Kurt Angle Reveals Vince McMahon Turned Racially-Motivated Ribs Into WWE Storylines

Kurt Angle has stated that Vince McMahon learning the Olympian had dated African-American women became a WWE rib that led to on-air storylines with Booker T, Sharmell, and Jason Jordan.

These claims came on a recent episode of The Kurt Angle Show. Kurt claimed that once WWE's then-CEO learned of his dating history, McMahon turned ribs into storylines, doing so to rub the idea that he knew what was going on in Angle's personal life in the WWE Hall of Famer's face.

Said Angle of the Booker, Sharmell, and Jordan storylines' inception (h/t Wrestling Inc.):-

“Vince McMahon caught wind that I dated a couple of African-American women in my past. About 17 years ago, he had me do a program with Booker T and Sharmell, where I was stalking Sharmell, Booker T’s wife. And now it’s Jason Jordan. Vince likes to take ribs and turn them into storylines. He just has this crazy weird personality. And he just wanted to kind of rub it in my face, like, ‘Hey, I know what was going on in your life, and we’re going to make it into a storyline.’ He wasn’t going to let this thing die. It was going to keep going.”

Angle worked with Booker T and Sharmell during a less-revered period of his immensely successful WWE career in 2005. Key to the storyline was Kurt stalking Sharmell. Amongst other things, the promotion scripted Angle accusing Booker's wife of "fondling his privates", Kurt claiming her wanted "bestiality sex" with Sharmell, and the former WWE Champion pinning her in a sexual position during a handicap match.

Jason Jordan, meanwhile, was revealed as Kurt's kayfabe son in 2017. Though the storyline was initially panned (and Jordan struggled as a singles babyface), it appeared to be turning around through a slow-burning heel turn towards the end, though Jordan's wrestling career was cut short by a serious neck injury the following February. Unfortunately, Jordan (now a WWE producer) still struggles with neck issues to this day.

On Jordan, Angle stated that their onscreen dynamic was mirrored backstage, with the duo calling each other "dad" and "son":-

“To be honest with you, we treated each other like father and son. It’s crazy. He was calling me ‘dad,’ I was calling him ‘son.’ We were half-joking, but we were half-serious, too. It was like I was his dad in the WWE, for real … He never disrespected me. He was always a good kid. And here I am talking to you like he was my son. It was just crazy because that’s how we treated it.”

Although Jordan may never wrestle again, he has drawn considerable backstage plaudits for his production work, resulting in him ascending to a senior role in 2021.