Kurt Angle

Kurt Steven Angle was born on December 9, 1968, and is an American retired professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. Before entering professional wrestling, Angle built a distinguished amateur career at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where he was a two-time NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion in the Heavyweight division. He went on to win gold medals at the 1995 World Wrestling Championships and the 1996 Summer Olympics, the latter achieved despite competing with a broken neck. In 2006, USA Wrestling named him the greatest shoot wrestler of all time, and he was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

Trained by Dory Funk Jr. and Tom Prichard, Angle signed with the WWF in 1998 and made his televised in-ring debut in November 1999. His rise was rapid; within two months he held both the European and Intercontinental Championships, and he later won the 2000 King of the Ring tournament before capturing the WWF Championship. He went on to achieve the WWE Triple Crown and Grand Slam, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame's class of 2017.

After departing WWE in 2006, Angle joined TNA, where he became a record six-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion and the second TNA Triple Crown winner. He also captured the IWGP Heavyweight Championship during appearances with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He retired in 2019.