Kurt Angle Recalls Moment He Believes Got WWE Hall Of Famer Fired

Kurt Angle has looked back on the moment he believes led to WWE parting ways with Hall of Famer Bob Backlund in 2000.

Bob Backlund was one of the top stars in WWE during the late 1970s and early 1980s, during which time he held the WWE Championship for 2,135 days, the third longest reign in the title’s history.

In early 2000, the veteran returned to WWE at the Royal Rumble and allied himself with Kurt Angle, teaching the Olympic gold medallist the Crossface Chickenwing submission.

However, Bob Backlund was abruptly let go in March of that year, and Kurt Angle has looked back on what might have led to his dismissal.

Speaking on his podcast, The Kurt Angle Show, the four-time WWE Champion explained that everything came down to a backstage segment involving his rival at the time, Chris Benoit.

“[Bob] was supposed to put the crippler crossface on [Chris Benoit] while he was sitting, and Bob didn’t want to do it because he wasn’t standing up. I looked back [at the writer] like, ‘Holy sh*t.”

Not realising that segment was airing live, Backlund asked to do it over, something Angle thinks sealed his fate.

“I think that was the deciding factor. When Bob went and did that, they just went, ‘We’ve had enough of Bob Backlund, we’re gonna move on.’ Don’t get me wrong, Bob was fun to work with. I loved him.”

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the above transcription.