because the WWE had to turn him heel right off the bat because he was getting booed at house shows.
After a while Angle would show up every so often and lose. He'd be caught in that strange place where nobody wants to push him because they don't know what to do with him but he's too expensive to keep off of tv. More than a few guys had that problem.
Finally Bischoff would be out and in comes Russo. Russo is a moron but he knows one thing... Turning straight laced goody goodies into complete assholes is funny. So Russo would slap Angle with some sort of "Pervert" gimmick where he insists on giving wrestling lessons to the Nitro girls. He might even put his gold medal on a big gold chain and make angle where a leisure suit ala Leisure suit Larry.
Then the "Reboot" would happen and Angle would talk about how he's tired of not being taken seriously and how he demands respect... "So from this day forth you can call me Private Stache!". (Sorry Van Hammer, you're out of the Misfits!) He'd wear an army hat and a fake mustache and run with the misfits before the next reboot where everyone was back to their serious personas.
One week after his stint as Private Stache ends he'll be transformed into a super serious shooter and capture the WCW championship from Scott Steiner. Shortly there after WCW folds and Angle is too rich and disenchanted with pro-wrestling to accept Vince's offer to buy out his contract. So ends the wrestling career of Kurt Angle.
What do you guys think?
I'm thinking Angle would debut being touted as an olympic gold medalist and would be confronted by Earnest "The Cat" Miller who would have some "legit athlete" beef with him. Miller and Angle would then fight on the undercard of one ppv and the feud would be put to bed and never spoken of again.
Angle would then disappear from television for a few weeks because this happened all the time when they didn't know what the hell to do with somebody.
Angle would re-appear and this time probably do a little better for himself in there with the likes of Benoit, DDP, Raven and eventually probably Bret Hart. But WCW doesn't work with him on his character because everyone was sort of on their own so Angle sticks with his straight laced "good guy" image. You know, the same one that caused him to walk out on an ECW event and threaten to sue Paul Heyman over. And this would get him no where because the WWE had to turn him heel right off the bat because he was getting booed at house shows.
After a while Angle would show up every so often and lose. He'd be caught in that strange place where nobody wants to push him because they don't know what to do with him but he's too expensive to keep off of tv. More than a few guys had that problem.
Finally Bischoff would be out and in comes Russo. Russo is a moron but he knows one thing... Turning straight laced goody goodies into complete assholes is funny. So Russo would slap Angle with some sort of "Pervert" gimmick where he insists on giving wrestling lessons to the Nitro girls. He might even put his gold medal on a big gold chain and make angle where a leisure suit ala Leisure suit Larry.
Then the "Reboot" would happen and Angle would talk about how he's tired of not being taken seriously and how he demands respect... "So from this day forth you can call me Private Stache!". (Sorry Van Hammer, you're out of the Misfits!) He'd wear an army hat and a fake mustache and run with the misfits before the next reboot where everyone was back to their serious personas.
One week after his stint as Private Stache ends he'll be transformed into a super serious shooter and capture the WCW championship from Scott Steiner. Shortly there after WCW folds and Angle is too rich and disenchanted with pro-wrestling to accept Vince's offer to buy out his contract. So ends the wrestling career of Kurt Angle.
What do you guys think?
justtxyank
Championship Contender
It cracks me up that people think WCW wouldn't have been able to use Kurt Angle because they did stupid things with guys like Van Hammer. I mean, Van Hammer sure is a good comparison for Angle!
P. Nut Butters
Who Lies in the Darkness
We'll never know.
I like the idea of the Kurt/Lance Storm fued. I agree that would've been awesome. I'm wondering if WCW would have even used the fact that he was an Olympic gold medalist? It wouldn't surprise me if WCW were to have left that out.
The most fitting thing for Kurt in WCW as a face would be to go as far up as the United States champion and be the face version of "Your Olympic Hero". It would have been stale, lame and pretty ass-kissing, but I could really see WCW taking that direction. Maybe Kurt would've realized how much was wrong in the realms of WCW and stopped professional wrestling altogether? I do believe Kurt has a bit too much self-pride to be told to stay in their "spot" and most likely would've jumped to the WWF sooner or later.
Kurt made the right choice from the start, and I loved Kurt's early WWF stuff!
I like the idea of the Kurt/Lance Storm fued. I agree that would've been awesome. I'm wondering if WCW would have even used the fact that he was an Olympic gold medalist? It wouldn't surprise me if WCW were to have left that out.
The most fitting thing for Kurt in WCW as a face would be to go as far up as the United States champion and be the face version of "Your Olympic Hero". It would have been stale, lame and pretty ass-kissing, but I could really see WCW taking that direction. Maybe Kurt would've realized how much was wrong in the realms of WCW and stopped professional wrestling altogether? I do believe Kurt has a bit too much self-pride to be told to stay in their "spot" and most likely would've jumped to the WWF sooner or later.
Kurt made the right choice from the start, and I loved Kurt's early WWF stuff!
