∠, the angle symbol

In geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two rays, called the sides of the angle, sharing a common endpoint, called the vertex of the angle.^[1] Angles are usually presumed to be in a Euclidean plane, but are also defined in non-Euclidean geometry.

Angle is also used to designate the measure of an angle or of a rotation. This measure is the ratio of the length of a circular arc by its radius. In the case of an angle (figure), the arc is centered at the vertex and delimited by the sides. In the case of a rotation, the arc is centered at the center of the rotation and delimited by any point and its image by the rotation.

The word angle comes from the Latin word angulus, meaning "a corner". The word angulus is a diminutive, of which the primitive form, angus, does not occur in Latin. Cognate words are the Greek ἀγκύλος (ankylοs), meaning "crooked, curved," and the English word "ankle". Both are connected with the Proto-Indo-European root *ank-, meaning "to bend" or "bow".^[2]

Euclid defines a plane angle as the inclination to each other, in a plane, of two lines which meet each other, and do not lie straight with respect to each other. According to Proclus an angle must be either a quality or a quantity, or a relationship. The first concept was used by Eudemus, who regarded an angle as a deviation from a straight line; the second by Carpus of Antioch, who regarded it as the interval or space between the intersecting lines; Euclid adopted the third concept, although his definitions of right, acute, and obtuse angles are certainly quantitative.^[3]

Measuring angles[link]

The size of an angle is characterized by the magnitude of the smallest rotation that maps one of the rays into the other. Angles that have the same size are called congruent angles.

In some contexts, such as identifying a point on a circle or describing the orientation of an object in two dimensions relative to a reference orientation, angles that differ by an exact multiple of a full turn are effectively equivalent. In other contexts, such as identifying a point on a spiral curve or describing the cumulative rotation of an object in two dimensions relative to a reference orientation, angles that differ by a non-zero multiple of a full turn are not equivalent.

The measure of angle θ is the quotient of s and r.

In order to measure an angle θ, a circular arc centered at the vertex of the angle is drawn, e.g. with a pair of compasses. The length of the arc s is then divided by the radius of the arc r, and possibly multiplied by a scaling constant k (which depends on the units of measurement that are chosen):

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \theta = k \frac{s}{r}.

The value of θ thus defined is independent of the size of the circle: if the length of the radius is changed then the arc length changes in the same proportion, so the ratio s/r is unaltered.

Units[link]

Units used to represent angles are listed below in descending magnitude order. Of these units, the degree and the radian are by far the most commonly used. Angles expressed in radians are dimensionless for the purposes of dimensional analysis.

Most units of angular measurement are defined such that one turn (i.e. one full circle) is equal to n units, for some whole number n. The two exceptions are the radian and the diameter part. For example, in the case of degrees, n = 360. A turn of n units is obtained by setting k = n/(2π) in the formula above. (Proof. The formula above can be rewritten as k = θr/s. One turn, for which θ = n units, corresponds to an arc equal in length to the circle's circumference, which is 2πr, so s = 2πr. Substituting n for θ and 2πr for s in the formula, results in k = nr/(2πr) = n/(2π).)

• The turn (or full circle, revolution, rotation, or cycle) is one full circle. A turn can be subdivided in centiturns and milliturns. A turn is abbreviated Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \tau

or rev or rot depending on the application, but just r in rpm (revolutions per minute). 1 turn = 360° = 2π rad  = 400 grad = 4 right angles.

• The quadrant is 1/4 of a turn, i.e. a right angle. It is the unit used in Euclid's Elements. 1 quad. = 90° = π/2 rad = 1/4 turn = 100 grad. In German the symbol ^∟ has been used to denote a quadrant.
• The angle of the equilateral triangle is 1/6 of a turn. It was the unit used by the Babylonians^{[citation needed]}, and is especially easy to construct with ruler and compasses. The degree, minute of arc and second of arc are sexagesimal subunits of the Babylonian unit. 1 Babylonian unit = 60° = π/3 rad ≈ 1.047197551 rad.

θ = s/r rad = 1 rad.

