‘Angle’ Documentary Opens the Perspective on Kurt Angle

The year is 1999. I am fourteen-years-old and watching Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle debut in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The man looks like the prototype for Captain America as he walks down the ramp in what will be his signature single decorated with the stars and stripes of the American flag. As I have watched Kurt jump between good guy and villain over the years, one thing remains constant; he never lets anyone forget that he won his Olympic medal “with a broken freaking neck.” I assumed he’s exaggerating as all professional wrestlers do, putting a hundred on ten. The year is now 2023, and I am thirty-eight-years old. I am watching Angle, the documentary about Kurt Angle’s life. I feel guilt as I see that not only was Kurt Angle not exaggerating about winning a gold medal with a broken neck, that’s not even the toughest part of his journey. Angle takes us through the life of Kurt Angle from the very beginning. How he got into wrestling, his upbringing, the family he grew up with, and then his journey toward becoming not only a world champion wrestler but an Olympic gold medalist. We see Kurt Angle in a different light as he talks about his upbringing with his siblings, his closeness with his mother, his father being a stand-up man but also a high functioning alcoholic, the passing of his father, and then the drive that motivates him to rise through the ranks of amateur wrestling. It’s wild to go back and see this side of Kurt Angle, not only how he got into w…