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Kurt Angle and host Conrad Thompson spoke about the Olympic gold medalist's rookie year in WWE during the most recent episode of 'The Kurt Angle Show' on AdFreeShows.com. Kurt Angle faced Bob Holly on SmackDown in 2000, and the match is unfortunately remembered for Hardcore Holly suffering a broken arm.
Kurt Angle botched a moonsault and broke Holly's arm during the landing. The WWE Hall of Famer admitted on his podcast's latest episode that he felt terrible when the injury happened. Kurt Angle revealed that he did not practice the moonsault before executing it on Bob Holly.
Instead of getting some distance from the moonsault, Angle explained that he shot up in the air. Angle missed the mark, and his shins ended up crashing into Holly's arm.
"Oh yeah. I felt really bad. I wanted to make sure, when I hurt Bob, the problem was I didn't practice the moonsault. I think I might have hit it one other time before that, and I never practiced how far out I would go. So, when I placed Bob in the middle of the ring, I went up really high, and I didn't go a lot far. I felt short, and my shins hit his arm, and he had a compound fracture. Both bones were completely broken."
The botched moonsault affected Kurt Angle's rhythm in the match, and it was Bob Holly who carried the contest to its finish with a broken arm. Holly was always known for his toughness, and the fact that he completed the match with a severe injury should surprise nobody.
Kurt Angle revealed he had a rough time working with Bob Holly's fractured arm for the remainder of the match.
"I was flipping out. I was like, 'Oh my god, what are we going to do? Bob, just stay down. He said, 'No, let's finish the match.' Well, I don't remember what's next, so he is calling the match to me, and while we're doing it, I'm grabbing his arm to shoot him off the ropes, and it's his broken arm, and he's like, 'Oh s***, you're hurting me.' Every time I would grab his arm and shoot him off, he would scream really loud, and it was really, you know, it was a hard match to finish. It seemed like forever. He was injured, and I didn't want to hurt him any more than he was."
Kurt Angle said he was very concerned about Hardcore Holly's condition. Angle revealed that he took good care of Holly after the mishap as he regularly contacted the former Hardcore Champion.
"But Bob is a bada** and he was going to finish the match regardless. And you know, I wanted to make sure, you know, when I hurt him, I wanted to make sure he was okay. I took care of him. I checked up on him. I took him to the hospital. I went and got him food. I called him for the next several weeks, making sure he was okay. I felt really bad about what happened, and I wanted him to know that I sincerely apologized."
It was the bullies trying to get a reaction: Kurt Angle on being labeled 'dangerous' after the Bob Holly incident
While the 'backstage bullies' accused Kurt Angle of being dangerous in the ring following the incident, the WWE Hall of Famer ignored all the verbal jabs and was more worried about Bob Holly's well-being.
"Oh yeah, it was the bullies trying to get a reaction out of me, which I didn't buy. I completely ignored it. I would laugh and just laugh it off and not say anything back."
Kurt Angle was significantly affected by the incident, and he did everything in his power to make up for his mistake.
"I knew it was the right thing to do. I didn't have any second guesses about it. I just wanted to make sure he was okay, mentally and physically, because when you are in the business, that's a tough blow. Bob was getting pushed really well at that particular time, so, you know, to take money away from him because he would have to take off for a few months really affected me. I wanted him to know that I was really, really sorry."
Bob Holly would later reveal in his book that he appreciated Kurt Angle's efforts after the injury. Angle was very new to wrestling back in 2000, and the genuine regret over injuring Bob Holly preserved his backstage reputation. As time passed, Kurt Angle perfected his in-ring work and became known as a technical genius.
If any quotes are used from this article, please credit 'The Kurt Angle Show' and give a H/T to SK Wrestling
