As an individual (6 reigns):
219-597: The World Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE , defended on the Raw brand division . It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE Tag Team Championship on SmackDown . The current champions are The Judgment Day ( Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh ), who are in their first reign as
438-459: A 30-Minute Iron Man match , after which Michaels challenged him for a sudden death overtime, but Angle refused and walked out. He challenged Cena for the WWE Championship again in a triple-threat match involving Michaels at Taboo Tuesday on November 1, but lost, and then again lost to Cena at Survivor Series on November 27. Angle would continue his feud with Cena into 2006, defeating him in
657-558: A Winners Take All match to claim both championships and become recognized as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions. WWE had billed the match as a championship unification match; however, both titles remained independently active. The Usos had defended both titles together across both brands as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship , but on a couple of occasions in early 2023, they also defended
876-452: A gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics despite competing with a broken neck, and achieved wider fame for his tenure in WWE and TNA . He is considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers and amateur wrestlers of all time. Angle won numerous accolades while at Clarion University of Pennsylvania , including being a two-time NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion in
1095-590: A two-out-of-three-falls match at Judgment Day on May 20. When World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the ECW were purchased by the WWF in 2001, the wrestlers from the WCW and ECW formed The Alliance . Angle and WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin joined forces to repel them. At the Invasion event on July 22, Angle and Austin captained a team of five WWF superstars against members of
1314-446: A " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of
1533-590: A "Three Degrees of Pain" two out of three falls match . Wolfe managed to gain the first fall by pinning Angle following the Tower of London , but Angle forced him to submit with the ankle lock to win the second fall. In the final fall, which could only be won by escaping the Six Sides of Steel , Angle managed to escape first and won the match. On the January 4, 2010, live, three-hour, Monday night edition of Impact! , Angle received
1752-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1971-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
2190-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2409-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
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#17328760824312628-510: A construction accident while working on Fifth Avenue Place when Angle was 16. Angle dedicated both his career and his autobiography to his father. He stated in an interview that, following his father's death, he regarded his wrestling coach David Schultz as a paternal figure. While training Angle, Schultz was murdered in January 1996 by John Eleuthère du Pont , the sponsor of Schultz's team of Olympic prospectives. Angle's mother died of cancer in 2015. Kurt Angle started amateur wrestling at
2847-561: A dark match on Shotgun Saturday Night just two weeks before Owen died. He also continued to wrestle for PPW through October and on July 24 won the PPW Championship. Angle then lost the championship to Steve Bradley on August 7. He is noted for learning the art of pro wrestling quicker than almost anyone else; WWE executive and former opponent Triple H described Angle as "probably the fastest guy I've ever seen pick this business up", owing to "phenomenal" athleticism and an "aptitude" for
3066-528: A day. In January 1996, not long after Angle began training at the club, Schultz was murdered by John Eleuthère du Pont , the sponsor of Schultz's team of Olympic prospectives. As a result, Angle quit du Pont's team, searched for new sponsors, and joined the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club in Schultz's memory. Angle faced further hardships while taking part in the 1996 Olympic Trials, when he suffered
3285-510: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler , amateur wrestler and podcaster . He first earned recognition for winning
3504-423: A divorce. During the match at Hard Justice, however, Karen turned on Joe when she, along with a supposed new "boyfriend" accompanying her that night, both aided Angle. (The boyfriend was portrayed by Marc Predka , who was soon revealed to have added rap vocals to a new version of Angle's theme song. Angle would use this version for the rest of his time with TNA.) Angle won, gaining all the championships and becoming
3723-599: A fan from the live audience. He then went out into the crowd and picked 10-year old Nicholas, and the two defeated Cesaro and Sheamus for the title. This made Nicholas the youngest WWE champion in history. Nicholas was also revealed to be the son of WWE referee, John Cone . The following night on Raw , the two relinquished the titles. During the May 20, 2022, episode of SmackDown , reigning SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos ( Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso ) defeated reigning Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro ( Randy Orton and Riddle ) in
3942-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
4161-429: A feud between Angle and Steiner, with Angle pinning Steiner at Destination X on March 11. After Angle defeated Steiner, he was picked to lead a team of four other wrestlers against a team of Christian Cage's choice in a Lethal Lockdown match at Lockdown on April 15. Angle chose Samoa Joe, Rhino , Sting, and Jeff Jarrett for Team Angle, while Cage chose A.J. Styles , Scott Steiner, Tomko, and Abyss. The man who gained
4380-449: A feud between the two. The feud culminated at SummerSlam on August 21, where Angle defeated Eugene to regain his medal. Angle later feuded with John Cena for the WWE Championship. He challenged Cena at Unforgiven on September 18, but won by disqualification, therefore not winning the title. On the October 3 "WWE Homecoming" episode of Raw , he wrestled rival Shawn Michaels to a 2–2 draw in
4599-428: A feud with Eddie Guerrero . At No Way Out on February 15, 2004, Guerrero defeated Lesnar to win the WWE Championship, while Angle defeated John Cena and Big Show in a triple-threat match to become the number one contender for Guerrero's title at WrestleMania XX . After losing to Guerrero at WrestleMania on March 14, Angle began to once again suffer from legitimate neck problems and went in for surgery on his neck and
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#17328760824314818-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has a more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for
5037-493: A ladder match to win possession of the key to the cage door. At Lockdown, Angle defeated Anderson in a steel cage match and afterwards announced that he would take some time off from wrestling. Angle returned on the May 20, 2010, episode of Impact! and was ranked number two by the Championship Committee in the inaugural top 10 rankings for a World Heavyweight title shot. Angle, however, decided to take his name out of
5256-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
5475-479: A leglock, which injured Angle's knee. On February 27, 2014, Angle officially accepted his induction into the TNA Hall of Fame , but the ceremony was interrupted by EC3, with Angle attacking him. The next week, Angle was attacked by EC3 and his knees were severely damaged, thus losing his chance to fight at Lockdown . Angle made his return on April 17, and vowing revenge. On April 24, after Angle defeated Rockstar Spud in
5694-457: A less conventional surgery where only the spurs and selected portions of the discs were removed. The alternative surgery reduced Angle's rehabilitation time from one year to three months. In 2003, Angle returned as a face on the June 5 episode of SmackDown! . Shortly after returning, Angle defeated Lesnar and Big Show in a triple threat match at Vengeance on July 27 to regain the WWE Championship for
5913-450: A lumberjack match that ended in a no-contest when a brawl broke out and Big Show made his return, attacking both Angle and Guerrero. This led to a match at No Mercy on October 3 where Angle lost to Big Show. On the November 4, 2004, episode of SmackDown! , during an unscripted segment of Tough Enough , Angle challenged the finalists to a squat thrust competition. Chris Nawrocki won
6132-704: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
6351-576: A match, EC3 attacked Angle but Willow saved him. At Sacrifice , Willow and Angle defeated EC3 and Rockstar Spud. In May, Angle underwent ACL repair surgery and was sidelined. On June 20, 2014, Angle was named Executive Director of Wrestling Operations of TNA by TNA's board of directors. He announced a TNA World Heavyweight Championship rematch for the July 3 episode of Impact Wrestling between Lashley and Eric Young , and reinstated Bobby Roode , who had been indefinitely suspended by MVP . Angle also retired
6570-474: A neck injury, Angle was out of action. In the storyline, he returned to Impact! to ask his estranged wife Karen to reunite with him, but she declined his offer. Later that night, after Styles suffered a beating at the hands of Team 3D, Booker T , and Tomko, Angle added to the mugging by hitting Styles with a steel chair. At Slammiversary on June 8, Angle lost to Styles, being pinned after interference from Karen. At Victory Road on July 13, Angle and Team 3D won
