Vince McMahon Told To Stop His Booking Of WWE Champion
Vince McMahon ruled over WWE for forty years as the ultimate say on what happened in his company, but every now and then even the boss has to shut up and listen.
Kurt Angle had a rookie year like no other in WWE, capturing the European and Intercontinental Championships before winning the WWE Title just eleven months after making his debut in the company.
Angle won that last championship from The Rock at No Mercy in October 2000 but even as champion, straightforward wins were hard to come by. Angle’s next win by pinfall or submission on TV after defeating The Rock came when he defeated Crash Holly on Sunday Night Heat.
Vince McMahon Switched Things Up For Kurt Angle
Speaking on The Kurt Angle Show, the WWE Hall of Famer explained how his lack of victories left him concerned but things changed when Vince McMahon was told to change things by his long-time confidante Pat Patterson:
I was a heel champion. So they didn’t give me a lot of offence and I started getting concerned after a little while. What happened was eventually they were making me look so weak Pat Patterson came to Vince and said ‘Listen, what you’re doing with Kurt man, you got to stop. You need to add value to this champion. You’re making him look illegitimate. You need to make him a legitimate champion. He needs to start getting some legitimate wins.’
And so eventually Vince started having me get wins. I started winning as a champion. But it took a while.
Kurt Angle then ended up picking up major wins over the likes of The Undertaker as well as winning the infamous Six-Man Hell In A Cell match at Armageddon in December 2000. Angle ultimately lost the title back to The Rock at No Way Out in 2001 which led to The Great One’s main event with Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 17.
Despite McMahon no longer running WWE on a day-to-day basis, Chris Jericho believes Vince McMahon’s influence was felt in the return of CM Punk to the company.