WWE Hall of Famer, Kurt Angle, recently made an appearance on the podcast, “The Takedown”, where he shared his experiences from his wrestling career, delving into details about his professional journey, the compensation structures in the wrestling industry during his initial days, and several other areas.
Here are a few key points he touched on during his chat:
Touching upon his contemporaries who could have million-dollar assurance, Angle stated: “In our time, there were only a select few such as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, Undertaker, Triple H, a few more, and myself — we were the ones equipped with million-dollar guarantees.”
Recalling his first contract offer from WWE, Angle narrated: “So, I reached out to WWE to ask if the 1996 contract would still be valid, to which they responded with a ‘No,’ but an invitation to give a tryout. What came next was a contract offering, but it was only worth ,000 per year. Trust me, that’s not a worthy contract.”
Regarding his lack of skills in merchandise sales, Angle admitted: “I was an underachiever in the field of merchandise sales, I didn’t think creatively and I truly regret not doing so! It’s noteworthy how Stone Cold Steve Austin had a knack for it, he understood it right from the start. He narrated, ‘I’m going to create a character and this character is going to bring in a lot of revenue.”
Reflecting on his business mentality when he entered wrestling, Angle confessed: “I didn’t set foot into the wrestling profession with a business-oriented mentality, which I now realize was a mistake. If I possessed a more profound business intellect from the start, I would have undoubtedly made much more financial profit and definitely sold far more merchandise!”