Kurt Angle reveals name of superstar who paid extreme price for asking more money from WWE

Kurt Angle gives insight into a "unfortunate" finish to a promising career, one Superstar learned the hard way that asking WWE for more money was not the best career move. Kurt Angle is one of WWE's greatest in-ring performers of all time. He overcame a damaged neck to win the Olympic gold, and as a skilled wrestler, he could defeat Brock Lesnar backstage. However, one rookie nearly forced the WWE Hall of Famer to submit in 2004.

3 things you need to know

• Kurt Angle has had an illustrious career in WWE
• He won the Olympic Gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics
• Angle made his WWE debut in 1999

Also Read | Will Brock Lesnar stay with WWE after SummerSlam 2023? Here's what you need to know

Kurt Angle reveals how Daniel Puder got a WWE contract

Daniel Puder participated in the fourth season of Tough Enough, a training programme based on reality television that offered the victor a WWE contract. WWE executives broadcast an unscripted episode of Tough Enough in front of a live audience as the season was coming to a close. Kurt Angle challenged the season's top two finishers to a bout on the episode.

The first challenger, Chris Nawrocki, was defeated by Angle before he faced Daniel Puder. Angle was caught in a kimura lock by Puder when the wrestler had the upper hand, and the WWE legend was unable to escape. Puder's shoulders were not on the mat as Angle attempted to pin him, but the referee nevertheless counted to three and awarded Angle the victory.

(Kurt Angle during WWE Raw. Image: wwe.com)

Also Read | WWE news: Top-star to be written off television and miss SummerSlam; Here's real reason

Kurt Angle pays heed to how asking for more money led to Pruder's dismissal

Puder was guaranteed to fight at Armageddon 2004 and the 2005 Royal Rumble thanks to the event. Kurt Angle, however, claims that Puder's bright career was cut short because he insisted on getting paid more. During an on-stage interview with Inside The Ropes, The Olympic Hero talked about Daniel Puder and offered his opinions on the incident from 2004.

“Not long after that, Daniel didn’t work out and they ended up letting him go, and the thing is they did offer him another deal, but this son of a (explicit) said, ‘I want more money’ Okay, he didn’t even do anything in WWE yet, and here he is demanding more money. So they said, ‘Okay! we’re going to turn you down.’ And unfortunately, I think Daniel Puder would have had a pretty decent career if he would have been cool about everything. But I think because he wasn’t, his career ended very quickly, and it’s unfortunate because he was a talented kid.”

Puder was subsequently released by WWE in 2005 and spent time in Ohio Valley Wrestling before working for both Ring Of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling.