The Forgotten WWE Career of Kurt Angle’s Brother

Kurt Angle is, without a doubt, one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time. First gaining national attention as an Olympic gold medalist, the American hero signed with WWE, where he showed off an incredible in-ring talent and blossomed as a character, especially as an over-the-top heel driven mad by the crowd chanting “You suck” at his entrance. Angle wasn’t the only wrestler in the family either. So was his brother, Eric. On several occasions, Eric Angle made a big impact in WWE, only to quickly disappear from the sport and fall into a life of controversy.

Eric Angle Made His WWE Debut at Survivor Series 2000

• Kurt Angle faced the Undertaker for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series 2000.
• Eric Angle took a Last Ride from the Deadman while pretending to be his brother.
• Kurt introduced his sibling the next night on Raw.

Kurt Angle began his WWE career in late 1998, two years after he became a national hero. However, instead of being an easy babyface in sports entertainment, his character’s cocky attitude quickly turned him into a heel. 2000 was a huge year for Angle, which saw him beat The Rock at No Mercy in October to win his first ever WWE Championship. The next month, he feuded with the Deadman himself, the Undertaker, at Survivor Series 2000. It was there that Eric Angle made his debut.

During Kurt’s defense of the WWE title against the Undertaker, the Phenom was in control when he got Angle outside of the ring. It was then that the cowardly champion crawled under the ring. When he came out, Taker pulled him back into the squared circle and delivered a brutal Last Ride. Taker went for the pin, only for confused referee Earl Hebner to stop his count before three. That was not Kurt Angle down on the mat. The real Kurt snuck up behind the Undertaker and rolled him up for the 1-2-3. The man Taker had power bombed was Kurt’s brother, Eric, who was dressed just like him. A day later, on Raw, Kurt introduced his brother, who then met the Undertaker once more, this time receiving a beat down.

During a Stint in OVW, Eric Angle Helped His Brother Beat Brock Lesnar

• Eric Angle wrestled for Ohio Valley Wrestling but was hindered by a bicep injury.
• Kurt and Eric Angle did a switcheroo in a SmackDown title defense against Brock Lesnar.
• His arm injury forced Eric Angle to retire from professional wrestling in 2003.

Eric Angle didn’t appear on WWE TV for two-and-a-half years after that. This didn’t mean he disappeared from professional wrestling. Eric was around, trying to make it on his own as a professional wrestler in WWE’s developmental system, Ohio Valley Wrestling. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the same success at Kurt, with a bad bicep injury requiring multiple surgeries to repair. In the fall of 2002, Eric Angle returned to OVW for a series of matches, but it would be on the main roster where he’d make another major impact.

In March 2003, Kurt Angle was once against the WWE Champion. On the March 13 episode of SmackDown, he defended his title against Brock Lesnar. Just like what had gone down at Survivor Series 2000, Kurt and Eric pulled off a switcheroo as Lesnar delivered an F5 to the champion, who was wearing a hoodie pulled up over his head. Instead of going for the pin, though, Lesnar looked shocked and confused. He’d been duped. It was Eric Angle at his feet. As he chased off Team Angle, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, the real Kurt Angle got in the ring and switched places with his sibling, lying motionless on the mat. The moment the unsuspecting Brock got back in the ring, the champion surprised him with a quick roll-up victory.

As with Taker, Eric Angle paid heavily for his actions, with Lesnar attacking him on more than one occasion, although one time Angle was able to outsmart the Beast with a crutch across the Beast’s mammoth back. Being the sibling of one of WWE’s top stars, and being put in big spots, should have set Eric Angle up for success. It didn’t. Soon enough, he was off WWE TV for good. He was later released, and that same year, after another injury, Angle retired from professional wrestling.

Eric Angle Dealt With Legal Issues and Cancer

• Eric Angle was arrested in 2019 for attacking a juvenile amateur wrestler.
• He was sentenced to two years probation for his role in distributing steroids online.
• Angle survived a battle with kidney cancer by receiving a kidney transplant.

Eric Angle settled into a quiet life away from the spotlight, but it found him again twice over a decade later for horrible reasons. First came a 2019 arrest for simple assault after he attacked a juvenile amateur wrestler at a show by picking him up by the neck and slamming him to the mat. Those charges were eventually dropped. Angle wouldn’t be so lucky the second time. In 2020, Angle was arrested again, this time for his role in distributing steroids online. He ended up avoiding jail time with a $5,000 fine and two years of probation.

In 2022, his legal woes behind him, hard times struck Eric Angle once more, this time in the form of kidney cancer. Thankfully, he pulled through with a kidney transplant. Unlike Kurt Angle, who is arguably the greatest in-ring technician of all-time and a WWE Hall of Famer, Eric Angle didn’t last long in professional wrestling. Still, his impact remains, even if it’s now mostly forgotten by a new generation.