10 Things We Learned From Kurt Angle On Stone Cold's Broken Skull Sessions Podcast

10. His First WWE Contract Was For $50,000

Angle listened to his agent shortly after the 1996 Summer Games and knocked back a jump into "that fake stuff". The WWF had tabled a hefty $500,000 per annum deal in 1996, but Kurt politely declined before coming back for another bite at the pro wrestling cherry after ditching his management in 1998.

Things were different.

Vince McMahon offered a tenth of the prior contract and said Angle would only get $50,000 per year until he worked his way up the ladder and proved he could hang. Loving the challenge, Kurt told them to go for it and agreed terms during a meeting with Jim Ross.

Later, once he was more comfortable in the promotion, Angle admits he asked for the same cash Austin was getting. That was never going to happen, but he made a lot more than the entry-level $50,000 during his first year in the biz due to performance-related bonuses.