Kurt Angle’s pro wrestling debut came in, of all places, Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Angle was less than two months removed from his triumph in the Summer Olympics on October 22, 1996 when ECW owner Paul Heyman managed to persuade the gold medalist to arrive at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia for an in-ring interview with Joey Styles.
“Here is an Olympic gold medalist who won the gold medal for America in America with a broken neck,” recalled Styles. “I’m just thinking, ‘How the hell did Paul Heyman get this guy here? Why is Kurt Angle in this craphole of a building in Philadelphia?