• The radian is the angle subtended by an arc of a circle that has the same length as the circle's radius (k = 1 in the formula given earlier). One turn is 2π radians, and one radian is 180/π degrees, or about 57.2958 degrees. The radian is abbreviated rad, though this symbol is often omitted in mathematical texts, where radians are assumed unless specified otherwise. When radians are used angles are considered as dimensionless. The radian is used in virtually all mathematical work beyond simple practical geometry, due, for example, to the pleasing and "natural" properties that the trigonometric functions display when their arguments are in radians. The radian is the (derived) unit of angular measurement in the SI system.
• The diameter part (occasionally used in Islamic mathematics) is 1/60 radian. One "diameter part" is approximately 0.95493°.
• The astronomical hour angle is 1/24 of a turn. Since this system is amenable to measuring objects that cycle once per day (such as the relative position of stars), the sexagesimal subunits are called minute of time and second of time. Note that these are distinct from, and 15 times larger than, minutes and seconds of arc. 1 hour = 15° = π/12 rad = 1/6 quad. = 1/24 turn ≈ 16.667 grad.
• The point, used in navigation, is 1/32 of a turn. 1 point = 1/8 of a right angle = 11.25° = 12.5 grad. Each point is subdivided in four quarter-points so that 1 turn equals 128 quarter-points.
• Eratosthenes used a unit of 6° so that a whole turn was divided in 60 units.
• The Babylonians sometimes used the unit pechus of about 2° or 2½°.
• The binary degree, also known as the binary radian (or brad), is 1/256 of a turn.^[4] The binary degree is used in computing so that an angle can be efficiently represented in a single byte (albeit to limited precision). Other measures of angle used in computing may be based on dividing one whole turn into 2ⁿ equal parts for other values of n.^[5]
• The degree, denoted by a small superscript circle (°), is 1/360 of a turn, so one turn is 360°. One advantage of this old sexagesimal subunit is that many angles common in simple geometry are measured as a whole number of degrees. Fractions of a degree may be written in normal decimal notation (e.g. 3.5° for three and a half degrees), but the "minute" and "second" sexagesimal subunits of the "degree-minute-second" system are also in use, especially for geographical coordinates and in astronomy and ballistics:
• The grad, also called grade, gradian, or gon, is 1/400 of a turn, so a right angle is 100 grads. It is a decimal subunit of the quadrant. A kilometre was historically defined as a centi-grad of arc along a great circle of the Earth, so the kilometer is the decimal analog to the sexagesimal nautical mile. The grad is used mostly in triangulation.
• The mil is approximately equal to a milliradian. There are several definitions ranging from 0.05625 to 0.06 degrees (3.375 to 3.6 minutes), with the milliradian being approximately 0.05729578 degrees (3.43775 minutes). In NATO countries, it is defined as 1/6400th of a circle. Its value is approximately equal to the angle subtended by a width of 1 metre as seen from 1 km away (2π / 6400 = 0.0009817… ≒ 1/1000).
• The minute of arc (or MOA, arcminute, or just minute) is 1/60 of a degree = 1/21600 turn. It is denoted by a single prime ( ′ ). For example, 3° 30′ is equal to 3 + 30/60 degrees, or 3.5 degrees. A mixed format with decimal fractions is also sometimes used, e.g. 3° 5.72′ = 3 + 5.72/60 degrees. A nautical mile was historically defined as a minute of arc along a great circle of the Earth.
• The second of arc (or arcsecond, or just second) is 1/60 of a minute of arc and 1/3600 of a degree. It is denoted by a double prime ( ″ ). For example, 3° 7′ 30″ is equal to 3 + 7/60 + 30/3600 degrees, or 3.125 degrees.

Positive and negative angles[link]

Although the definition of the measurement of an angle does not support the concept of a negative angle, it is frequently useful to impose a convention that allows positive and negative angular values to represent orientations and/or rotations in opposite directions relative to some reference.

