The Goofy Bad-ass: Reflecting on What Kurt Angle Was and What He Could Have Been

Pictured: Unrealized potential
Photo Credit: ImpactWrestling.com

Jason Mann and Joe Drilling were discussing the 2000 SummerSlam main event on last Wednesday's installment of the Wrestlespective Radio SummerSlam main event series. Towards the end, they got to talking about Kurt Angle, one of the participants in the match, and how his class clown character never really resonated with them until he eventually dropped the har-har part and got more serious, saying that it made him more of like a Honky Tonk Man quality to his first title reign in the fall of 2000, that he was always getting by by the skin of his teeth. While that was good for the Intercontinental Championship, they said it wasn't good for the World Title. I disagree with that to a point; I think a Honky Tonk World Champion would work, but it has limited shelf-life, if you smell what TH is cookin'.

But onto a greater point, I was then given a shoutout by Mann about how I was a fan of Angle's goofy badass character. Certainly, that iteration of Angle was my favorite, mainly because he made me laugh, but also because of the unique synergy that he had as being a wholly comedic character with the potential to tangle with the best of the lot due to his amazing wrestling ability and his legit amateur background. He hit both my wheelhouses, funny guys and great wrestlers. How could I not enjoy the hell out of him? I will admit to people not buying him until he stopped being funny and started using drugs in a super hardcore fashion to be ZOMG INTENZ!!!1

Honestly though, that's not a fault with Angle per se. You see, in WWF/E, people have roles, and those roles sometimes are so narrowly defined that if you put someone outside of the archetype just a little bit, Kevin Dunn's head may just explode and then Johnny Ace has to clean up the brain matter, or at least find Winston Wolf to do the job for him. And Vince hates when Johnny Ace has to clean up brain matter.

The funnier a wrestler you are, the more comically inept you are in the ring. Think about it. Santino Marella, despite having legit judo/wrestling chops, is relegated to the Superstars Zone despite being one of the most naturally talented guys at getting people to like him. Chris Jericho never fully broke through until he came back from hiatus and started calling the fans gelatinous tapeworms. The Rock made people laugh, but was there really anything comedic about his demeanor? The only exception here is Triple H, but at the same time, if all his attributes aren't maxed out to 99 at all times, he turns into a pumpkin. Or so I have read.

Honestly, that's why I feel like Angle was Honky Tonk Man, only basically impersonating himself circa 1996 rather than Elvis. WWE never felt comfortable taking the reins off him and letting him be a full on badass in the ring while being a jokester out of it. It would have made for a very interesting paradox in character, one that would have had so many different storytelling options without staying in the same stale boxes that WWF/E would keep guys in.

So basically, while Angle's credibility rose, at least my enjoyment of him declined as the years went on. It's to the point where yeah, the majority thinks he has great matches in Impact (For me, he's lost too much of his flair for psychology for me to say he always has good matches), but his character has been wholly drained of the panache that attracted me to him as a fan in the first place almost 12 years ago.

I get why pro wrestling, and sometimes, mainstream media on the whole, puts characters into archetypal boxes. For the most part, those archetypes are there because they're tried and true. However, Kurt Angle, the jokey ass-kicker, was a moldbreaker that had legs. It wasn't contrarian for the sake of being on the contrary. It was fresh and people latched onto it, whether it was the smarks like me who gravitated to him or the regular fans who wanted to see him get his ass kicked because of it. Sometimes you have to take a chance.

WWF/E could have taken a chance with Angle all those years ago, but instead, they didn't. You can argue over whether or not it was successful or not, and I'd say aside from the drug use that got him booted out of WWE, it was. But I can't help but wonder what could have been if Angle was allowed to develop as more than just an inept clown evolving into a more and more humorless legit wrestler.

