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Kurt Angle Reveals How Hard It Is To Lift 360 Lbs Mark Henry During A Match

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle started a podcast a while ago, where he gives his opinion on various aspects of professional wrestling. Recently, he revealed some details. about rival and fellow Hall of Famer, Mark Henry.

Apart from being Hall of Famers and World Champions, both Angle and Henry were Olympians. Mark Henry was a part of the USA Weightlifting team in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, in the latter he served as the captain. However, he failed to win any medals.

Angle, on the other hand, participated in the 1996 Olympics. He won the Gold medal in the heavyweight weight class, despite having an injured neck.

Kurt Angle Olympics
31 Jul 1996: Kurt Angle of the United States holds the American flag at the free-style wrestling competition during the Summer Olympics at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Both men had a brief feud in 2006 for the World Heavyweight title. Looking back, Angle gave some details of their rivalry during his podcast. However, they met before in 1999,

In their match, Angle lifted Mark Henry into a northern lights suplex and won. While speaking to Conrad Thompson, Angle revealed how it was lifting the world’s strongest man.

Of course I was nervous as hell. But Mark jumped for me really well,” Angle said in the podcast. “He’s a great athlete, he’s so explosive, When you need to lift him, he gets very light for you, so it’s not a problem.”

Kurt Angle and Mark Henry both got offered the same contract

During the 1996 Olympics, Vince McMahon offered both men a 10-year contract. While Henry accepted and debuted in 1996 itself, Angle took a different route.

The Gold Medalist used to think sports entertainment was inferior to his game. However, his mind changed when he started watching RAW. Angle eventually signed to WWE by 1998 under a 5-year contract.

During one of his promos against Mark Henry, Angle took their Olympics history into the feud. Angle said Henry did not win anything at the Olympics because he was slacking at a “strip club.”

Mark Henry
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 17: Professional wrestler Mark Henry speaks onstage during the WWE & The Creative Coalition’s “Be A STAR” Anti-Bullying Rally at Markham Middle School on August 17, 2012, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images)

The claim was false. As Angle said, “the only reason he placed 18th in the Olympics, (because) he got hurt. He lifted just enough so the team could place, (he) didn’t win a medal, even though he was expected to. He was ranked third in the world at the time.

But Angle obviously did not mention all this in the promo for the sake of the rivalry. Angle eventually won every title in WWE except the cruiserweight championship and garnered a cult following. Mark Henry is also a two-time world champion and had many noted rivalries.

Check the full video of Angle talking about Mark Henry below –

Read more – Do WWE Superstars Use Real Steel Chairs During Matches?

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