In a two dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, angles are typically defined relative to the positive x-axis with positive angles representing rotations toward the positive y-axis and negative angles representing rotations toward the negative y-axis. When Cartesian coordinates are represented as they commonly are, with the x-axis rightward and the y-axis upward, positive rotations are counterclockwise and negative rotations are clockwise.

In many contexts, an angle of −θ is effectively equivalent to an angle of "one full turn minus θ". For example, an orientation represented as  − 45° is effectively equivalent to an orientation represented as 360° − 45° or 315°. However, a rotation of  − 45° would not be the same as a rotation of 315°.

In three dimensional geometry, "clockwise" and "counterclockwise" have no absolute meaning, so the direction of positive and negative angles must be defined relative to some reference, which is typically a vector passing through the angle's vertex and perpendicular to the plane in which the rays of the angle lie.

In navigation, bearings are measured relative to north. By convention, viewed from above, bearing angle are positive clockwise, so a bearing of 45° corresponds to a north-east orientation. Negative bearings are not used in navigation, so a north-west orientation corresponds to a bearing of 315°.

Alternative ways of measuring the size of an angle[link]

There are several alternatives to measuring the size of an angle by the corresponding angle of rotation. The grade of a slope, or gradient is equal to the tangent of the angle, or sometimes the sine. Gradients are often expressed as a percentage. For very small values (less than 5%), the grade of a slope is approximately the measure of an angle in radians.

In rational geometry the spread between two lines is defined at the square of sine of the angle between the lines. Since the sine of an angle and the sine of its supplementary angle are the same any angle of rotation that maps one of the lines into the other leads to the same value of the spread between the lines.

Astronomical approximations[link]

Astronomers measure angular separation of objects in degrees from their point of observation.

• 1° is approximately the width of a little finger at arm's length.
• 10° is approximately the width of a closed fist at arm's length.
• 20° is approximately the width of a handspan at arm's length.

These measurements clearly depend on the individual subject, and the above should be treated as rough approximations only.

Identifying angles[link]

In mathematical expressions, it is common to use Greek letters (α, β, γ, θ, φ, ...) to serve as variables standing for the size of some angle. (To avoid confusion with its other meaning, the symbol π is typically not used for this purpose.) Lower case roman letters (a, b, c, ...) are also used. See the figures in this article for examples.

In geometric figures, angles may also be identified by the labels attached to the three points that define them. For example, the angle at vertex A enclosed by the rays AB and AC (i.e. the lines from point A to point B and point A to point C) is denoted ∠BAC or BÂC. Sometimes, where there is no risk of confusion, the angle may be referred to simply by its vertex ("angle A").

Potentially, an angle denoted, say, ∠BAC might refer to any of four angles: the clockwise angle from B to C, the anticlockwise angle from B to C, the clockwise angle from C to B, or the anticlockwise angle from C to B, where the direction in which the angle is measured determines its sign (see Positive and negative angles). However, in many geometrical situations it is obvious from context that the positive angle less than or equal to 180 degrees is meant, and no ambiguity arises. Otherwise, a convention may be adopted so that ∠BAC always refers to the anticlockwise (positive) angle from B to C, and ∠CAB to the anticlockwise (positive) angle from C to B.

Types of angles[link]

Right angle.

The complementary angles a and b (b is the complement of a, and a is the complement of b).

Acute (a), obtuse (b), and straight (c) angles. Here, a and b are supplementary angles.

Reflex angle.

• An angle equal to 1/4 turn (90° or π/2 radians) is called a right angle.

  Two lines that form a right angle are said to be perpendicular or orthogonal.