6789-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
World Tag Team Championship (WWE) - Misplaced Pages Continue
7008-496: A new design. At the center of the plate is WWE's logo placed over a globe, similar to the World Heavyweight Championship and Women's World Championship belts, albeit with a red background and placed on a shield flanked by two griffins in a similar manner to a coat of arms . Above the globe is a banner that reads "WORLD TAG TEAM" while below the globe is another banner that reads "CHAMPIONS", both in silver and with
7227-439: A non-title first blood match on the January 2, 2006 episode of Raw , after interference from Daivari. At New Year's Revolution on January 8, Angle again challenged Cena for the title, this time in an Elimination Chamber match, also involving Shawn Michaels, Kane , Carlito , and Chris Masters . Angle would fail to win the match, as he was eliminated by Michaels. On the January 13 episode of SmackDown! , Angle returned to
7446-689: A pin that wasn't there on Puder. On January 30, 2005, at the Royal Rumble , after failing to win a triple threat match for the WWE Championship, which involved Big Show and champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), Angle took part in the Royal Rumble match itself. Angle was quickly eliminated by Shawn Michaels , which caused Angle to return to the ring to eliminate Michaels in retaliation. After mocking Michaels by defeating Michaels's former tag team partner , Marty Jannetty , and attacking former manager Sherri Martel , Angle defeated Michaels in an inter-promotional match at WrestleMania 21 on April 3, which won
7665-533: A red background. The plates are on black straps with metal endplates, and gold divider bars separate the center plate from the two side plates. The side plates are now customizable with the reigning champions' logo; the default side plates feature the WWE logo on a red globe. As of November 29, 2024, there have been 94 reigns between 72 teams composed of 103 individual champions, and one vacancy. The team of Cesaro and Sheamus and The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) have
7884-457: A request for a handshake, reigniting their feud and turning heel in the process. At Victory Road on July 15, newly crowned X Division Champion Samoa Joe teamed with Kurt Angle to face TNA Tag Team Champions Team 3D , with the stipulation that if a wrestler pinned the other opponent, he won his championship. As part of the planned outcome of the match, Joe pinned Brother Ray of Team 3D to win both tag team belts, which he held by himself. On
8103-495: A result, WWE introduced the brand extension in March 2002 to divide its roster between the Raw and SmackDown! brands where wrestlers would exclusively perform on their respective weekly television programs. The original World Tag Team Championship initially became exclusive to SmackDown!, but was later reassigned to Raw, leaving the former without a tag team title. As a result, SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon introduced
8322-400: A return to the WWE. Unbeknownst to him Triple H had taken over McMahon's former duties. Angle offered to return as a part-time wrestler due to concerns of his age and health. Angle was caught off guard when WWE declined his services. It is speculated that WWE only offered a full-time contract which Angle didn't accept or WWE declined his return due to past relationship issues with him. After he
8541-474: A second title for tag teams in the promotion to complement WWE's original World Tag Team Championship , which became exclusive to Raw. Both titles were unified in 2009 and were collectively referred to as the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship while officially remaining independently active until the original World Tag Team Championship was formally decommissioned in 2010. As a result of
8760-427: A senior. Upon graduating from high school, Angle attended Clarion University of Pennsylvania , where he continued to wrestle at the amateur level. He was a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion, national runner-up in 1991, and a three-time NCAA Division I All-American . In addition, Angle was the 1987 USA Junior Freestyle champion, a two-time USA Senior Freestyle champion, and
8979-526: A severe neck injury, fracturing two of his cervical vertebrae , herniating two discs , and pulling four muscles. Nonetheless, Angle won the trials and then spent the subsequent five months resting and rehabilitating. By the Olympics, Angle was able to compete, albeit with several pain-reducing injections in his neck. In the fall of 1996, Angle stated that he temporarily became addicted to the analgesic Vicodin after injuring his neck. He won his gold medal in
World Tag Team Championship (WWE) - Misplaced Pages Continue
9198-497: A shot at A.J. Styles' World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated in the main event of the show. Two weeks later at Genesis on January 17, Angle received one last shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but was once again defeated by Styles, who turned heel with the help of Ric Flair and struck Angle with the title belt. As a result, Angle was barred from challenging for the title as long as Styles
9417-430: A six-man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon on December 10. After beating Triple H at the Royal Rumble on January 21, 2001, Angle eventually lost the title to The Rock at No Way Out on February 25. Angle then feuded with Chris Benoit, whom he defeated at WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1, but lost to him at Backlash on April 29 in an Ultimate Submission match . Continuing the feud, Angle again defeated Benoit in
9636-492: A six-man tag team Full Metal Mayhem match defeating the team of Christian Cage, Rhino, and Styles. At Hard Justice on August 10, Angle once again lost to Styles – this time in a Last Man Standing match . The feud continued on the next episode of Impact! , with Styles winning Angle's gold medal in a mock amateur wrestling match. The next week Angle challenged Styles to a ladder match for the Olympic gold medal. As they both stood on
9855-463: A team; individually, it is the first for McDonagh and third for Bálor. They won the title by defeating Awesome Truth ( The Miz and R-Truth ) on the June 24, 2024, episode of Raw . The championship was originally established as the WWE Tag Team Championship on October 3, 2002, and the team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit were the inaugural champions. It was introduced for the SmackDown brand as
10074-424: A third brand in 2006) announced a talent sharing agreement that enabled talent from either brand's roster to compete on both brands. As a result, the title became eligible to be contended and defended on both brands. In late 2008 through early 2009, reigning WWE Tag Team Champions The Colóns ( Carlito and Primo ) engaged in rivalry with reigning World Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz , which resulted in
10293-542: A three-way feud with Royal Rumble winner Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton (who cheated to defeat Mysterio at No Way Out to gain entrance to the SmackDown! main event at WrestleMania). At WrestleMania on April 2, Angle lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Mysterio in the triple-threat match after Mysterio pinned Orton. On the May 29 episode of Raw , Angle was drafted to the newly created ECW brand. It
10512-449: A three-way match to become one of four wrestlers in consideration for a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On October 25, 2012, Angle was chosen as the number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by Jeff Hardy in his title match. Afterwards, Angle was attacked by Aces & Eights . At Turning Point on November 11, Angle defeated Aces & Eights member Devon via submission, despite
10731-511: A title match, which he lost. Angle appeared sporadically on WWE television throughout mid-2006. On August 25, 2006, Angle was granted an early release from his WWE contract for health reasons. Angle stated in the Kurt Angle: Champion documentary DVD that he asked for his release from WWE because he could not take time off and was working hurt, severely so on some occasions. He also stated that when he quit, WWE lost their top talent, as he
10950-570: A total of four times . He also became a one-time WCW Champion and one-time World Heavyweight Champion . He is the tenth professional wrestler to achieve the WWE Triple Crown and the fifth to achieve the WWE Grand Slam . He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame 's class of 2017. After leaving WWE in 2006, Angle joined TNA, where he became a record six-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion and
11169-484: A tournament match between Booker T and Big Show , rendering it a no-contest and thus creating a four-way match against the remaining tournament entrants the next week, which JBL won. Over the ensuing weeks, Angle sexually harassed Sharmell, including a segment where Angle claimed that he wanted to have " bestiality sex" with her. In another segment, he claimed that Sharmell had "molested" him and "fondled his privates". At Judgment Day on May 22, Booker T defeated Angle. On
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#173287608243111388-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
11607-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