Hollywood Naitch
The current reigning and defending
I dont think he would have accomplished as much in WCW as he did in WWE, but I think once Vince bought the company we would have seen a push for Angle. He was too talented not to go with as a champion.
In WCW I think he would have started off pretty well as the Olympic Gold Medalist, but with the dominance and backstage power that the nWo had in WCW, I cannot see Angle getting a quick push to the main event level like he received in WWE. Nash, Hogan etc would have used their backstage stroke to ensure they remained as the top guys in the company, with Angle sitting in the Jericho, Benoit upper mid-card position.
I could have seen him as a multi-time US champion, maybe even winning the title on his debut to emphasise the AMERICAN-ness of his character but he would not have been the rising star that WWE made him into.
In WCW I think he would have started off pretty well as the Olympic Gold Medalist, but with the dominance and backstage power that the nWo had in WCW, I cannot see Angle getting a quick push to the main event level like he received in WWE. Nash, Hogan etc would have used their backstage stroke to ensure they remained as the top guys in the company, with Angle sitting in the Jericho, Benoit upper mid-card position.
I could have seen him as a multi-time US champion, maybe even winning the title on his debut to emphasise the AMERICAN-ness of his character but he would not have been the rising star that WWE made him into.
They did stupid things with more than just Van Hammer. Does "That 70's Guy" Mike Awesome ring a bell? How about GI Bro? Canadian Hacksaw Jim Duggan maybe? Plus you missed the point. I never made the comparison between Angle and Van Hammer at all. You just misunderstood the post.
Just to further my original point. WCW wasn't a company that embraced talent, they feared it up until the end when Hogan, Nash and company were out of the picture. And even then, there was no continuity so building stars was next to impossible. There's no way Angle with the ego or hyper active self esteem he has would have been happy wrestling here. And the sad part is he'd probably lose interest in pro-wrestling as a whole.
GrandSword
Burning Hammaaaaah!!!
A few things:
1/ I read Kurt's book and he said that when he signed with Vince he had a few conditions, and that was he couldn't really lose too often. As an Olympic Gold medalist his ego was pretty high up back then. He said to Vince (and it makes sense) why would a gold medalist lose? He said that he wanted to win and he promised to deliver. Vince trusted him and within a year Kurt had won jsut about every singles title there was to win.
Now I would have to say that Kurt would have given Bischoff the same terms... AND WCW was based in Atlanta... Kurt's home town. I'd say he would have gotten a pretty strong push.
2/ Vince's creativity compared to Bischoff's at the time and sending Kurt in as a good two shoes heel (as already mentioned above) was genius as it worked off stuff like Bob Backland and Bret Hart's exit with the company which worked well with the attitude era fans who only liekd bad asses.
In WCW he would have been brought in a face american hero, maybe pushed too hard and it could have back fired. However the Rock didn't really back fire did he when his face push failed... but Kurt's annoying holier than thou 3 Is etc. was proabbly 75% all WWE creative and therefore it pushed Angle to another level that WCW probably wouldn't have.
3/ And yes there was WCW's glass ceiling. The Hogan's, the Nash's, the Falir's all holding those main event spots and not allowing anyone else even close. In 1999, we were still getting Hogan vs. Flair in steel cages for the title....
So even though WCW was known to be better wrestling promotion to the WWE, that sort of changed the day the Radikals walked in the door, then Kurt followed, and the WWF became the stronger wrestling product as WCW continued to throw stuff at the wall, such as multiple title changes, and constant big name "surprise" signings like Sid Vicious.
1/ I read Kurt's book and he said that when he signed with Vince he had a few conditions, and that was he couldn't really lose too often. As an Olympic Gold medalist his ego was pretty high up back then. He said to Vince (and it makes sense) why would a gold medalist lose? He said that he wanted to win and he promised to deliver. Vince trusted him and within a year Kurt had won jsut about every singles title there was to win.
Now I would have to say that Kurt would have given Bischoff the same terms... AND WCW was based in Atlanta... Kurt's home town. I'd say he would have gotten a pretty strong push.
2/ Vince's creativity compared to Bischoff's at the time and sending Kurt in as a good two shoes heel (as already mentioned above) was genius as it worked off stuff like Bob Backland and Bret Hart's exit with the company which worked well with the attitude era fans who only liekd bad asses.
In WCW he would have been brought in a face american hero, maybe pushed too hard and it could have back fired. However the Rock didn't really back fire did he when his face push failed... but Kurt's annoying holier than thou 3 Is etc. was proabbly 75% all WWE creative and therefore it pushed Angle to another level that WCW probably wouldn't have.
3/ And yes there was WCW's glass ceiling. The Hogan's, the Nash's, the Falir's all holding those main event spots and not allowing anyone else even close. In 1999, we were still getting Hogan vs. Flair in steel cages for the title....
So even though WCW was known to be better wrestling promotion to the WWE, that sort of changed the day the Radikals walked in the door, then Kurt followed, and the WWF became the stronger wrestling product as WCW continued to throw stuff at the wall, such as multiple title changes, and constant big name "surprise" signings like Sid Vicious.