• Angles equal to 1/2 turn (180° or two right angles) are called straight angles.
• Angles equal to 1 turn (360° or four right angles) are called full angles.
• Angles that are not right angles or a multiple of a right angle are called oblique angles.
• Angles smaller than a right angle (less than 90°) are called acute angles ("acute" meaning "sharp").
• Angles larger than a right angle and smaller than a straight angle (between 90° and 180°) are called obtuse angles ("obtuse" meaning "blunt").
• Angles larger than a straight angle but less than 1 turn (between 180° and 360°) are called reflex angles.
• Angles that have the same measure (i.e. the same magnitude) are said to be equal (UK) or congruent (USA). An angle is defined by its measure and is not dependent upon the lengths of the sides of the angle (e.g. all right angles are congruent).
• Two angles opposite each other, formed by two intersecting straight lines that form an "X"-like shape, are called vertical angles or opposite angles or vertically opposite angles. These angles are equal in measure.
• Angles that share a common vertex and edge but do not share any interior points are called adjacent angles.
• Two angles that sum to one right angle (90°) are called complementary angles.

  The difference between an angle and a right angle is termed the complement of the angle.

• Two angles that sum to a straight angle (180°) are called supplementary angles.

  The difference between an angle and a straight angle (180°) is termed the supplement of the angle.

• Two angles that sum to one turn (360°) are called explementary angles or conjugate angles.
• An angle that is part of a simple polygon is called an interior angle if it lies on the inside of that simple polygon. A concave simple polygon has at least one interior angle that exceeds 180°.

  In Euclidean geometry, the measures of the interior angles of a triangle add up to π radians, or 180°, or 1/2 turn; the measures of the interior angles of a simple quadrilateral add up to 2π radians, or 360°, or 1 turn. In general, the measures of the interior angles of a simple polygon with n sides add up to [(n − 2) × π] radians, or [(n − 2) × 180]°, or (2n − 4) right angles, or (n/2 − 1) turn.

• The angle supplementary to the interior angle is called the exterior angle. It measures the amount of rotation one has to make at this vertex to trace out the polygon. If the corresponding interior angle is a reflex angle, the exterior angle should be considered negative. Even in a non-simple polygon it may be possible to define the exterior angle, but one will have to pick an orientation of the plane (or surface) to decide the sign of the exterior angle measure.

  In Euclidean geometry, the sum of the exterior angles of a simple polygon will be one full turn (360°).

• Some authors use the name exterior angle of a simple polygon to simply mean the explementary (not supplementary!) of the interior angle.^[6] This conflicts with the above usage.
• The angle between two planes (such as two adjacent faces of a polyhedron) is called a dihedral angle. It may be defined as the acute angle between two lines normal to the planes.
• The angle between a plane and an intersecting straight line is equal to ninety degrees minus the angle between the intersecting line and the line that goes through the point of intersection and is normal to the plane.
• Alternate angles, corresponding angle, interior angles and exterior angles are associated with a transversal of a pair of lines by a third.
• A reference angle is the acute version of any angle determined by repeatedly subtracting or adding 180 degrees, and subtracting the result from 180 degrees if necessary, until a value between 0 degrees and 90 degrees is obtained. For example, an angle of 30 degrees has a reference angle of 30 degrees, and an angle of 150 degrees also has a reference angle of 30 degrees (180-150). An angle of 750 degrees has a reference angle of 30 degrees (750-720).^[7]

Angles between curves[link]

The angle between the two curves at P is defined as the angle between the tangents A and B at P

The angle between a line and a curve (mixed angle) or between two intersecting curves (curvilinear angle) is defined to be the angle between the tangents at the point of intersection. Various names (now rarely, if ever, used) have been given to particular cases:—amphicyrtic (Gr. ἀμφί, on both sides, κυρτός, convex) or cissoidal (Gr. κισσός, ivy), biconvex; xystroidal or sistroidal (Gr. ξυστρίς, a tool for scraping), concavo-convex; amphicoelic (Gr. κοίλη, a hollow) or angulus lunularis, biconcave.^[8]

Dot product and generalisation[link]

In the Euclidean plane, the angle θ between two vectors u and v is related to their dot product and their lengths by the formula

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \mathbf{u} \cdot \mathbf{v} = \cos(\theta)\ \|\mathbf{u}\|\ \|\mathbf{v}\|.

This formula supplies an easy method to find the angle between two planes (or curved surfaces) from their normal vectors and between skew lines from their vector equations.

Inner product[link]

To define angles in an abstract real inner product space, we replace the Euclidean dot product ( · ) by the inner product Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \langle\cdot,\cdot\rangle , i.e.

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \langle\mathbf{u},\mathbf{v}\rangle = \cos(\theta)\ \|\mathbf{u}\|\ \|\mathbf{v}\|.

In a complex inner product space, the expression for the cosine above may give non-real values, so it is replaced with

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \operatorname{Re}(\langle\mathbf{u},\mathbf{v}\rangle) = \cos(\theta)\ \|\mathbf{u}\|\ \|\mathbf{v}\|.

or, more commonly, using the absolute value, with

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): |\langle\mathbf{u},\mathbf{v}\rangle| = \cos(\theta)\ \|\mathbf{u}\|\ \|\mathbf{v}\|.

The latter definition ignores the direction of the vectors and thus describes the angle between one-dimensional subspaces Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \operatorname{span}(\mathbf{u})

and  Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \operatorname{span}(\mathbf{v})
spanned by the vectors Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \mathbf{u}
and  Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \mathbf{v}
correspondingly.

Angles between subspaces[link]

The definition of the angle between one-dimensional subspaces Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \operatorname{span}(\mathbf{u})

and  Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \operatorname{span}(\mathbf{v})
given by

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): |\langle\mathbf{u},\mathbf{v}\rangle| = \cos(\theta)\ \|\mathbf{u}\|\ \|\mathbf{v}\|

in a Hilbert space can be extended to subspaces of any finite dimensions. Given two subspaces Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \mathcal{U},\mathcal{W}

with Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \operatorname{dim}(\mathcal{U}):=k\leq \operatorname{dim}(\mathcal{W}):=l

, this leads to a definition of Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): k

angles called canonical or principal angles between subspaces.

Angles in Riemannian geometry[link]

In Riemannian geometry, the metric tensor is used to define the angle between two tangents. Where U and V are tangent vectors and g_ij are the components of the metric tensor G,

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \cos \theta = \frac{g_{ij}U^iV^j} {\sqrt{ \left| g_{ij}U^iU^j \right| \left| g_{ij}V^iV^j \right|}}.

Angles in geography and astronomy[link]

In geography, the location of any point on the Earth can be identified using a geographic coordinate system. This system specifies the latitude and longitude of any location in terms of angles subtended at the centre of the Earth, using the equator and (usually) the Greenwich meridian as references.

In astronomy, a given point on the celestial sphere (that is, the apparent position of an astronomical object) can be identified using any of several astronomical coordinate systems, where the references vary according to the particular system. Astronomers measure the angular separation of two stars by imagining two lines through the centre of the Earth, each intersecting one of the stars. The angle between those lines can be measured, and is the angular separation between the two stars.

Astronomers also measure the apparent size of objects as an angular diameter. For example, the full moon has an angular diameter of approximately 0.5°, when viewed from Earth. One could say, "The Moon's diameter subtends an angle of half a degree." The small-angle formula can be used to convert such an angular measurement into a distance/size ratio.

See also[link]

• Angle bisector
• Argument (complex analysis)
• Astrological aspect
• Central angle
• Clock angle problem
• Complementary angles
• Great circle distance
• Inscribed angle
• Protractor
• Solid angle for a concept of angle in three dimensions.
• Supplementary angles
• Irrational angle
• Angular velocity

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Heiberg, Johan Ludvig (1908). Heath, T. L.. ed. Euclid. The thirteen books of Euclid's Elements. 1. http://books.google.com/books?id=UhgPAAAAIAAJ. 