11826-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
12045-442: Is an overall 13-time world champion . He is the only wrestler to have won the WWE Championship, World Heavyweight Championship, WCW Championship, TNA World Heavyweight Championship, IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and an NCAA Wrestling Championship. He is also the first person to hold both the WWE and TNA Triple Crowns. He has headlined numerous pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania XIX and Bound for Glory on three occasions,
12264-428: Is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
12483-478: Is the title holder. Due to the circumstances surrounding the loss, Hulk Hogan gave Angle another shot at Styles and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on the January 21 episode of Impact! , but this time Angle lost the match after referee Earl Hebner , who was later revealed to have been paid off by Flair, called for the bell to be rung, in an incident similar to the Montreal Screwjob . Angle responded to
12702-416: Is the youngest champion at 10 years old (also making him the youngest champion in WWE history), while R-Truth is the oldest champion at age 52. The current champions are The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh ). Individually, it is McDonagh's first reign and Bálor's third, and while it is their first time holding the title as a team. They won the title by defeating Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) on
12921-479: Is with TNA or the Aces & Eights, which led to a brawl between the two on the May 9, 2013, episode of Impact Wrestling . On June 2 at Slammiversary XI , Angle was announced as the second inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame . Later that night, Angle defeated Styles in a singles match. On the following Impact Wrestling , Angle got into a verbal confrontation with the debuting Rampage Jackson , who claimed he had to beat
13140-627: The 2016 WWE Draft , the championship became exclusive to Raw and was renamed as the Raw Tag Team Championship , with SmackDown creating their own counterpart, the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. From May 2022 until April 2024, both titles were held and defended together as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship , with each maintaining their individual lineages. Under the Undisputed banner, both titles simultaneously became
13359-702: The East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) in February 1999 defeating Cyborg. In March, Angle began wrestling regularly for the WWF's Power Pro Wrestling (PPW) developmental league in Memphis, Tennessee . He appeared on WWF television on Sunday Night Heat , where he took part in an angle with Tiger Ali Singh . He won over Brian Christopher on April 11. In the following months, Angle wrestled on house shows and in other dark matches, in preparation for his televised debut. He faced against Owen Hart in
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#173287608243113578-532: The Heavyweight division. After graduating, he won gold medals in freestyle wrestling at the 1995 World Wrestling Championships and 1996 Summer Olympics. He is one of four people to win the Junior Nationals, NCAA, World Championships, and the Olympics. In 2006, he was named by USA Wrestling as the greatest shoot wrestler of all time and as one of USA Wrestling's top 15 college wrestlers of all time. In 2016, he
13797-545: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the owners of the NWA World Heavyweight and the NWA World Tag Team Championships, stripped Cage of the title and Team 3D of the tag team title. NWA Executive Director Robert K. Trobich gave the reason as Cage's refusing to defend the NWA title at NWA live events. At Sacrifice, Cage, still holding the physical NWA Championship belt, defended what was billed as
14016-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
14235-679: The Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) Match of the Year award . On the April 14 episode of SmackDown! , Angle defeated Eddie Guerrero as part of a tournament to determine the number-one contender for the WWE Championship . In the same episode, Angle confronted fellow tournament entrant Booker T and his wife Sharmell after Sharmell predicted that Booker would win the tournament. On the April 21 episode of SmackDown! , Angle and JBL interfered in
14454-437: The Royal Rumble match on January 19, 2003. Angle lost the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania XIX on March 30 to Lesnar, due to needing time off to recuperate from injuries. On April 11, 2003, Angle underwent neck surgery to repair nerve and spinal damage, calcium buildup, bone spurs , and intervertebral disc problems. Rather than remove the afflicted discs and fuse his vertebrae together, Angle opted for
14673-544: The SmackDown Tag Team Championship on August 23, 2016. The WWE Tag Team Championship was subsequently renamed to Raw Tag Team Championship and The New Day were the first champions to hold the title under its new name. In 2019, WWE's developmental territory NXT became the promotion's third major brand when it was moved to the USA Network in September, thus making the NXT Tag Team Championship
14892-418: The SmackDown! brand as a surprise entrant in a twenty-man battle royal for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship . Angle won by eliminating Mark Henry , becoming a face (hero) in the process. He retained the title against Henry at the Royal Rumble on January 29. Shortly after the match, The Undertaker made his return and challenged Angle for the title. At No Way Out on February 19, Angle retained
15111-561: The TNA Television Championship on the December 20 episode of Impact Wrestling , after interference from Aces & Eights, Garett Bischoff, Samoa Joe, and Wes Brisco. On the January 3, 2013, episode of Impact Wrestling , Angle and Samoa Joe defeated Devon and a masked member of Aces & Eights in a steel cage tag team match. Afterwards, the returning Sting saved Angle and Joe from a beating from Aces & Eights before revealing
15330-411: The TNA Television Championship , which had not been seen or defended since Abyss won it at Slammiversary 2013. On September 18, 2014 (aired on October 29 due to tape delay), Angle refereed the TNA World Heavyweight Championship between Bobby Roode and Bobby Lashley. Angle's contract with TNA was due to expire on September 14, 2014. Around this time, he reached out to Vince McMahon to offer his services for
15549-762: The United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including a distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by
15768-463: The arm trap crossface , with Roode at the ramp watching. However, Angle lost his next match against Magnus, due to an interference from Roode. At Final Resolution , Angle was defeated by Roode in a 2-out-of 3 falls match, but Angle faced and defeated Roode in a Steel Cage match at Genesis to end the feud. On February 6, 2014, Angle had a match against Magnus. However, he won by disqualification, when Ethan Carter III (EC3) attacked Angle, performing
15987-505: The crossface hold in a precursory act prior to their match. At the PPV Angle was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame , but he refused to accept the offer as he felt he had let himself, TNA, and the fans down and didn't deserve a Hall of Fame induction ceremony. He also said he would accept the offer when he feels he has earned it, and he still has great things to do in TNA. Later in that night, Angle
16206-454: The "Unified" moniker, received a new single set of belts, and continued to be defended on any brand. The brand extension was discontinued on August 29, 2011, but it was revived on July 19, 2016. The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the current World Tag Team Championship between the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The original design of the title belt when it was introduced as
16425-459: The "World Heavyweight Championship" against Angle and Sting. Angle was the victor by making Sting submit, who had technically just pinned Cage, and he was announced as the new "World Heavyweight Champion". At the Impact! following the event, Angle came to the ring with a new championship belt, and announced he was the new " TNA World Heavyweight Champion ". Afterward, Cage and Sting came to the ring and
16644-461: The "unified" moniker, subsequently became the sole tag team championship in WWE, available to any brand. The first brand extension then ended in August 2011. Following the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016, reigning champions The New Day ( Big E , Kofi Kingston , and Xavier Woods ) were drafted to the Raw brand, making the championship exclusive to Raw. In response, SmackDown created
16863-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
17082-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
17301-701: The 1988 USA International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles Junior World Freestyle champion. After graduating from college, Angle continued to wrestle. In 1995, he won a gold medal at the FILA Wrestling World Championships in Atlanta, Georgia . Following this victory, Angle began preparing for the 1996 Summer Olympics (also in Atlanta) under Dave Schultz at the Pennsylvanian Foxcatcher Club, training between eight and ten hours
17520-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
17739-411: The 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
