Kurt Angle Explains Conception Of WWE Character & His Success With It

For much of his early WWE career, Kurt Angle took on a more comedic approach to his character. During this timeframe, the Olympic Gold Medalist found himself in some memorable segments with the likes of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Vince McMahon, Edge, and John Cena. On a recent episode of the "True Geordie Podcast," Angle talked about the process of creating this comical persona.

"I think [WWE] looked at my personality because I am a little bit naive and I wander off. I have some ADD. I'm just a really odd person," Angle said. "Brian Gewirtz, the writer for WWE, and Vince McMahon, they saw me, the person I was, and they came up with this character that they wanted me to be a milk-drinking nerd that claimed that he had the 'three I's,' intensity, integrity, and intelligence, but I really didn't have it because I would cheat to win. Even though if someone cheated and beat me, I'd accuse him of it, but when I won and I cheated it didn't matter, like I didn't cheat. So it was a really, really cool, clever character that they came up with. I was able to portray it perfectly because they took it from part of my personality so it wasn't that hard for me to do."

Despite the character's wide success, Angle eventually began to shift away from the comedy angles, adopting a more aggressive persona. Looking back on his first run in WWE, Angle recently admitted that he had a special affinity for the comedic era of his on-screen work. Around 2005, though, WWE CEO Vince McMahon suggested that he take on a more serious in-ring character, hence the birth of "The Wrestling Machine."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "True Geordie Podcast" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.