With a gold medal draped around his neck, Kurt Angle couldn't hold back the tears as he stood proudly on the podium, his right hand across his heart, as "The Star-Spangled Banner" played.
It was the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, and Angle had just won the 220-pound freestyle wrestling competition.
The fact that he even qualified for the Olympics was amazing, because he did it with a broken neck, which he had suffered while winning the nationals.
Coming from a blue-collar background, the clean-cut, baby-faced Angle was quickly embraced as America's newest sports hero. He was a guest on national talk shows and even had two parades in his honor.
Currently one of the main attractions in World Wrestling Entertainment, Angle still invokes a spirited reaction. But instead of adulation, he routinely has an arena-full of fans chanting "You suck" at him, and he expects a similar response tomorrow night when he performs on WWE's SummerSlam pay-per-view show at MCI Center.
Now, is that any way to treat an Olympic hero?
It is in the bizarre world of professional wrestling, where milk-drinking straight-arrows like Angle are portrayed as the bad guys, and beer-guzzling rebels are the fan favorites.
A legitimate world-class athlete like Angle might seem out of place in that world, with its over-the-top theatrics and pre-determined outcomes, but he couldn't be more serious about his often-mocked profession. He is as driven to be recognized as the best pro wrestler of all time as he was to win the gold medal.
"A lot of people in this business claim to be the best," Angle, 36, said, "but I truly believe there's nobody better than me. I want to be considered the greatest ever."
To put his comments into context, he's not talking about wanting to be the biggest star in pro wrestling history. He knows the fans will never put him in the same class with Hulk Hogan and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
Holds nothing back
Angle is speaking in terms of a well-worked pro wrestling match being an art form. Despite WWE's sometimes-farcical presentation as a testosterone-laden soap opera - and Angle readily admits what he does is entertainment, not true sport - his goal always is to deliver the most compelling, realistic and athletic-looking match on the card.
"I want to steal the show every time I'm out there," said Angle, who is 6 feet 2, 220 pounds. "When you watch Hulk Hogan, he doesn't look quite as crisp and sharp and his technique isn't what mine is. Not to put down Hulk, but I have to look real because I am real.