17958-414: The Aces & Eights hideout on the February 28 Impact Wrestling and managed to unmask their vice president, but was beaten by the other members before he could reveal his identity to the cameras. Angle revealed the vice president as D'Lo Brown on the following episode of Impact . At Lockdown on March 10, Angle was defeated by Wes Brisco in a steel cage match, following interference from Brown. Angle
18177-757: The Alliance. Team WWF lost to Team Alliance when Austin turned on Team WWF to join the Alliance. Angle then began feuding with Austin over the WWF Championship and challenged him for the title at SummerSlam on August 19, and defeated Austin by disqualification. After winning and losing the WCW Championship , WCW United States Championship , and the WWF Hardcore Championship in matches with Alliance members, Angle defeated Austin to win his second WWF Championship at Unforgiven on September 23. Angle lost
18396-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
18615-478: The February 10 episode of SmackDown! and the Intercontinental Championship at No Way Out on February 27, losing both in a Triple Threat match with Chris Benoit (Intercontinental) and Chris Jericho (European) at WrestleMania 2000 on April 2. Throughout mid-2000, Angle aligned himself with Edge & Christian and feuded with Too Cool and Rikishi , with Angle defeating Rikishi in
18834-527: The February 16 episode of Impact Wrestling , costing Jeff Hardy his shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On March 18 at Victory Road , Angle defeated Hardy in a singles match, pinning him while grabbing a hold of the ring ropes. On April 15 at Lockdown , Hardy defeated Angle in a rematch, contested inside a steel cage. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling , Angle defeated A.J. Styles, following interference from Styles' rivals Christopher Daniels and Kazarian. The following week, Angle warned
19053-501: The Jarretts. At Sacrifice on May 15, Angle and Chyna defeated the Jarretts in a mixed tag team match. Later that same month, Angle signed a new three-year contract with TNA. With Karen out of the picture, Angle defeated Jarrett on June 12 at Slammiversary IX , in what was billed as the "final battle" between the two to retain his Olympic gold medal and become the number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. However, on
19272-443: The June 2 episode of SmackDown! , Angle defeated Booker T and Sharmell in a 2-on-1-handicap match after pinning Sharmell in a sexual position. Angle would again lose to Booker T on the June 9 episode of SmackDown! , ending their feud. Angle appeared at ECW One Night Stand on June 12 as an anti-ECW "crusader". At the end of the show, Angle and other "crusaders" engaged in a brawl with ECW alumni led by Stone Cold Steve Austin, in which
19491-503: The June 24, 2024, episode of Raw in Indianapolis, Indiana . Professional wrestling Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling
19710-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
19929-477: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
20148-504: The November 11 episode of Impact! , saving Samoa Joe from Jeff Jarrett, Gunner, and Murphy. After not appearing again for two weeks, Angle made another return on the December 2 episode of Impact! , saving Samoa Joe from Jeff Jarrett and Abyss. On the January 6, 2011, episode of Impact! Angle interrupted Jarrett's $ 100,000 Mixed Martial Arts Challenge and signed a contract to face him at Genesis on January 9 in an MMA exhibition match, since he had promised not to wrestle again. The match
20367-403: The October 2 episode of Impact , Mick Foley announced that he was going to be the special enforcer for Angle's match with Jarrett at Bound for Glory IV on October 12. Angle lost to Jarrett in this match, being pinned after taking the mandible claw from Foley and a guitar shot and Stroke from Jarrett. He started attacking other superstars backstage in order to get a rematch against Jarrett. On
20586-414: The September 1 episode of Impact Wrestling , defeating Sting in a rematch, following interference from special enforcer Hulk Hogan and the rest of Immortal. The following week, Angle's title match with Mr. Anderson ended in a disqualification, following interference from Immortal. This led to a three-way match between Angle, Anderson, and Sting on September 11 at No Surrender , where Angle managed to retain
20805-597: The Special Enforcer, he would grant it. Angle defeated Rhino to earn a rematch with Jarrett at Genesis on January 11, 2009 after Al Snow made a surprise appearance and distracted Foley so that Angle could cheat. At Sacrifice on May 24, Angle lost his leadership of the Mafia to Sting because of their match's stipulation. On June 21 at Slammiversary , Angle won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for
21024-446: The TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Sting, but won it back on the October 25 episode of Impact! . Angle then joined forces with A.J. Styles and Tomko as The Angle Alliance at Turning Point on December 2, against Samoa Joe, Kevin Nash , and Scott Hall . Styles had planned for Christian's Coalition and The Angle Alliance to team up together. However, Christian Cage demanded to be
21243-581: The TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling , Angle entered the 2012 Bound for Glory Series , taking part in the opening gauntlet match , from which he was eliminated by Daniels. Two weeks later, Angle and Styles lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship back to Daniels and Kazarian. Angle wrestled his final match in the 2012 Bound for Glory Series on the August 30 episode of Impact Wrestling , losing to Jeff Hardy, which resulted in him being eliminated from
21462-478: The Tag Team banner read "World Wrestling Entertainment" in small print. On both sides of the center plate were two side plates. The inner side plates featured the WWE scratch logo and were encircled with the meander pattern, while the outer side plates featured a single Spartan helmet facing inward. A version with two name plates on the center plate, one for each champion, had been created but was not used. In August 2014,
21681-744: The Unified WWE Tag Team Championship on any brand until August 2010. That month, the Anonymous Raw General Manager announced that the World Tag Team Championship would be decommissioned in favor of continuing the WWE Tag Team Championship, which received a new, single set of championship belts, which were presented to reigning champions The Hart Dynasty ( Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith ) by Bret Hart . The WWE Tag Team Championship, which dropped
21900-462: The WWE Tag Team Championship and commissioned it to be the tag team title for the SmackDown! brand on October 3, 2002. She also announced that the inaugural champions would be determined from an eight-team tournament. At No Mercy on October 20, 2002, the team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit defeated Rey Mysterio and Edge in the tournament final to become the inaugural WWE Tag Team Champions. On October 17, 2007, SmackDown! and ECW (which became
22119-421: The WWE Tag Team Championship featured a design that was similar to the 1985 to 2002 version of the original World Tag Team Championship, with gold plates on black straps. It featured a similar center plate with an eagle and crown designs alongside a blue globe at the center. On top, it featured the company's scratch logo on a blue background. The gold text in the blue ribbon read "World Wrestling Entertainment" while
22338-525: The WWE Tag Team Championship in a triple threat elimination match against Edge and Mysterio and Los Guerreros at Survivor Series on November 17, but failed after they were the first team eliminated; Los Guerreros eventually won. Angle won his third WWE Championship at Armageddon on December 15 by defeating Big Show . While still in his third reign, he gained the services of manager Paul Heyman and " Team Angle " ( Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin ). He then began feuding with Brock Lesnar, who had won
22557-602: The WWF's developmental system in August 1998 and had his first official WWF match in March 1999. After months of dark matches , Angle made his televised in-ring debut in November 1999. Within two months, he was holding the European and Intercontinental Championships simultaneously. Four months later, he won the 2000 King of the Ring tournament and began pursuing the WWF Championship , which he won in October and would go on to win
22776-506: The WWF's then- developmental territory WWA on August 20, where he faced his trainer Tom Prichard . Angle continued to wrestle for the WWA in August and September. Additionally, he sought bookings outside of the WWF, participating in a battle royal won by Steve Williams at the National Wrestling Alliance 's (NWA) 50th Anniversary Show on October 24. Angle also performed for Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling (PCW) defeating Steve Bradley and
22995-458: The World Tag Team Championship with the SmackDown title becoming the WWE Tag Team Championship. From 1971 until 2002, WWE 's original World Tag Team Championship was the primary men's world tag team championship of the professional wrestling promotion. Following The Invasion storyline, WWE's roster doubled in size due to the influx of wrestlers from the former promotions, World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling . As
23214-401: The age of seven. He attended Mt. Lebanon High School , where he won varsity letters in football , as an All-State linebacker , and wrestling . He was undefeated on the freshman wrestling team and qualified for the state wrestling tournament his sophomore year. Angle also placed third in the state wrestling tournament as a junior and was the 1987 Pennsylvania State Wrestling Champion as
