WWE's banned list of moves has seen many additions and exclusions over the years. The company reportedly barred its talent from executing a plethora of dangerous wrestling moves in 2000, including multiple variations of the suplex. While the rest of the roster was told to cut down on certain maneuvers, Kurt Angle was permitted to use the belly-to-belly and German suplex.
The Olympic gold medalist revealed details of his conversation with Vince McMahon during this week's episode of his The Kurt Angle Show. Angle's entire move set relied on suplexes, so McMahon didn't want to take them away from the popular star.
On the podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer recalled his chat with McMahon. He described how the WWE Chairman told him he could keep using the suplexes because he was safe with them:
"Well, not for me in particular, because Vince McMahon pulled me aside and told me, 'Listen, I know that 90% of your repertoire is suplexes, and I want you to keep them because I know you're safe with them. You never land anybody on their head, and I trust you that you will continue to do a good job.' So he allowed me to continue to do my belly-to-belly suplex and my German suplexes." (from 18:33 to 18:56)
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Kurt Angle is grateful Vince McMahon didn't ban him from using his suplexes in WWE
Kurt Angle's intense in-ring style wouldn't have been as effective without his hard-hitting suplexes. The legend was glad officials didn't take away his go-to moves.
Angle specifically thanked Vince McMahon for letting him keep his suplex-based offense:
"The thing is, I was really grateful that I didn't have to take them out of my repertoire because that's what I did. That's my offense. Thank god Vince McMahon continued to let me use it." (from 18:57 to 19:12)
Did you know that a current WWE star was not allowed to drive with Kurt Angle several years ago? You can read more on that story right here.
If you use quotes from this article, please credit The Kurt Angle Show and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.