Kurt Angle Initially Turned Down Hulk Hogan Deal Over Money

Kurt Angle has opened up about his respect for Hulk Hogan.

Back in early July, it was announced that Kurt Angle would work as a commentator for Real American Freestyle Wrestling. The new wrestling promotion was launched by Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff in May.

However, disaster struck on July 24 when Hulk Hogan passed away aged 71. Despite this, the promotion’s first event went ahead as planned in August and served as a tribute to the WWE Hall of Famer.

The RAF is now preparing for its second event on October 25, before another event is held in Chicago a month later.

Kurt Angle Turned Down Hulk Hogan

During an appearance on the Ariel Helwani Show, Kurt Angle looked ahead to the upcoming event and broke down how he came to work for the RAF. He revealed that he initially turned down Hogan’s offer to be an announcer.

“(Hogan) said, ‘Listen, we can make this thing really big, but I need you to be a part of the team.’ Well, I turned him down because the first time he offered me a certain amount of money, and I said, ‘Well, to be a part of this promotion, I probably need a little bit more than that.’ And he said, ‘Well, we can’t give it to you right now.”

Despite the impasse, Angle eventually came to an agreement with Hogan shortly before he passed away.

“We talked again, and we made it work. And then he passed away in the process of me signing the contract. So Chad Bronstein, the other owner, continued on with me and he signed me on. So I’m really excited about this because for the first time, I feel like freestyle wrestling could be mainstream.”

Angle went on to recall working with Hogan when the veteran returned to WWE in 2002. This saw the Olympic gold medalist become the first person to ever make Hogan submit in a WWE ring at King of the Ring of that year.

“Terry, him and I were always close. We had a mutual respect for each other. I remember when I got the opportunity to wrestle him, and not only did I wrestle him but he really surprised me. He was probably in his late 50s and I was in the prime of my career, and we had a great match.

And the crazy thing is I’m the first one to ever make him tap out and I never thought he’d go for it, but he did. He had enough respect for me to say you know what Kurt, I’ll do the job tonight. And it was really cool that Hulk Hogan did that for me. He took me to another level.”

I was a fan boy, I’m like holy crap I’m wrestling Hulk Hogan, I was so excited.”

Speaking in August, Hulk Hogan’s widow, Sky Daily, confirmed that she’s considering taking legal action following the star’s passing. She suggested that any legal proceedings would be related to Hogan’s final surgery.

Daily had previously claimed that Hogan’s phrenic nerve had been “compromised” during the surgery. The nerve impacts a person’s ability to breathe.