Angling toward the top of WWE: your Olympic Hero talks about a return to the Olympics and his inevitable showdown with Brock Lesnar - Interview: Kurt Angle

KURT ANGLE IS DRAWING comparisons to some of the all-time great wrestlers, even though he's not sure he deserves them--yet.

The 1996 Olympic gold medalist is, however, the top overall pure wrestler on the strongest roster the wrestling business has ever seen. WWE vice president of talent relations Jim Ross says that Angle could end up being the best there ever was.

All this praise comes despite the fact that the Pittsburgh native has only been in the business for less than four years.

A tireless worker, besides his day job in WWE, Angle also devotes time to angina pectoris, a heart disease in which the flow of blood to the heart is restricted, which affects 14 people in Angle's family. We recently sat down with "Your Olympic Hero" to talk about his work on behalf of the disease, the wrestling business, and a possible return to the Olympics in two years.

WRESTLING DIGEST: Talk about your involvement in the promotion of angina pectoris awareness. How come you're doing it and how has it affected you personally?

KURT ANGLE: I don't have it, but 14 of my relatives have it or have suffered from angina. When WWE and the Cardiovascular Nurses Association started doing a promotional campaign to raise awareness, I wanted to be a part of it. There are over 6.4 million people who are suffering from angina right now and over 400,000 more every year are affected. Some symptoms are chest pain, nausea, dizziness, and faintness. When you have it, those pains will make you feel like you're having a heart attack. It's brought on by mental and physical stress, but, as was the case with a lot of people in my family, it can be accelerated by smoking, drinking, not eating the right diet, and not exercising. There are ways of detecting it, brand new kinds of scans to see if you have calcification in your heart. People can't be ignorant about not listening to their body anymore. Angina can happen to anyone. In my family it's definitely hereditary, but most of those people did not live healthy lifestyles and it added to it.

WD: You already maintain a busy schedule, how has working on angina awareness added to that and how are you keeping up?

KA: Last Tuesday after the "Smackdown" tapings I went home for a half-day and flew to Texas for an event. Then it's back to Connecticut for a charity event, then a house show, then a pay-per-view, and then my regular week. It's been like this the last five-six months. I've been doing the campaign for about a year and I'll stay with it for as long as I can.

WD: When your first commercial for the campaign aired, WWE chairman Vince McMahon took the ad off "Smackdown," your primary show. Was that something you agreed with?

KA: Vince didn't want people to be confused by what they saw on TV. He didn't want my character bashing someone over the head with a chair and then in the commercial break see this fun-loving guy on a commercial promoting awareness for a disease. I agreed with him. It's confusing for fans and we didn't want to do that.

WD: In that commercial, you do hack squats with a weight that most women start with during leg workouts. That's not exactly Olympic Hero weight. Did you take any ribbing for that?

KA: [Laughing] You're the first person to ask about that. No, no ribbing thankfully. All I was doing was going through the motion and I wanted to get a weight I was comfortable doing. I was doing about 200 reps during those filming sessions. I had to work with a weight I could do that many reps with.

WD: You worked a match with Rey Mysterio at SummerSlam. Did you seek out a feud with Rey? Did creative bring it to you? How did it come about?

KA: When Rey came on the scene, the fans took quick notice to him. I saw that. He's got great presence. He's a great athlete and can do things that no one else can do. Creative saw a chance to make a new superstar immediately and thought it would be good entertainment for us to work together. I take pride in myself looking good and in making others look good. I'm an unselfish wrestler. I want to help make Rey, and every time out I want to have the best match possible. I want to steal the show. I think Rey and I can do that. I think I have the ability to steal the show every time I'm out there. Sometimes I don't want to do it, but I think most of the pay-per-views this year I've done that. That's what's in my mind every night. If I have one of the top matches I'll be happy. There's a lot of competition right now in our business. All those guys are my friends, but we're competitors too.

WD: Can someone, as great as Mysterio is in the ring, really get over with his 5'5", 140-pound frame?

KA: He's not what you call a consistent WWE champion. What I see with him is what I see with Rob Van Dam. There's more potential with RVD as champ, but fans love RVD and love Rey because they bring a different style. When fans cheer or boo they are the only ones that can make a guy. Even if they have a guy that they are pushing, but fans don't respond, you don't have a top guy. With Rey, you don't always have to have him be the focus to make him important. You can always team him with the Rock or put him in a main event where he isn't the primary guy, but is still in the main event.

WD: How big of an adjustment was it to wrestle Mysterio's fast-paced style?

KA: My biggest test, no question, because I've never wrestled lucha libre. I have to wrestle that way because that's his style and that's the way he is a big deal. A very big test for me. We worked on our footwork and on several other things and hopefully it's right on track. I think my raw talents take over in that situation and we've been fine.

WD: You get asked a lot about Brock Lesnar because both of you come from amateur backgrounds. While WWE really played up your amateur credentials coming in, it doesn't seem like they've done as much with Lesnar. Why is that? You probably won't see his credentials come into play until Brock and Kurt Angle come into play. In the company's eyes, that's the most anticipated match, for many reasons. Not just because of our background, but bemuse of our ability, characters, etc. I think we'll stay away from each other for a while and that's the way I want it to be. I think Brock has proven himself in a short period of time. I have the utmost respect for him. Here's a 25-year-old guy that has been in company for three years and has two years of training. They haven't shoved his credentials down fans' throats like they did me. I think it's better to save that for Kurt Angle. When that does happen, I don't think there will be any comparison for Brock vs. Angle. I don't write the scripts, but hopefully we'll meet at Wrestlemania next year. In the meantime, we need to stay away from each other.

WD: You've said that you're contemplating a return to the amateur ranks for the 2004 Olympics. How realistic is that considering your current position in WWE?

KA: The offer Mr. McMahon gave me was that he would pay me in full while I train for the Olympic games. Right now I'm in a dilemma of do I stay or do I go? I'm not going to make the decision until the first of January next year. If my body feels good and I'm going on all eight pistons, I'm going to do it. I need a year-and-a-half to train for the team and that's exactly what [the January timeline] will give me.

WD: Where did this desire to return to the Olympics come from?

KA: One day a bunch of the wrestlers were talking about me and Brock facing off in an amateur match. Some guys set it up and we got in the ring and wrestled around a little bit one day before a show. That really sparked my interest again. It was for pride, but it was competitive. I believe if Brock had stuck with wrestling he would have made the 2004 or 2008 team. But to step in there again and compete with him really got me going. I did very well against him and that made me start thinking about it. But, I will tell you this: I couldn't believe how quick and athletic Brock is. He runs the 40 in 4.6, is 6'2", 300 pounds, and he's every bit as quick as I am.

Angle's Angle

* Real name: Kurt Angle

* Height: 6'2"

* Weight: 220 pounds

* College: Clarion University (graduated 1993)

* Birthdate: December 9, 1968

* Hometown: Pittsburgh

* Catchphrase: "It's true, it's true"

* Signature move: Olympic Slam

* Pro debut: 1988

* First TV match: 1988 vs. Tiger Ali-Singh on "Sunday Night Heat"

* Career titles: WWE champion (two times) WCW champion; intercontinental champion, European champion; WCW U.S. champion; WWE hardcore champion; 2000 King of the Ring

* Miscellaneous: Won the gold medal for Team USA in the 220-pound freestyle wrestling competition at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics; is contemplating a return to the Olympics in 2004; won the NCAA wrestling title in 1990 and 1992, and was runner-up in 1991; did not play college football, but had a tryout with Pittsburgh Steelers

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