Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American professional wrestler, actor and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is the current TNA World Heavyweight Champion.
Angle was involved in amateur wrestling during both high school and college. In college at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, he won numerous accolades, including being a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion.[5][6] After graduating, he won the 1995 World Championship tournament.[5] Angle then competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he won a gold medal in heavyweight freestyle wrestling.[6][7]
Initially turning down an offer to join the World Wrestling Federation (WWF),[6] Angle signed a multi-year contract with the company in 1998. His first big push in the company was in February 2000, when he held both the WWF European Championship and the WWF Intercontinental Championship.[8] Not long after, Angle began pursuing the WWF Championship. He continued to be a part of main event matches until August 2006, when Angle was granted a release from his contract.[9] Throughout his tenure in the company, he was a six-time world champion (four-time WWF/E Champion,[10] World Heavyweight Champion[11] and WCW Champion),[12] WCW United States Champion,[13] WWF Intercontinental Champion,[14] WWF European Champion, [15] WWF Hardcore Champion[16] and WWE Tag Team Champion (with Chris Benoit).[17] In addition, he was the winner of the King of the Ring tournament in 2000,[18] the tenth Triple Crown Champion, and the fifth Grand Slam Champion.
After leaving WWE, Angle joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he became the second wrestler in TNA to win TNA's Triple Crown and the first man to hold all three TNA championships simultaneously.[19] While in TNA, his real-life wife Karen began accompanying him to the ring and playing a part in his on-screen storylines. Angle has also made appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling and Inoki Genome Federation, where he was the IWGP Third Belt Champion.[20] Also a three-time (and current) TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Angle is a nine time World Champion overall, though TNA bills him as a thirteen-time world champion when adding the IWGP Third Belt Championship, his 1996 Olympic Gold Medal, and 2 NCAA World Freestyle Championships. He is also the 2007 and 2009 King of the Mountain winner at Slammiversary.
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