Kurt Angle Recalls Rib Vince McMahon Played On Edge Backstage In WWE

In 2002, the decision was made by Vince McMahon for Kurt Angle to go bald and become "The Wrestling Machine," transitioning into one of the best runs of his Hall of Fame career. But before that decision was made, Angle revealed that McMahon chose to have some fun with another wrestler he had big plans for at the time.

Before the moment where Angle's head was shaved, the Olympic Gold Medalist defeated Edge at "WWE Backlash 2002" in the first match of their feud. With the two scheduled to face at the next pay-per-view, "WWE Judgment Day 2002" in a "Hair vs. Hair match," you would think McMahon's plan all along was to have the almost-bald Angle lose to the full-head of hair Edge, but Angle revealed that wasn't always the plan.

Speaking during a recent episode of The Kurt Angle Show, the WWE Hall of Famer revealed that Vince originally wanted to play a joke on Edge, having the WWE superstar positioned to lose the match and putting fear into his head of losing his long hair. Angle detailed how Vince played the joke on Edge for the entire build to their match at "Judgment Day," letting him know at the last second that Angle would ultimately be getting his head shaved instead.

"Vince pulled me into his office and he said, 'Listen, we're going to have another match with Edge at the next pay per view. I want Edge to go over, starting to push him really good and I want to make him a huge star. But, what we're going to do is we're going to have a hair vs. hair match and Edge is going to shave your head. You're going bald anyway, your receding so I'm doing you a favor.' That's what he said to me," Angle mentioned. "So he said, 'But don't tell Edge, don't tell him because I have something planned for him.' And I didn't understand what he meant but he said, 'Please don't say a word to anybody.' ... We get to the pay-per-view and Vince sits us both down and he says, 'Listen, we have a hair vs. hair match tonight and Angle, you're going over. You're going to shave Edge's head.'

"And Edge was like, 'Uhhh, holy sh**.' He couldn't believe it. After the meeting, he came to me and said, 'Hey Kurt, I'm a little nervous about getting my head shaved because my head isn't shaped right.' He said, 'It's not going to look good bald.' And the thing is, Vince kept this from him, he pulled a prank on him up until right before we went out to compete, to perform. And at the last second, he said, 'Edge I'm just kidding, you're going to shave Kurt's head. Change the finish now.' We literally had two minutes to change the finish and we went out there, so Vince pulled a rib on Edge. It was awesome and it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen."

Continuing to talk about their match, Angle explained how terrified Edge was of the prospects of losing his hair and what he did to try to cope with the situation.

"He was up in the rafters of the arena with a boo-boo face all day," Angle said. "He didn't want to talk to anybody, he was trying to convince himself that everything would be okay if his head was shaved bald. That's what he was trying to do, it was just really funny. It was the funniest prank I ever pulled on anyone."

Funny enough, Edge is currently the leader of a faction called "The Judgment Day," which could be a nod to the old WWE pay-per-view where he almost lost his hair. He even took the step to change his hair to a short, trimmed style as part of the new persona. The WWE Hall of Famer has been teasing several people to join the group, with himself, Rhea Ripley, and Damien Priest currently the only official members of the faction.

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