Kurt Angle Says Vince McMahon Told Him To ‘Sink Or Swim’ Before First WWE Promo With No Experience

Kurt Angle recalls how Vince McMahon told him to ‘sink or swim’ before cutting his first WWE promo.

In 1998, Kurt Angle was signed by WWE following his success as an Olympic gold medalist in wrestling before being trained by Dory Funk Jr. ahead of his in ring debut in March of 1999 before becoming a full time member of the WWE roster later that year. During his time training under Funk Jr, Angle did not have time to train for promos like modern pro wrestlers do, cutting one promo before his first one in WWE.

While speaking to Going Ringside in a new interview, Kurt Angle recalled the very first time he cut a promo in WWE, noting that Vince McMahon told him to ‘sink or swim’ despite his minimal experience.

“Yes, and you know what’s crazy is I didn’t even train to do that. We didn’t have OVW or NXT back then, so we had no way of preparing for TV, especially with cutting promos, and I only cut one promo in Memphis when I was training down there and I remember when Vince McMahon wanted me to do my first promo, it was my debut. I said, ‘Vince, I can’t cut promos, I’m horrible at them.’ He said, ‘well, I’m gonna give you an opportunity, either sink or swim.’ So he starts telling me the promo. He didn’t write it down for me to memorize, which is what they do. He told me at one time, and I was listening, and I stopped listening because he went on for like six minutes. He said, ‘all right, I want you to go out there and cut the promo.’ and I said, ‘Vince, I didn’t hear a word you said. Could you repeat it again?’ He said, ‘I’ll repeat it one more time. Go out there and sink or swim. It’s up to you.’ I went out there, and I got about 80% of it right and he said, ‘I know I can work with this kid. This kid has ability.’ So he started having me cut promos every week and week after week, they’re getting longer and longer, and I’m getting better and better at them, and before I knew it, I was one of the best in the business at cutting promos. So I owe that to Vince McMahon he he pulled me out of my comfort zone early on in my career.”

Elsewhere in the same interview, Angle disagreed with the idea that he didn’t need to be trained prior to his WWE debut. You can read more about that here.

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