In late 2004, Daniel Puder was involved in a SmackDown segment with Kurt Angle, which was the beginning of the end of the former's WWE career. Kurt Angle had challenged the Tough Enough rookies to a squat thrust competition, with Chris Nawrocki winning the match and bagging a shoot fight against Angle. Kurt ended up breaking Nawrocki's ribs, and proceeded to challenge the other finalists.
Puder accepted the challenge and not many fans were aware at the time that he had a legit MMA background. Angle took Puder down in a matter of seconds, but this was followed by the latter locking Angle in a Kimura lock. Angle tried to score a pin as one of the WWE officials realized the seriousness of the situation. Jim Korderas was the one to make the quick pin, even though Puder's shoulders were nowhere close to the mat. Angle and Puder rose immediately after, and the former WWE Champion went on to confront the rookie and talk to him off-mic. Angle was genuinely looking angry at what had just happened with Puder.
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About the author
Abhilash Mendhe
Abhilash Mendhe is a pro wrestling journalist at Sportskeeda with nearly five years of experience. He completed his MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management in 2016 and worked with multiple banking institutions, including Tech Mahindra. While he started writing WWE articles for Sportskeeda in 2019 as a hobby, it eventually became a significant part of his professional journey.
Abhilash checks his articles thrice before sending them to the editing team, ensuring his work is highly accurate and reliable.
He has interviewed prominent pro wrestling personalities like Noam Dar, Angry Miz Girl, Brendan Cobbina, and Jesse Lambert. Abhilash is a big fan of AEW star Orange Cassidy, as he believes the former International Champion’s on-screen gimmick of an extremely lazy guy resonates with him.
Given the opportunity to script WWE’s next big storyline, Abhilash would treat fans to the second installment of The Bloodline Civil War. He would book Roman Reigns to re-form The Bloodline with The Usos and Sami Zayn upon his comeback. The angle would see The Tribal Chief-led group go head-to-head with The Rock, Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Jacob Fatu in a blockbuster family feud.
When not reporting on pro wrestling, Abhilash likes to work out, go on walks, read, and explore new eateries.