WWE legend Kurt Angle reveals why he had long runs in WWE as a heel rather than a babyface. Kurt Angle’s on-screen character was the total opposite of his real-life personality.
The Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle is famously known for his illustrious run in WWE. Angle’s wrestling abilities are second to none. Kurt first made his debut in the WWE in 1999 as a babyface.
Fans from the Attitude Era would remember some of the hilarious segments that featured the wrestling technician. Although Angle was successful as a babyface, he was a massive success as a heel. Kurt spent most of his career as a heel character at the behest of Vince McMahon.
On an edition of his podcast The Kurt Angle Show, Kurt recalled his on-screen character in WWE. His most notable heel turn was when he turned on WWF and joined Team Alliance in 2001. On his podcast, the 13-time World Champion revealed that the reason why he never had too many babyface spells in the company is that Vince thought he’d fare better as a heel. Vince enjoyed watching Kurt play as a heel and to Vince’s credit, Kurt was one of the best villainous characters in WWE.
Kurt quoted, “The reason was Vince McMahon always wanted me to end up being a heel. He loved me as a heel. He enjoyed watching me as a heel. He always put me in that situation,”
Although Kurt admitted that he was comfortable working as a heel, he also pointed out that his real-life personality was completely different from his on-screen character.
“Yeah, I was comfortable there. It’s the opposite of my personality, and I liked doing that. For some reason, playing another character on TV, a completely different person than I am at home, I felt more at peace with that,” stated Angle.
After his heel turn in 2001, Kurt worked many angles where he was seen playing the part of a tough and mean superstar. One of the most reprehensible storylines that Angle did as a heel was when he played the part of a deviant lusting after Booker T’s wife Sharmell.
Kurt Angle wishes he stayed babyface for longer
Like every other superstar, Angle shifted characters from time to time based on the requirements of the script and Vince McMahon. Later in his podcast, Angle stated how he’d have loved having longer runs as a babyface.
“Yeah, I wish I could have stayed babyface a little longer,” Kurt Angle said, “I never had a long steady run as a babyface. A few months at a time, even when I was the babyface in 2005-06, I was still kind of a heel. I was still saying a**hole things and being rude to the fans. But what got me over was my work skill. I mean, the fans started appreciating my work in the ring and the microphone, and they kind of turned me baby on their own. I didn’t want to be a babyface, but at that particular time, I did, but I always switched back and forth. I never had a long reign as a babyface. Always long reigns as a heel.”
Kurt was so good with his heel character that he became a fan favorite and because of that, the fans turned him into a babyface. Along with his promos, his skills in the ring also took a shine to the WWE universe.
When Kurt Angle jumped ship to TNA in 2006, his gimmick was almost the same as the one in WWE. Even in TNA, Angle gravitated to his heel persona. When Angle made his return to WWE in 2017, the fans tried bringing out the heel character by chanting “You Suck” every time his music played but Angle remained a babyface during the final days of his career.
