Kurt Angle Calls Brian Gewirtz The Best Writer In The History Of The Wrestling Business
There have been many successful writers in the wrestling industry, but for Kurt Angle, one stands above the rest.
In March 2005, Angle delivered an iconic SmackDown moment when he came out to Shawn Michaels’ music, brought out Sensational Sherri, and performed “Sexy Kurt.” The song became so beloved that Angle even closed his Hall of Fame induction speech with an audience-assisted rendition.
Speaking with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp (full interview seen above), Angle revealed that it was Brian Gewirtz who he worked with on the song and promo all those years ago. He even went as far as saying that, in his opinion, Brian is the best writer in the history of the business.
“Brian Gewirtz,” Angle revealed. “He was my writer at WWE. I think he was the best writer in the history of the business. Actually, Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson hired him to be a writer for his production company and that was a very smart move. Brian was incredibly talented. He was kind of a nerd too, so he liked to do nerdy stuff and he liked me to do nerdy stuff. This comedy stuff, goofball nerd Kurt Angle who drinks his milk and doesn’t swear was right up his alley and I think that’s why we had great chemistry.”
Gewirtz worked as a writer for WWE from 1999-2012. He remained on as a consultant, however, until 2015.
Angle had been working with WWE until his release in April 2020 and told Fightful that the creative process is not the same now as it was during the Attitude/Ruthless Aggression Eras. Kurt put over the performers’ athletic abilities but noted how they don’t really connect with the fans in the same way. Here is what he said:
“It’s not the same. I think the character development was a lot stronger back in the early 2000s, 1990s, 1980s. We were able to connect with the fans a lot better. Now they don’t really connect with fans. There are some characters, but for the most part, today is about performance. It’s about what you can do in the ring. How good you are. It’s about high-flying stunts and acrobatic stuff. These guys are incredible athletes today.”
The Olympian continued on to say that today’s product is geared towards a different audience, so the things that worked 20 years ago wouldn’t necessarily endear you to the younger demographic that WWE is chasing.
“But, it’s changed quite a bit and the reason I think is back then it was more R-rated. It was more for adults and the content was for adults. Now it’s PG-rated and they market towards kids. They don’t want a lot of this, I guess, comedy that might be adult-oriented, wouldn’t really connect with the young audience. They’re a publicly traded company now. So, there are certain things they can do and certain things they can’t. They can’t duplicate the Attitude Era anymore,” Angle said.
Luckily, despite his on-screen persona, Angle said he never had any instances of people coming up to him and reprimanding him for being a “bad guy” on television. Whether the fans cheered or booed him, Angle didn’t mind so long as they weren’t silent.
“Nobody ever walked up to me and said that, but people have driven by and said, ‘Kurt, you’re an a-hole,’ yelling at me. I’m like, ‘Thank you.’ So, the crazy thing is half the fans enjoyed my comedy and the other half of the fans hated it. They absolutely hated me. I actually liked that, having a good chemistry with half of the fans and not so good chemistry with the other half,” Angle shared. “It’s not a bad thing. Solong as they care. If they love you or hate you, you’re doing your job. But if they don’t care at all then you’re not doing your job.”
Angle was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017. Since his dismissal from the company, he has gone on to start his own podcast, The Kurt Angle Show, which can be found here and on Patreon via AdFreeShows.
You can see our full interview with Kurt Angle at the top of the page, and can check out the Kurt Angle Show on AdFreeShows.com. You can also check out his nutrition line at this link.
