Why Vince McMahon Was Angry After Kurt Angle's WWE Debut
"You better not forget again!"
Kurt Angle admitted that Vince McMahon was "p*ssed" at him right after his full WWE TV debut.
The Olympian told the 'BASCHAMANIA' podcast that McMahon gave him a scripted promo to recite on a house show in Pittsburgh; the boss didn't write anything down, but had a very clear idea of what he wanted his new hire to say to the live crowd in his home town.
24 hours later, Kurt was at Survivor Series 1999 making his pay-per-view debut against Shawn Stasiak. Disaster struck when he forgot some of the lines McMahon had laid out for him (he was supposed to cut the same promo again in Detroit). Backstage after the match, Vince pulled Angle aside and said, "OK, here are the lines again - you better not forget again".
Despite being mad that Kurt hadn't pulled off exactly what he wanted, McMahon was impressed that Angle was able to think on his feet and cut a promo off-the-cuff. He noted to others that maybe they "had something to build off here".
They did. Angle took to pro wrestling quicker than most and became a sensation mere months into his run.