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Angle". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Angles

• Angle Bisectors in a Quadrilateral at cut-the-knot
• Constructing a triangle from its angle bisectors at cut-the-knot
• Angle Estimation – for basic astronomy.
• Angle definition pages with interactive applets.
• Various angle constructions with compass and straightedge
• GonioLab DD – Convert between DecDeg and DegMinSec and vice-versa (requires Java Web Start)

Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan after a performance at JFK Airport, July 2010
Background information
Birth name	Sarah Ann McLachlan
Born	(1968-01-28) January 28, 1968 (age 44) Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Genres	Pop, soft rock, adult contemporary
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, painter, executive producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboard, guitar, banjo, harp[1]
Years active	1988–present
Labels	RCA Records, Arista, Nettwerk
Website	sarahmclachlan.com

Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter.^[2] Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range,^[3] as of 2009, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide.^[4][5] McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards (out of four nominations) and four Juno Awards. In addition to her personal artistic efforts, she founded the Lilith Fair tour, which showcased female musicians. The Lilith Fair concert tours took place from 1997 to 1999, and resumed in the summer of 2010. Since 2006 she has also been known as a highly visible supporter of the ASPCA, as well as various other charities.

Biography[link]

Sarah McLachlan was born on January 28, 1968, and adopted in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. As a child, she took voice lessons, along with studies in classical piano and guitar. When she was 17 years old and still a student at Queen Elizabeth High School, she fronted a short-lived rock band called The October Game. One of the band's songs, "Grind", credited as a group composition, can be found on the independent Flamingo Records release Out of the Fog and the CD Out of the Fog Too. It has yet to be released elsewhere. Her high school yearbook predicted that she was "destined to become a famous rock star."

Following The October Game's first concert at Dalhousie University opening for Moev, McLachlan was offered a recording contract with Vancouver-based independent record label Nettwerk by Moev's Mark Jowett. McLachlan's parents insisted she finish high school and complete one year of studies at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design before moving to Vancouver and embarking on a new life as a recording artist, and McLachlan finally signed to Nettwerk two years later before having written a single song.

In 1994 McLachlan became the target of a lawsuit, when she was sued by Uwe Vandrei, an obsessed fan from Ottawa, who alleged that his letters to her had been the basis of the single "Possession." The lawsuit was also challenging for the Canadian legal system—Vandrei was a self-admitted stalker whose self-acknowledged goal in filing the lawsuit was to be near McLachlan physically. Consequently, special precautions were planned to ensure McLachlan's safety if at any time she had to be in the same location as Vandrei. The lawsuit never came to trial, however, as Vandrei was found dead in an apparent suicide before the trial began. This topic was explored at length in Canadian author Judith Fitzgerald's book, Building a Mystery: The Story of Sarah McLachlan & Lilith Fair.

In 1997, Sarah McLachlan married her drummer, Ashwin Sood, in Jamaica. McLachlan lost her mother to cancer in December 2001, while McLachlan herself was pregnant. McLachlan gave birth to a daughter, named India Ann Sushil Sood, on April 6, 2002, in Vancouver. By this time, McLachlan had already completed three-quarters of the production on her next record, Afterglow. On June 22, 2007, she gave birth to her second daughter, named Taja Summer Sood, in Vancouver. McLachlan announced her separation from Ashwin Sood in September 2008.^[6]

Sarah McLachlan currently resides in Vancouver.

Musical career[link]

[edit] Touch and Solace

The signing with Nettwerk prompted McLachlan to move to Vancouver, British Columbia. There she recorded the first of her albums, Touch, in 1988, which received both critical and commercial success and included the hit song "Vox". During this period she also contributed to an album by Manufacture, and embarked on her first national concert tour as an opening act for The Grapes of Wrath.^[7][8]

Her 1991 album, Solace, was her mainstream breakthrough in Canada, spawning the hit singles "The Path of Thorns (Terms)" and "Into the Fire". Solace also marked the beginning of her partnership with Pierre Marchand. Marchand and McLachlan have been collaborators ever since, with Marchand producing many of McLachlan's albums and occasionally co-writing songs.^[9]

[edit] Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, and Surfacing

McLachlan at a 1993 benefit for Clayoquot Sound

1993's Fumbling Towards Ecstasy was an immediate hit in Canada. From her Nettwerk connection, her piano version of the song "Possession" was included on the first Due South soundtrack in 1996. Over the next two years, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy quietly became McLachlan's international breakthrough as well, scaling the charts in a number of countries.

