Vince McMahon Stopped Kurt Angle From Starring In A Major Hollywood Movie

Kurt Angle is just one of quite a few professional wrestlers who have attempted to dip their toes into the Hollywood scene, whether that be TV shows or movies. Wrestlers such as The Rock, John Cena, and Batista have all found great success in Hollywood following their full-time wrestling careers, while Angle first appeared in a movie in 2009, about 10 years following his WWE debut. However, this was not the first time Hollywood was interested in the Olympic Gold Medalist.

"It was a blockbuster movie," WWE Hall of Famer Angle said on "The Kurt Angle Show." "It was one of the leading roles. They wanted me, and WWE said no. It was "Pearl Harbor" ... They said no and the reason, I totally get it. Okay, Rock just left and Vince was putting everybody on lockdown. He wasn't going to lose another wrestler to Hollywood."

"Pearl Harbor" came out in 2001, a romantic war drama taking place during the Pearl Harbor bombings and starring Ben Affleck. Although Angle was not able to play a part in Pearl Harbor, he has since appeared in more than 10 movies, with the most recent of the bunch being "The Last Witch Hunter" in 2015, where he played a bodyguard.

Angle found most of his success inside of a professional wrestling ring — he didn't even try out for movies until he was gone from WWE and wrestling for TNA, now known as Impact Wrestling. Prior to working in movies, Angle became a Grand Slam Champion in WWE and a Triple Crown Champion in Impact, a feat few have been able to accomplish.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Kurt Angle Show" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.