23433-464: The announcement on the March 17 episode of ECW that at WrestleMania 25 , both teams would defend their titles against each other and the winning team would hold both titles. The Colóns defeated Morrison and Miz, and thus unified the titles into what became known as the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship , the umbrella term for what officially remained two active championships that were now collectively defended. The championships would be defended as
23652-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
23871-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
24090-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
24309-545: The belts, along with all other pre-existing championship belts in WWE at the time, received a minor update, replacing the scratch logo with WWE's current logo that was originally used for the WWE Network that launched earlier that year in February. According to well-known belt maker Dave Millican, who designed and created the belts, he wanted to go with either nickel, silver, or gold for the plates, but WWE, in particular Stephanie McMahon, wanted copper to do something different that
24528-545: The best to be the best. The following week, Angle was defeated by Styles in a rematch to earn the final spot in the 2013 Bound for Glory Series . Afterward, Angle was assaulted by Aces & Eights until Jackson came out and saved him. On June 20, Angle attacked TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray at the end of the Impact Wrestling episode, and revealed himself as the first member of Sting's New Main Event Mafia. In
24747-409: The bottom read "TAG TEAM" in a blue background and "CHAMPIONS" in blue text. The inner side plates were gold and featured two wrestlers grappling with the WWE logo at the top on a blue background, while the outer side plates were simply the company logo on a blue background. In August 2010, the WWE Tag Team Championship received a redesign, replacing the previous design that had been used in tandem with
24966-474: The bout, despite the fact that Puder's shoulders were not fully down on the mat, bridging up at two. Puder later claimed he would have snapped Angle's arm on national television if Korderas had not ended the match. Dave Meltzer and Dave Scherer made the following comments: It was real. If you don't follow fighting, Puder had Angle locked in the Kimura, or keylock as Tazz called it, although Tazz didn't let on
25185-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as
25404-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
25623-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
25842-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
26061-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
26280-412: The competition, with the prize being a match against Angle. Angle quickly took Nawrocki down with a guillotine choke , but Nawrocki managed to make it to the ropes, forcing Angle to break the hold. Angle then took Nawrocki down with a double leg takedown , breaking his ribs. Angle then locked another guillotine choke on Nawrocki, pinning him in the process. After Angle defeated Nawrocki, Angle challenged
26499-468: The competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
26718-455: The crusaders were soundly beaten. Angle resumed his feud with Michaels upon being drafted to the Raw brand in the 2005 WWE draft lottery , losing to Michaels at Vengeance on June 26. On the July 25, 2005, episode of Raw , Eugene took part in the "Kurt Angle Invitational" challenge. Angle was unable to make Eugene submit within the three-minute time limit, winning Angle's cherished Olympic gold medal (per match stipulation), and starting
26937-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
27156-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
27375-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
27594-475: The fifth WWE Grand Slam Champion . The match at No Mercy was named the 2002 Match of the Year by Wrestling Observer Newsletter . They made their first successful title defense by defeating Los Guerreros ( Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero ) at Rebellion on October 26. Their reign ended after they lost the title to Edge and Mysterio on the November 7 episode of SmackDown! in a two-out-of-three-falls match . Angle and Benoit would receive another shot at
27813-429: The final two before being eliminated by eventual winner Triple H. Angle briefly feuded with Kane , defeating him at WrestleMania X8 on March 17. Angle was drafted to the SmackDown! brand and then reignited his feud with Edge, defeating him at Backlash on April 21. The naturally balding Angle lost a " hair versus hair " match to Edge at Judgment Day on May 19, having his head shaved bald, which he would retain for
28032-414: The finals of the 2000 King of the Ring tournament on June 25. Later he feuded with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon . Angle then received another push and began pursuing the WWF Championship , winning the championship by defeating The Rock at No Mercy on October 22. Angle retained the WWF Championship for the rest of the year in matches with The Undertaker at Survivor Series on November 19 and in
28251-430: The first HD Impact! , Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash, and Sting started a new stable of legends called The Main Event Mafia. Scott Steiner joined the group the following week. Angle then defeated Abyss at Turning Point on November 9 in a Falls Count Anywhere match. After weeks of being pestered by Angle to give him a rematch, Jarrett said that if Angle could defeat Rhino at Final Resolution on December 7, with Mick Foley as
28470-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
28689-516: The first tag team championships to be defended in the main event of WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania , which occurred as the main event of WrestleMania 39 Night 1 in April 2023. The titles would again be defended in the main event of a pay-per-view and livestreaming event at Night of Champions the following month. The titles were then split at WrestleMania XL in April 2024 with the Raw Tag Team Championship subsequently renamed as
28908-606: The flagship events of WWE and TNA respectively. In 2004, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter inducted Angle into its Hall of Fame and later named him "Wrestler of the Decade" for the 2000s. John Cena called Angle "without question the most gifted all-around performer we have ever had step into a ring" and said "there will never be another like him". Kurt Steven Angle was born in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania , on December 9, 1968,
29127-411: The following episode of Impact Wrestling , Jarrett challenged Angle to a Parking Lot Brawl and agreed to sign a contract that would force him to move to Mexico without Angle's children, should he lose the match. Angle ended up winning the fight after choking Jarrett with a shirt, forcing him to say "adiós". In 2011, with his feud with Jarrett behind him, Angle aligned himself with Sting to feud with
29346-567: The following episode of Impact! Angle came out to make his retirement speech, after his failed attempt to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but was interrupted by Jarrett, who announced that he had made a deal with Hogan and Bischoff in order to end Angle's career at Bound for Glory, before attacking Angle, when he was restrained by TNA's security officers Gunner and Murphy . The following week Angle returned, trying to get his hands on Bischoff and Ric Flair, before being stopped by TNA's security officers. Angle returned three weeks later on
29565-439: The following episode of Impact! Angle promised to make Anderson suffer for disrespecting the U.S. soldiers, but was in the end once again defeated by him, effectively starting a feud between the two. At Destination X on March 21, Angle defeated Anderson in a rematch. Angle and Anderson were scheduled for a rubber match inside a steel cage at Lockdown on April 18. On the April 5 episode of Impact! , Anderson defeated Angle in
29784-483: The following episode of Impact! and touted the younger talent of the company, thus leaving the Main Event Mafia and turning face once again. Afterward, he was assaulted by the debuting Desmond Wolfe , who defeated him via knockout in a street fight the following week. At Turning Point on November 15, Angle defeated Wolfe in a rematch. The following month at Final Resolution on December 20, Angle faced Wolfe in
30003-459: The following episode of Impact! , Joe, now holding the X Division and TNA World Tag Team Championships, challenged Angle, the reigning TNA World Heavyweight and (IGF recognized) IWGP Heavyweight Champion , to a winner-take-all match at Hard Justice on August 12. While illustrating how he would take away everything important in Angle's life, Joe brought Angle's wife Karen into the fray, as she demanded
30222-470: The following week. The following week Karen slapped Kurt, providing a distraction which allowed Jeff to strike him. At the end of the show Crimson saved Angle from a beating at the hands of Immortal and Fortune . The following week, Ric Flair reinstated Angle in order to place him and Crimson in a seven–on–two handicap match against Jarrett, James Storm , Robert Roode , Kazarian, Rob Terry , Gunner, and Murphy. The match ended with Jarrett pinning Angle for
