It’s rare that Vince McMahon was the one to follow instructions in WWE, but it did happen from time to time.
With an established background in amateur wrestling, which included winning a gold medal at the Olympics with a broken neck, Kurt Angle was the real deal inside the squared circle. At one point nicknamed “The Wrestling Machine,” wrestlers knew that they wouldn’t be having an off night if the Hall of Famer was their opponent. However, in the autumn of 2000, Angle was presented in such a way that he was never perceived as a threat.
After defeating The Rock at No Mercy to become WWE Champion, Angle’s booking was not that of the top champion within the company. With multiple matches ending in disqualification or no contests, the only person who Angle beat clean in the lead-up to Survivor Series was Crash Holly. With Angle’s booking making him look like a weak champion, one influential figure backstage decided that enough was enough.
Speaking on The Kurt Angle Show, the former World Champion would recall how Pat Patterson confronted Vince McMahon over his booking. Angle stated that Patterson demanded McMahon make Angle look more like a legitimate threat:
I was a heel champion. So they didn’t give me a lot of offence. And I started getting concerned after a little while. And 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.
Vince McMahon Issued Hefty Fines For Defying Orders
While there were some names that McMahon would change his mind for, such as Patterson, more often than not it was McMahon who set the landscape and issued punishments to those who defied him. In a recent interview, a WWE Hall of Famer recalled how Vince McMahon issued a hefty fine to a former Superstar for blading.
If you use any quotes from this article please credit The Kurt Angle Show and leave a h/t to Inside The Ropes.