Kurt Angle – “I Didn’t Have A Business Mind” In Early WWE Career
Kurt Angle has admitted that he has some regrets about his WWE career in terms of merchandise opportunities that he missed out on.
For most of his WWE career from late 1999 until he left in the summer of 2006, Kurt Angle was mostly a heel, but he also had periods where he was among the most popular wrestlers in the company as a babyface.
Despite being one of the best wrestlers in WWE and a main event for about six years in his career, Kurt Angle never got to have a signature WWE Title like Steve Austin or John Cena. That’s something Angle regrets as he looks back on his career.
On a recent episode of the Kurt Angle Show podcast covering Judgment Day 2005, they were discussing John Cena’s spinner WWE Title and how Angle regretted not thinking about merchandise opportunities earlier in his career.
“I just never thought of it. You know, John Cena did, Stone Cold Steve Austin did. I never did, and I could have had a really cool Olympic belt. I believe Vince would have bought into it, and he would have followed through. I wasn’t a merchandise guy. I wish I was. I wish I would have pushed the merchandise harder. You know, early on, I just didn’t have a business mind when I got into business.”
“I was an amateur wrestler and didn’t really market myself. You know, John Cena came in fully prepared. Stone Cold Steve Austin, same with him. They had ideas for merchandise before they even started, and they continued to have ideas for merchandise during their careers.
“I didn’t start [having merchandise ideas] until, like, my fifth year in the business. Then, I was like, ‘Okay, I need to start making merchandise,’ and it was just horrible that I didn’t have a business mind at that time.”
As for Cena’s spinner WWE Title, Kurt Angle preferred other World Titles for himself but believes it was a good thing for Cena because it fit his character.
“It was good for Cena. Having someone else carrying that belt, it’s kind of odd, because Cena’s the one that came up with the idea and the concept, and he made a lot of money on merchandise with it.”
“If Cena was going to carry the title that was great for him, but I’m more of a traditional guy. I like the old title, the eagle title. I also love the World Championship, but the spinner belt was cool. I just think it was cool for John.”