30441-687: The following weeks, Angle and Sting recruited Samoa Joe, Magnus, and Rampage Jackson as members of the New Main Event Mafia. Beginning on August 2, Angle took a hiatus from TNA after being admitted to rehab for drug and alcohol use. Angle returned on the October 10, 2013, episode of Impact Wrestling , attacking EGO and challenging Bobby Roode to a match at Bound For Glory . The following week, Angle stated his discontentment with Roode mocking his Hall of Fame induction and told Roode he would make him tap out . Roode responded by attacking Angle with help from his faction, EGO, forcing Angle to submit to
30660-545: The fourth time in a King of the Mountain match with help from Samoa Joe. On the following episode of Impact! , Angle regained leadership of the Main Event Mafia after he and the rest of the Mafia attacked Sting while introducing Joe as their newest member. At No Surrender on September 20, Angle lost his championship to A.J. Styles in a five-way match which also included Matt Morgan, Sting, and Hernandez . After defeating Morgan at Bound for Glory on October 18, Angle came out on
30879-408: The fourth time. After retaining the championship against Lesnar at SummerSlam on August 24, he lost the title to Lesnar in a 60-Minute Iron Man match on the September 18 episode of SmackDown! . Angle then formed a five-man team to rival Lesnar's team at Survivor Series on November 16, with Angle's team coming out victorious, despite Angle being eliminated by Lesnar. Angle then got involved in
31098-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
31317-404: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
31536-475: The heavyweight (90–100 kg; 198–220 lb) weight class despite his injury, defeating several competitors including Mongolian Dolgorsürengiin Sumyaabazar , Cuban Wilfredo Morales , Ukrainian Sagid Murtazaliev , and others. Angle won four close matches to earn his spot in the gold-medal finals. In 2006, Angle was named the greatest shoot wrestler of all time by USA Wrestling , as well as one of
31755-465: The incident by spitting in Hogan's face, threatening to quit TNA and go back to WWE. Angle apologized to Hogan, after being saved by him from Scott Hall and Syxx-Pac . At Against All Odds on February 14, Angle took part in the 8 Card Stud Tournament to crown a new number-one contender, but was defeated in the first round by Mr. Anderson , after Anderson used Angle's dog tags to choke and strike him. On
31974-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
32193-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in a professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
32412-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
32631-532: The industry was misguided and "stupid". In 1998, Angle had a tryout with the WWF after the rescindment of the WWF's original 1996 offer. He was subsequently signed to a five-year deal in August 1998, just three days after his tryout. Angle trained under Dory Funk Jr. at the Funkin' Dojo training camp in Stamford, Connecticut . Within a week, he started wrestling in front of a live audience. His debut match occurred in
32850-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
33069-571: The industry. After several weeks of vignettes , Angle made his televised WWF in-ring debut on November 14 at Survivor Series at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan , defeating Shawn Stasiak . In his initial push, he remained undefeated for several weeks, eventually losing to the debuting Tazz at the Royal Rumble on January 23, 2000. Angle won both the European Championship on
33288-449: The leader of The Angle Alliance after Cage denied Angle's request that he be Angle's "lackey". At Final Resolution on January 6, 2008, Angle successfully defended the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Cage, due to interference from Styles, and again at Against All Odds on February 10, with help from Tomko. At Lockdown on April 13, Angle lost the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Samoa Joe after being pinned. After suffering
33507-543: The main event of a pay-per-view and livestreaming event at Night of Champions the following month on May 27 when Owens and Zayn retained the titles against The Bloodline ( Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa ). At WrestleMania XL Night 1 on April 6, 2024, The Judgment Day ( Finn Bálor and Damian Priest ) defended the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship in a Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder match in which both sets of championships had to be retrieved for
33726-424: The man who had attacked and bloodied him the previous week, costing him his match with Bobby Roode for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On December 11 at Final Resolution , Angle was defeated by Storm in a singles match. On January 8, 2012, at Genesis , Angle defeated Storm in a rematch. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling , Storm defeated Angle in a number-one contender's match. Angle returned on
33945-485: The match Angle hinted at a possible retirement by leaving his wrestling boots in the ring. On March 3, Angle proceeded to destroy the wedding set with an axe and forced wedding guest New York Jet Bart Scott to submit with the ankle lock. On April 17 at Lockdown , Jarrett defeated Angle in an "Ultra Male Rules" two out of three falls steel cage match, with help from Karen. On the May 12 episode of Impact Wrestling , Angle revealed Chyna as his backup in taking care of
34164-490: The match as no-contest. After wrestling to a draw on the September 16 episode of Impact! , it was announced that both Angle and Hardy had advanced to the finals at Bound for Glory on October 10, to wrestle Mr. Anderson in a three-way match. At Bound for Glory, Angle was defeated by Hardy, when he turned heel and pinned Anderson after an interference from Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, who then went on to form an alliance named Immortal , with Hardy, Abyss, and Jeff Jarrett. On
34383-482: The match to end. As a result, the championships were split with Awesome Truth ( The Miz and R-Truth ) winning the Raw Tag Team Championship while A-Town Down Under ( Austin Theory and Grayson Waller ) won the SmackDown titles. A week later on the April 15 episode of Raw , the Raw Tag Team Championship was renamed as the World Tag Team Championship with a new set of championship belts. The SmackDown Tag Team Championship
34602-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
34821-476: The most reigns as a team at four, while individually, Kingston and Seth Rollins have the most with six. The New Day's second reign is also the longest reign at 483 days and they are the only team to hold the championship for over one consecutive year—Big E is also credited for this reign as during New Day's first two reigns, Big E, Kingston, and Woods were all recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule (Big E
35040-423: The move was fully executed. Not only was Angle not getting out of the move, but most MMA fighters would have tapped already. Angle couldn't tap for obvious reasons. The ref counted a three even though Puder's shoulders weren't fully down, trying to end the thing, because the reality was Angle would have been in surgery had it gone a few seconds longer or had Puder not given up the hold. As you would expect, Kurt Angle
35259-464: The mystery member as the debuting Mike Knox . The following week, Angle was sidelined with a storyline injury after Knox hit him in the neck with a ball-peen hammer . Angle returned to in-ring action on the January 31 Impact Wrestling , defeating Aces & Eights member Mr. Anderson in a steel cage match. Afterwards, Angle's two allies Garett Bischoff and Wes Brisco revealed themselves as members of Aces & Eights and attacked him. Angle infiltrated
35478-466: The original World Tag Team Championship to represent the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship since April 2009. The belts were on black straps with copper plates. Taking inspiration from Greece , the center plate was dominated by two Spartan helmets facing outward and it was encircled with a meander pattern. At the top of the center plate was the WWE scratch logo and at the bottom was a banner that read "Tag Team" on one line and "Champions" below that; above
35697-443: The other finalists. Daniel Puder , an American professional mixed martial artist , accepted Angle's challenge. Angle and Puder wrestled for position, with Angle taking Puder down; however, in the process, Puder locked Angle in a kimura lock . With Puder on his back and Angle's arm locked in the kimura , Angle pushed Puder's shoulders down, pinning him; one of two referees in the ring, Jim Korderas , quickly counted three to end
35916-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
36135-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether
36354-413: The record-breaking fifth time, thus turning heel in the process. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling , Angle explained that he did not agree with Sting, who, using the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, wanted to hand the promotion back to Dixie Carter, as he had found out that she had lied to him about not knowing of the relationship between Karen and Jeff Jarrett. When Sting confronted Angle, he
36573-494: The rest of Aces & Eights trying to interfere. Angle continued his feud with Aces & Eights on the December 6 episode of Impact Wrestling , defeating DOC via disqualification after the rest of Aces & Eights interfered. Three days later at Final Resolution on December 9, Angle teamed with Garett Bischoff , Samoa Joe, and Wes Brisco to defeat Devon, DOC, and two masked members of Aces & Eights in an eight-man tag team match. Angle unsuccessfully challenged Devon for
