Kurt Angle and USA Wrestling continue to give back.
Olympic gold medalist and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle is on a mission to help out the current generation of US Olympians, namely the men’s and women’s wrestling teams. Unlike many other countries, the United States does not pay its Olympic athletes to train and compete full-time. As such, many USA athletes must take on jobs outside of their training schedule to keep themselves financially afloat.
According to Angle, the money raised through his partnership with USA Wrestling will be enough for the wrestlers to make ends meet through their training for the 2028 Olympics. In a new interview with WrestleZone’s Managing Editor Bill Pritchard, Angle revealed that USA Wrestling is providing added incentives for the respective athletes.
“They’re giving a stipend to the top three athletes in each weight class. That’s already done. That’s taken care of,” Angle said. “It’s not a lot of money. It’s enough for them to get by, but it’s enough so they don’t have to get a job. But the incentive is if they win the world championships, they get $50,000. It’s not a lot of money, but it will help them get through the years of training up until the Olympics. That every bit of money counts.
“If you take second, I believe it was 25,000 [dollars] and third is 15,000 [dollars]. So they’re giving them incentive by doing that. That’s why I’m also raising money, so these athletes can get paid if they win a medal at the world championships. They also win the money for the Olympics. It’s not a lot. $38,000 for a gold medal. $23,000 for a silver and $15,000 for a bronze, but it’s money. It’s something that these athletes definitely could use.”
Kurt Angle reacts to recent development in women’s NCAA wrestling
In January 2025, the NCAA officially declared women’s wrestling as a championship sport, with Divisions I, II and III approving it at the 2025 NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The NCAA’s first women’s wrestling championship will be held in 2026, and according to Kurt Angle, it seems to be a long time coming.
“The problem was we didn’t have a lot of colleges that had women’s wrestling,” Angle said when asked about the delay in making this NCAA move. “And back 20 years ago, we didn’t have a lot of women participating, so we had to go in stages. The Olympics were first. We had to make sure that was all a done deal. But as far as college, women would start joining the men’s wrestling teams and try to intermingle with them. We didn’t have enough women participating to have NCAA championships for them. Now we do. There are a bunch of programs popping up all over the country for women’s wrestling.”
Angle said Title IX also had a lot to do with women’s teams getting equal billing in the college ranks. Instead of taking men’s programs away from schools, women’s programs like amateur wrestling are being added.
”Wrestling is the greatest sport in the world. It’s the hardest sport in the world. I would tell you this, the women are tougher than the men. These women are just incredible. You watch them wrestle and you’re like, ‘Wow.’ These girls are badasses. They dominated the Olympics this past Olympics. They won four medals, which is incredible. I believe the freestyle men’s wrestling team won three medals. They did pretty well too. But, the women, they have a possible medalist in every single weight class this upcoming Olympics. That’s incredible.”
Angle attended the Royal Rumble with his daughter in training
Last year, Kurt Angle revealed that his youngest daughter, Nikoletta, had begun her amateur wrestling training with his brother, Eric, a former amateur wrestler. Last month, Nikoletta had a first-hand pro wrestling experience when she attended the WWE Royal Rumble with Kurt.
Naturally, this dynamic set up an opportunity for her to learn the difference between the two types of wrestling, both of which her father previously competed in.
“I had to explain it to her because pro wrestling and amateur wrestling are worlds apart,” Angle said. “The only thing identical about them is the word wrestling. My daughter was like, ‘Daddy, can you actually punch someone during a wrestling match?’ I said, ‘Only in pro wrestling. You can’t do that in amateur wrestling.’ So it was a little confusing for her, but she got it.
“She got a taste of what I did and what I experienced in my pro wrestling career. I brought each and every one of them. I usually take one at a time when I go places. So just to experience whatever we’re doing together, just that one child and myself. That was Nikoletta’s turn and we ended up going to Royal Rumble.”
Kurt Angle shares a progress update on his new movie
Amateur wrestling has played a huge role in Kurt Angle’s life. Last year, he shared that he was in the process of making a movie about his life. Angle said they talked about two movies, with the first focusing on everything leading up to his Olympic gold medal win.
Now, he says the script is finished, and casting will commence next month.
“As far as my movie, we’re picking the cast next month. We’ve got the script done. We’re still finding investors. It’s going really well, so we’re going to probably start shooting at the end of the summer. This movie’s only going to be about my Olympic career.
“There’s too much content to go beyond that, so what they’re thinking is doing a second movie about my WWE career. The directors are Ian and Eshom Nelms. They’re incredibly talented directors. They directed movies like ‘Fatman’ starring Mel Gibson and ‘Red Right Hand’ starring Orlando Bloom and many other great films. I’m really excited to be working with these guys. It’ll be the first time I’m behind the scenes. I’ve never been behind the camera before, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Learn more about Kurt Angle’s Olympic fundraising efforts at KurtAngle.org.
Watch our full interview with Kurt Angle below:
