Kurt Angle Wanted To Be Part Of This Faction From WWE-WCW Monday Night Wars Era

There's no denying that Kurt Angle is one of the best, if not the best ever, to set foot in the ring. Despite a prolific career as a singles wrestler, Angle also led a number of factions and teams during his wrestling career, including Team Angle and the Main Event Mafia. But on "The Kurt Angle Show," the Olympic gold medalist revealed whether he ever wanted to join WCW's New World Order or WWE's D-Generation X.

"You know what, [DX and the NWO] are the biggest and best factions I've ever seen," he said. "When I started watching wrestling in 1998, they were big. NWO was big in WCW. DX was huge in WWE. And I wanted to be a member of DX."

When Angle arrived in WWE at the 1999 Survivor Series, D-Generation X had only just reformed a month earlier. This was the precursor to the infamous McMahon-Helmsley Era, where Stephanie McMahon would officially join the faction. It reignited interest in a big way for fans of all ages, which Angle said he had to contend with in his own home.

"The whole 'Suck It!' thing really caught on," Angle said. "It's crazy because kids were doing it, you know? My son Cody at six years old is like, 'Suck it!' and I'm like, 'Don't do that again.'"

The world was obsessed with D-Generation X at the turn of the century. The group saw numerous title reigns, regularly occupied the main event, and remained a fixture on WWE programming at a time when the NWO's star was fading. And Angle took note of that.

"DX was the coolest thing in the world to me," Angle explained. "I was a huge Stone Cold fan, but I was also a DX fan. I think everybody was. It really brought a lot of interest to a lot of people. A lot of people loved these guys."

Still, the NWO was just as prominent on WCW's programming, if not more so. And while they may have taken over WCW through sheer numbers, that's the exact reason Angle didn't want to join them.

"The reason why I pick DX over NWO is because they had less members," he said. "They only had like four or five. NWO ... by 1998, 1999 they had like 500 members. There was NWO Red, NWO Black, there was the LWO. It just got out of hand. When that happened, it wasn't as special anymore."

Though Kurt Angle missed his opportunity to join DX in its prime, he did eventually get a minor stint with the team, being named an honorary member when he joined them at 2023's "Raw Is XXX."