36792-403: The rest of Immortal, including the group's newest member, TNA World Heavyweight Champion Mr. Anderson. On the July 14 episode of Impact Wrestling , Angle helped Sting regain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Anderson. On August 7 at Hardcore Justice , Angle defeated Sting, after hitting him with a chair he snatched away from Hulk Hogan, to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for
37011-458: The rest of his career. During mid-2002, John Cena made his WWE televised debut, losing to Angle after a roll-up pin on the June 27 episode of SmackDown! . In September 2002, Angle started to feud with Chris Benoit , losing to him at Unforgiven on September 22. Angle and Benoit were teamed together to participate in a tournament to crown the first WWE Tag Team Champions . They won the tournament finals at No Mercy on October 20 making Angle
37230-464: The ring and showed a replay where JBL's shoulder hit the corner pad before Guerrero's hand. Angle was later fired by Vince McMahon as General Manager on the July 22, 2004, episode of SmackDown! after McMahon discovered that he was faking his handicapped status, and was put in a match against Eddie Guerrero at SummerSlam . At SummerSlam on August 15, Angle defeated Guerrero by submission. On the September 9 episode of SmackDown! , Angle fought Guerrero in
37449-543: The running for a title shot and vowed to fight his way through the top 10 and earn his spot at the top of the company. At Slammiversary VIII on June 13, Angle started his climb back to the top by defeating Kazarian , who was ranked number ten. Angle continued his climb, defeating Desmond Wolfe, who was ranked number nine prior to the match, on the June 24 episode of Impact! , and D'Angelo Dinero , ranked number eight, at Victory Road on July 11. Prior to his match with Dinero, Angle announced that should he lose on his way to
37668-591: The second TNA Triple Crown winner, holding all three TNA championships simultaneously. He is also a two-time King of the Mountain . During his tenure with TNA, he also competed for NJPW and the IGF , winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship once. In 2013, he was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame . He is the second wrestler, after Sting , to be inducted into both the WWE and TNA Halls of Fame. Angle has won over 21 professional wrestling championships and
37887-585: The second Triple Crown champion in TNA and the first to hold all three titles at the same time. Including the IWGP title, this made Angle a quadruple champion (and since Joe held the tag team titles by himself, that meant Angle's victory gave him both tag team championship belts, meaning Angle was now in possession of five belts). Angle, however, dropped both the X Division and Tag Team Championships to Jay Lethal and Team Pacman , respectively, at No Surrender on September 9. At Bound for Glory on October 14, Angle lost
38106-426: The silver plates on blue straps design of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship belts. While all other WWE championship belts were updated to feature customizable side plates for the champion's logos, the Raw and SmackDown tag titles lacked these features. On the April 15, 2024, episode of Raw , in conjunction with the Raw Tag Team Championship being renamed to World Tag Team Championship, the championship belts received
38325-406: The son of Jackie and David Angle. He is of English, German, Irish, Italian, and Lithuanian descent. He has four older brothers named David, Mark, John, and Eric , the latter of whom is also a wrestler; his older sister, Le'Anne, died at the age of 43 in 2003. He attended Clarion University of Pennsylvania , graduating with a degree in education in 1993. His father was a crane operator who died in
38544-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
38763-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
38982-415: The third major tag team title for men in WWE. However, this recognition was reversed when NXT reverted to its original function as a developmental brand in September 2021. At WrestleMania 34 on April 8, 2018, reigning Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus were scheduled to defend the title against Braun Strowman and a partner of his choosing. At the event, Strowman revealed that his partner would be
39201-527: The three began to argue over who was the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Due to the controversial finish to their match at Sacrifice, the title was declared vacant by Cornette. A tournament was held for the title which culminated in a King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary on June 17. There, Angle became the TNA World Heavyweight Champion by defeating Cage, Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, and Chris Harris . He then attacked Joe after denying
39420-499: The title against The Undertaker after a controversial finish where Angle pinned The Undertaker while locked in a triangle choke. Their match was highly acclaimed, with it being considered by many to be one of the best of the year. The Undertaker challenged Angle to a rematch on the March 3 episode of SmackDown! , where Angle lost by disqualification after Mark Henry interfered and attacked The Undertaker. This ensured that Angle would enter WrestleMania 22 as champion. Angle then began
39639-417: The title belt. Angle was then the special enforcer for the title vs. career match between Jarrett and Sting at Bound for Glory on October 22. However, as part of the worked finish, he took out referee Rudy Charles and assumed the referee's role for the rest of the match-up. Angle's first match with TNA took place on the November 16 airing of Impact! , where he defeated Abyss with the ankle lock and
39858-460: The title to Austin on the October 8 episode of Raw . Angle later turned heel again and joined the Alliance himself. Angle ultimately returned to the WWF side by enabling The Rock to defeat Austin in a "Winner Takes All" match between the WWF and The Alliance at the Survivor Series on November 18. In his first Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble on January 20, 2002, Angle lasted until
40077-404: The title, defeating X Division Champion Douglas Williams in his first-round match. At No Surrender on September 5, Angle first wrestled Jeff Hardy to a twenty-minute time limit draw, after which Eric Bischoff ordered five minutes of extra time. After that and a second five minutes of extra time, also ending in draws, it was ruled that, due to a cut, Angle could not continue the match, ending
40296-406: The title, following interference from Hogan. On October 16 at Bound for Glory , Angle successfully defended the title against Bobby Roode. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling , Angle lost the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Roode's tag team partner, James Storm. Angle returned on the November 17, 2011, episode of Impact Wrestling , attacking James Storm and revealing himself as
40515-526: The titles separately. In the main event of WrestleMania 39 Night 1, The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) defended the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship against the team of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn . This subsequently made both the Raw and SmackDown titles the first tag team championships to be defended in the main event of WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania . At the event, Owens and Zayn defeated The Usos to become champions. The titles would again be defended in
40734-565: The top 15 college wrestlers. In April 2011, Angle revealed that he was planning a comeback to amateur wrestling for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He later announced he was unable to make the trials for the national team due to a knee injury, though he held an honorary title as team manager. In 2016, Angle was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame for his amateur wrestling accomplishments. On October 26, 1996, Angle
40953-409: The top of the ladder, the arena went dark and Jeff Jarrett's music played. When the lights turned on, Styles had a guitar and performed an Acoustic Equalizer on Angle to win the match. Angle began a feud with Jarrett after No Surrender on September 14, when Jarrett hit Angle with his guitar, during a match that involved Angle, Christian Cage and Samoa Joe for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On
41172-406: The top of the rankings, he would retire from professional wrestling. On the July 22 episode of Impact! , Angle defeated seventh-ranked Hernandez and followed that up three weeks later by defeating sixth-ranked A.J. Styles. On the August 19 episode of Impact! , the TNA World Heavyweight Championship was vacated and, instead of continuing his climb, Angle was entered into an eight-man tournament for
41391-504: The tournament. On September 9 at No Surrender , Angle and Styles unsuccessfully challenged Daniels and Kazarian for the TNA World Tag Team Championships. Angle and Styles received another title shot against Daniels and Kazarian on October 14 at Bound for Glory , in a three-way match, which was won by Chavo Guerrero, Jr. and Hernandez. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling , Angle defeated Daniels and Styles in
41610-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
41829-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
