On a recent edition of “The Kurt Angle Show” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle and Shelton Benjamin discussed the rise and fall of the Team Angle stable with Charlie Haas in WWE.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
Benjamin on winning the Tag Team Titles with Charlie Haas so early in their run: “I did not expect that that would happen so fast. And it’s one of those things where going into pro wrestling, my goal was just to be a tag team champion. I had — I didn’t think about US Title; in my head, I was gonna be a tag team champion. The Rock n’ Roll Epxress were tag team champions, those were my fave. I was going to be a tag team champion. And another part of that is just — which is an issue for me to this day still, there was a lack of diversity in the heavyweight world champion scene. So because I never saw it, it never crossed my mind that I could do this. That I could be the world champion like that. But a tag team champion, I knew, ‘Okay, this is what I’m going to get.’ So my goal going into WWE was, ‘Okay, be an tag team champion.’ And I did that. We debuted the very last Smackdown of 2002. By Wrestlemania, we were defending the Tag Team Championship. That was a whirlwind. It was crazy, and I was like — I remember taking that Bill home for the first time and going, ‘Holy cow, I did it.’ I could not believe I had accomplished my goal that early. So it was like, you know, kind of like the dog chasing the car. ‘Okay, what do I do now? No goals.’ Set new goals!
”But yeah, during that time, and maybe that whole first year or two, like I could not wait to get to work. I absolutely cannot wait to get to work. And honestly, like, Kurt was our captain. He was our leader. He made us feel like we mattered. We were part of a team. It was Team Angle, but Kurt was like a brother. He’s our big brother. He’s not treating us like his lackeys or anything like that. Kurt is treating us like equals, and I think that played into why things worked so well between us. Like, we all just get along. And one of the biggest honors that I personally had that early on was, at one point I remember Kurt un had asked me and Charlie, ‘Hey, how do you do something like that?’ So it’s like, ‘Whoa!’ In my head, he’s, he’s already phenomenal but he’s asking for my advice or our advice. So it wasn’t just a, ‘Hey, follow my lead.’ It’s like, ‘Hey, guys, what did you guys think?’ So we were all having so much fun. And like I said, Kurt couldn’t have a better guy to helm. He was awesome.”
Angle on Team Angle breaking up: “It was my fault. I broke my neck. And when I came back, they were like, ‘Hey, we need to change stuff up, and we’re gonna have you faced Charlie and Shelton.’ And it was like, ‘Wait a minute, we just started this.’ Like, we only went for what six months before they kind of split us up? Maybe seven months? It wasn’t long at all, and it could have been really, really good. I mean, we could have had one of the greatest factions in history. I mean, this thing was special. We had something really cool going on. And it just sucks that I got injured. And that’s the reason why.”
Benjamin on Team Angle breaking up: “1,000% [the faction breaking up quickly]. Yeah, it was not long at all. It didn’t take a year. Yeah, it was disappointing for us too. Like I said, we were having so much fun with it. The fans loved it. We loved it. And honestly, I felt like we still had so much more to learn from Kurt, just being on his tutelage. But you know, things happen and whoever made the decisions weren’t budging on it. And yeah, we I think we’re all — I think I speak for Charlie when I say we all felt like yeah, they broke us up way too soon.”
