Eric Bischoff, a figurehead in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), has expressed his view that Kurt Angle made a wise decision in bypassing the opportunity to join WCW when he was approached.
In a recent episode of his podcast, “83 Weeks”, Bischoff offered insights into why it was in Angle’s best interest not to participate in WCW during the late nineties. He stated,
“Around 1999 or 2000, had Kurt Angle decided to join us, his career would likely have been short-lived and forgotten by now. It wouldn’t have been a conducive environment for him to shine as a star in WCW. In fact, it was perhaps the worst time for anyone to emerge as a star in WCW since it would have gone largely unnoticed and irrelevant.”
As per the records, rather than making his first wrestling appearance in WCW, Angle made his wrestling debut in the WWF Survivor Series 1999 and the following year he was defending the WWF World Title.
During a 2021 episode of his own podcast, Angle revealed that he had seriously considered joining the WCW, but was counseled against it by Ric Flair, who was associated with WCW at that time.
Even though he didn’t sign with WCW, Angle enjoyed a brief stint as the WCW World Champion when he won the title from Booker T during the invasion storyline in July 2001, before eventually losing the title back to him.