42048-415: The two Immortal associates never to interfere in one of his matches again. On May 13 at Sacrifice , Angle defeated Styles in a rematch, following another interference from Daniels and Kazarian. After the match, Angle made the save for Styles, chasing Daniels and Kazarian out of the ring. This turned Angle face once again. On June 10 at Slammiversary , Angle and Styles defeated Daniels and Kazarian to win
42267-405: The venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
42486-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
42705-427: The win. Afterwards, Angle was saved from another beating by the returning Scott Steiner. The following week Fortune turned on Immortal and aligned themselves with Angle, Crimson and Steiner. On February 13 at Against All Odds , Jarrett defeated Angle in a singles match and as a result Angle was forced to walk Karen down the aisle, when she and Jarrett renewed their wedding vows on the March 3 episode of Impact! . After
42924-500: The winning pinfall was to become the number one contender to Christian Cage's NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Team Angle was victorious after Jeff Jarrett hit Abyss with a gimmicked guitar full of thumbtacks and allowed Sting to score the pin fall victory. Cage was set to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Sting and Angle in a triple-threat match at Sacrifice on May 13. The day of Sacrifice,
43143-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
43362-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
43581-630: Was associated with the incident, threatened to sue ECW owner Paul Heyman if he was shown on television in the same broadcast as the stunt. Despite achieving success in amateur wrestling, Angle initially held professional wrestling in low regard. He rejected a decade-long contract with the WWF due to his unwillingness to accept scripted losses. His opinion of professional wrestling changed when he began watching WWE Raw in 1998 and developed an admiration for Stone Cold Steve Austin 's talents as an entertainer. He later conceded that his negative attitude toward
43800-572: Was at the very top of the payroll. Angle wrestled his last match at an ECW house show on August 14, where he defeated Danny Doring . Angle signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). In 2006, Angle made his TNA debut on October 19 as a face , confronting Samoa Joe after Joe refused to relinquish the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt that, according to the storyline, he had stolen from Jeff Jarrett . The two men ended up fighting while Jarrett retrieved
44019-432: Was attacked after the match by Samoa Joe. At Genesis on November 19, Angle defeated Samoa Joe, ending Joe's undefeated streak. At Final Resolution on January 14, 2007, Angle defeated Samoa Joe in a thirty-minute Iron Man match 3–2 to earn a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Against All Odds on February 11, which he lost to Christian Cage after interference from Tomko and Scott Steiner . This led to
44238-456: Was attacked by Hogan, which led to Angle revealing that Hogan had been the one who had exposed Carter's lie to him. Angle also revealed that his goal was now to ruin Carter's youth movement in TNA by eliminating the younger wrestlers one-by-one, and started by attacking Bound for Glory Series leader Crimson after the main event, cementing his heel turn. Angle made his first televised title defense on
44457-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
44676-518: Was convinced by fellow Pittsburgh native Shane Douglas to attend the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) event High Incident . He gave an in-ring interview and provided guest commentary during a match between Taz and Little Guido , but left the building after Raven attached Sandman to a cross using barbed wire . Angle, shocked by the controversial imagery and afraid that his career prospects were going to be damaged if he
44895-476: Was defeated by Jeff Hardy in a four-way number-one contenders match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, which also included Magnus and Samoa Joe, on the March 21 Impact Wrestling . In the following weeks, Angle continued to face Bischoff and Brisco in multiple tag team and handicap matches, that all ended with the two getting the advantage over Angle. Angle then began feuding with A.J. Styles, after Styles refused to answer Angle's question on whether he
45114-477: Was defeated by Roode, after he landed awkwardly from a running belly-to-belly suplex. On the October 31 episode of Impact Wrestling , Angle lied about gaining medical clearance, as Angle suffered ( kayfabe ) convulsions during the match against Bobby Roode after a bad landing from the same move, which resulted in referee Brian Hebner rewarding a knock out/count-out victory to Roode. After the match, he also showed signs of post-concussive amnesia. On November 5, Angle
45333-442: Was during this time that he acquired the nickname "The Wrestling Machine", wearing a mouth guard and quickly squashing opponents. Upon coming to ECW , he issued an open challenge for ECW One Night Stand on June 11, which was accepted by Randy Orton. Angle defeated Orton, later losing to him in a rematch at Vengeance on June 25. On the June 27 episode of ECW , Angle challenged ECW World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam to
45552-436: Was established, in which select members of WWE's roster are reassigned to a different brand. After the WWE Tag Team Championship was unified with the World Tag Team Championship as the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship, the champions could appear and defend the titles on any WWE brand. The World Tag Team Championship was decommissioned in August 2010, leaving the WWE Tag Team Championship as WWE's sole tag team title, which dropped
45771-484: Was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame . Angle made his first appearance at a professional wrestling event in 1996, and signed with the WWF (now WWE) in 1998. Although he was never a fan of professional wrestling and previously had a negative opinion of it due to its scripted nature, he was noted for his natural aptitude for it; after training for only a few days, he had his debut match within
45990-415: Was less than happy backstage at Smackdown after almost being forced to tap out to Tough Enough contestant Daniel Puder. Downright ticked off would probably be the best way to describe his mood. The unscripted nature of the contest was the main reason that Angle was made to look so bad since Puder just reacted to the situation and could have forced Angle to submit had the referees not thought quickly and counted
46209-410: Was not done elsewhere. In August 2016, after the reintroduction of the brand split and the creation of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, the WWE Tag Team Championship was renamed to Raw Tag Team Championship. The belts then received an update on December 19 that year to reflect the name change. They featured the same physical design, but the plates were silver and the straps changed to red, countering
46428-421: Was not scheduled to return to action for some time. On the March 25 episode of SmackDown! , Angle was made the on-screen General Manager of SmackDown! . Angle continued his feud with Guerrero throughout 2004. He cost Guerrero the WWE Championship against John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) in a Texas Bull Rope match at The Great American Bash on June 27 by participating in the worked finish: Angle came down to
46647-501: Was nullified in the third round after Jarrett blinded Angle. After the match Jarrett bloodied Angle, before announcing that he was ending his mixed martial arts career and promising that his wife, Karen Jarrett (formerly Karen Angle), would join the retirement party. On the January 13 episode of Impact! , Karen made her return and stopped Angle just as he was about to attack Jeff, telling him that she would not allow him to ruin their personal lives and promised to tell all about their divorce
46866-636: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
47085-506: Was reported as having tested negative for the concussion, but his recurring knee injuries still required monitoring. The following week, Angle saw the New Main Event Mafia disbanded, then he was attacked by Roode, who accused Angle as using his injuries to get out of the match. On November 14, Angle won a submission match against Austin Aries in the World title tournament, but by using Roode's finisher:
47304-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
47523-446: Was split from the team in the 2020 WWE Draft ). John Cena and The Miz's sole reign is the shortest reign at 9 minutes, due to The Corre invoking their rematch clause immediately after losing the title. As a team, The New Day (across its two different variants of team members) also have the longest combined reign at 627 days, while Kingston individually has the longest combined reign at 912 days (910 days as recognized by WWE). Nicholas
47742-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
47961-432: Was then renamed as the WWE Tag Team Championship with its own new set of belts on the April 19 episode of SmackDown . The WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament was a tournament held to crown the inaugural WWE Tag Team Champions for the SmackDown brand. It concluded at No Mercy on October 20, 2002, and was won by the team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. Following the events of the WWE brand extension , an annual WWE draft
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