R-Truth Is the New Tracy Morgan

My funny bone done gets okeydoked by Truf every Monday
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Tracy Morgan's career is over. Well, okay, maybe it's not over, but after he went on stage and proclaimed that if his son were gay, he'd stab him as part of his act, it's going to take some rehab for him to get back in the swing of things. What does this have to do with pro wrestling? Well, Morgan's style of humor was always saying crazy shit that may or may not have made sense. That remind you of anyone currently on the RAW roster?

Yep, R-Truth has basically become the new Tracy Morgan on RAW, and thank for that, because if he didn't find that niche, I'd probably have to fight the urge to blow my brains out every time he came on screen. This past week on RAW may have been the funniest promo Truf has ever cut, and that's saying something given that he's labeled everyone in the world a "Jimmy" of some sort, little, big or even señor for the Spanish-speaking ones. In an aside, the only way that I think this character arc can really end is by having him be cornered and swarmed by a bunch of people wearing "Jimmy" tee-shirts. Almost like his worst nightmares coming true.

Anyway, this past week, he came out talking starting to talk about something called agraphobia or acrophobia or something (both are legit phobias, look 'em up) and then finished with something about spiders in a briefcase or some shit like that. I didn't try to understand it, but it was fuckin' funny. I think a lot of it has to do with his delivery too. I don't know if he's just that good an actor, or if he really is crazy, but it just comes off as so unhinged that it adds to the comedic value, kinda like how Tracy Morgan's delivery is. Now, if only Truf will stay away from making overtly homophobic remarks as part of his promos, then he'll be in better shape than Morgan ever was. Then again, he works for WWE, so that's not out of the question...

From the E-Feds to Reality: Team Tremendous

The Good Prof definitely was the best teacher

Note, this feature's too young to reboot. SORRY.

For those who don't know, TH is an e-fed enthusiast. Even in years when he wasn't watching wrestling, he was still e-fedding. He ran several characters in several feds at a time at his peak, but now, he resides only in Empire Pro Wrestling with one character. Still, he's handled and seen a ton of characters. Some may work in the real world, some may not. This is one of those characters from the former.

Names: Professor Tremendous and El Tremendo, Team Tremendous (handled by Dan West and Bill Dempsey, respectively, described by some as the Lennon and McCartney of e-fedding... funny, they're both still alive and neither have been rumored to have died either)

What's Their Deal: Well, I'll describe both of them in detail in a bit, but they're both crackpots. Like, major league, real deal, lying, cheating, stealing, disingenuous and yet preeminently hilarious shysters. Prof T was, as his name might suggest, a teacher, albeit in name only. He became more like a den father for a band of social rejects and the scum of the earth. EL Tremendo, meanwhile, was more like a crackpot luchador, like a fucked-up, comedic dynamo that found a lot of singles success after splitting from Team Tremendous and carrying on in a different fed.

Were They Successful in E-Feds: I'd say both their title résumés speak for themselves. They each won a bunch of titles, with the best of the bunch being Prof T's MBE World Championship.

Could They Get Over in Reality: It depends on where, actually. Both guys were known for raunchy humor at times and absurd humor at others. I'd imagine them as Santino if Santino weren't restrained by the WWE's usage for him. Of course, that begs the question, if Santino were turned up to 11 in terms of absurdity, would he still be over? Well, one thing's for certain... I'd probably still enjoy the hell out of him.

See, the Tremendous Ones were both guys I dug the hell out of. I'd go so far as to say Prof T may be my favorite or at least second favorite character of all-time, and El Tremendo is up there as well. I spent many a RP laughing my ass off at the scenarios painted out or the banter between Prof and his minions or the interviewer.

I guess that's where a lot of the charm with the Good Professor lay. He had minions, most of them being inept. With a personality as eccentric as Prof T's, the interplay between him and his minions was really the best. Tremendo didn't have minions though, but Bill was such a gifted writer at crafting really, really fucked-up situations and fleshing them out in the most humorous way possible. I really think they'd have cleaned up in a raunchier time in WWE. Then again, the key is raunchy. I'm not sure if either character would work in a neutered setting.

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!