Kurt Angle Recalls Wrestling The Undertaker – “He Choked Me Out On A Plane!”
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle has discussed what it’s like to go one on one with The Undertaker, mentioning that the Deadman once choked him out on a plane.
Angle was discussing The Undertaker during an episode of The Kurt Angle Show [available ad-free at AdFreeShows.com]. The Olympic gold medallist explained how the Deadman was unquestionably respected in the locker room but that he could take matters into his own hands when things didn’t go how he felt they should.
Case in point – Kurt Angle tussling with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon at 30,000 feet. The story goes that McMahon continually goaded Angle into wrestling him on a plane and as they did they woke a sleeping Undertaker. With Taker waking to see Angle on top of the boss, he wrapped his tree-trunk arms around Angle’s neck and commenced putting the WWE Hall Of Famer to sleep.
Angle stated:
“Taker was great to work with. He was easy to get along with. You liked him and feared him at the same time. He just had this way about him that he was cool, calm, and collected, but if you stepped out of line, he was going to do something. He literally choked me out on a plane once when I was wrestling Vince McMahon. So, you don’t want to mess with The Undertaker.”
Angle’s story took place on the infamous “Plane Ride from Hell” from 2002 that has led to some legendary stories from wrestlers over the years. The Undertaker attacking Angle because he thought Kurt was legitimately fighting Vince is one of those stories!
As far as working with The Undertaker in the ring, Kurt Angle says that everything for most of the match was down to the Phenom and that his formula worked exceedingly well in his matches:
“He calls everything up until the comeback and finishes. You just have to listen to him and trust him, and I did. Every time I worked with the Undertaker, he has the same equation in every match. He shines on you, he works your arm, you know, he does the jump off the top rope, I forgot what it’s called. Yeah, the Old School! So, he works our arm, and then when he’s done shining, he will have you take his knee out, and you know, he will run into the corner with a high boot, and I’ll move, and it will hurt his leg. And, it’s the same equation every time, but it works. You know, for him, it was perfect. So, that’s the way it always went with the Undertaker, but he called the whole thing up until the comeback and finish.”
If you’re wondering about Angle’s best match with The Undertaker, it was probably the classic match they had at No Way Out 2006. It was one of the best matches in the careers of the two legends.
Kurt Angle also recently discussed the match that he thinks led to Vince McMahon deciding to make him WWF Champion less than a year into his on-screen career with the company.