Exactly two decades ago, the debuting Undisputed WWE Champion was crowned and legendary Kurt Angle was a part of the race to the championship. Eventually, he was unable to win the gold but if the original creative plan would have been intact then he did have the opportunity to make history.
During the latest episode of The Kurt Angle Show, the WWE Hall of Famer 2017 headliner spoke about the infamous three-match tournament featuring himself, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and Chris Jericho to unify the WWF and World Championship belts, all the way back in 2001.
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As per the comments of the legendary superstar, Chris Jericho was never supposed to be victorious at the end of the night. The only Olympic Gold Medalist in wrestling history was supposed to win the gold, instead.
“The week before the pay per view, I was still supposed to be Undisputed Champion,” Kurt Angle said. “Vince McMahon had me pinned as the Undisputed Champion and wanted me to win the two titles.
Vince came to me the week prior to the pay-per-view and said ‘Listen, is it okay if I give it to Jericho cause I want to start pushing Jericho and I think this would be great for him.’ I said ‘No Vince, you should do that. I think Jericho needs it and it’s a great opportunity for him.’ I was supposed to win the Undisputed Championship but Vince McMahon changed it at the last second and gave it to Jericho.”
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Kurt Angle was involved in a WWE Championship tournament
The Invasion storyline got wrapped up at the Survivor Series 2001 PPV event, with Team WWF taking the win and destroying the ECW and WCW Alliance. Then at Vengeance 2001, the main event was revolved around the crowning of an Undisputed WWE Champion, with the WWE and WCW Championships being unified.
As noted above, a four-man tournament was placed to determine the Undisputed Champion in WWE, with The Rock, Stone Cold, Kurt Angle, and Jericho all gunning to become the first-ever Champion in this new era.
Jericho would go on to defeat The Rock and then Steve Austin in the final to take both the WWE and WCW Championships, home and thereby becoming the first man in history to unify the belts. He would go on to hold that belt until next year’s Wrestlemania.
You can check out the full card of WWE Vengeance 2001 as given below,
The APA (Bradshaw and Faarooq) vs Billy and Chuck
Scotty 2 Hotty and Albert vs Christian and Test
WWF Intercontinental Championship Match – Edge (c) vs William Regal
Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy Singles match with Lita as special guest referee
WWE Tag Team Championship Match – The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) (c) (with Stacy Keibler) vs Big Show and Kane Tag
WWE Hardcore Championship Match – The Undertaker vs Rob Van Dam (c)
WWE Women’s Championship Match – Trish Stratus (c) vs Jacqueline
WWE Championship Match – Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs Kurt Angle
WCW Championship Match – Chris Jericho vs. The Rock (c)
Undisputed Championship Match – Chris Jericho vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
