8 Most Shocking Kurt Angle WWE Moments

2. Being Drafted To The ECW Brand

Kurt Angle ECW One Night Stand 2006
WWE.com

Hands up who expected Kurt Angle to be drafted to the fledgling ECW brand in 2006? There can't be many, because Kurt was legitimately one of WWE's top stars by that point and deserved better than being lumped on a show that was already starting to fail. WWE's ECW was never going to succeed, not even with the mighty Kurt Angle.

On 26 May, it was announced that Kurt was headed to the watered down version of Paul Heyman's vision and becoming a full-time part of the ECW roster. Several months later, Angle departed WWE altogether and was showing up in TNA by the end of the year. This was a sorry end to Kurt's first run with the company.

WWE were obviously trying to make their version of ECW look big time by posting huge stars like Angle and (later) Chris Benoit to the brand, but it was plastering over cracks that had already started to appear. Kurt's aforementioned 'wrestling machine' gimmick would have been better on Raw or SmackDown.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.