In 1993, Darryl Neudorf filed a lawsuit against McLachlan and her label, Nettwerk, alleging that he had made a significant and uncredited contribution to the songwriting on Touch, and alleging that he wasn't paid properly for work done on Solace. The judge in this suit eventually ruled in McLachlan's favour on the songs; though Neudorf may have contributed to the songwriting, neither regarded each other as joint authors. The judge ruled in Neudorf's favour on the payment issue.

Following the success from Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, McLachlan returned in 1997 with Surfacing, her best-selling album to date. Earning her two Grammy Awards and four Juno Awards, the album has since sold over 11 million copies worldwide and brought her much international success. Still in the spotlight from the album, McLachlan launched the highly popular Lilith Fair tour. Her song "Angel"—inspired by the fatal overdose of Smashing Pumpkins touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin—made sales skyrocket. In Spring 1998, the motion picture City of Angels featured "Angel". It became the No. 1 album on the Billboard chart. More than five months after the movie disappeared from the theatres, City of Angels: Music from the Motion Picture remained firmly entrenched among Billboard's top 40 albums. This soundtrack earned quadruple-platinum status.^[10]

Lilith Fair[link]

In 1996 McLachlan became frustrated with concert promoters and radio stations that refused to feature two female musicians in a row.^[11] Bucking conventional industry wisdom, she booked a successful tour for herself and Paula Cole. At least one of their appearances together – in McLachlan's home town, on September 14, 1996 – went by the name "Lilith Fair" and included performances by McLachlan, Cole, Lisa Loeb and Michelle McAdorey, formerly of Crash Vegas.

The next year, McLachlan founded the Lilith Fair tour, taking Lilith from the medieval Jewish legend that Lilith was Adam's first wife.^[12]

In 1997, Lilith Fair, featuring McLachlan as one of the headlining acts, garnered a $16 million gross, making it the top-grossing of any touring festival.^[11] Among all concert tours for that year, it was the 16th highest grossing.^[11] Lilith Fair tour brought together 2 million people over its three-year history and raised more than $7 million for charities. It was the most successful all-female music festival in history, one of the biggest music festivals of the 1990s, and helped launch the careers of several well-known female artists. Subsequent Lilith Fairs followed in 1998 and 1999 before the tour was discontinued.

Nettwerk CEO and Lilith Fair co-founder Terry McBride announced that the all-female festival would make its return in summer 2010.

Hiatus[link]

McLachlan performing for Good Morning America in 1998

In 1998, in addition to performing her own set, she performed a cover of "Sad Lisa" with rock band Phish at the annual Bridge School Benefit concert in California, hosted by Neil Young, after which McLachlan began an extended period away from recording or touring. Six years elapsed between the release of Surfacing and that of her next studio album, Afterglow.

However, she did release a live album in 1999, entitled Mirrorball. The album's singles included a new live version of her earlier doubles "I Will Remember You", a studio recording of which had previously been released on The Brothers McMullen soundtrack as well as Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff.

Also that year, McLachlan (in the singing voice of "Jessie") recorded the Randy Newman song "When She Loved Me" on the Toy Story 2 soundtrack. This song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song in 2000, and McLachlan performed it at the awards ceremony, but the award went to "You'll Be in My Heart" from Tarzan, written and recorded by Phil Collins.

In 1997, McLachlan co-wrote and provided guest vocals on the Delerium song "Silence" for their album Karma. This song achieved a massive amount of US top 40 airplay when released as a single in late 2000 and also featured on the soundtrack for the movie Brokedown Palace. In 2001, McLachlan provided background vocals, guitar, and piano on the closing track "Love Is" from Stevie Nicks' eighth solo album, Trouble in Shangri-La, in addition to drawing the dragon used for the "S" in Stevie's name on the album cover. In May 2002, her duet with Bryan Adams was released on the Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron soundtrack. She sang harmonies and played the piano on the song "Don't Let Go" while Sood did the drum work.

McLachlan also participated in several concerts during her break, such as Sheryl Crow's Live from Central Park in 1999, the Arista Records twenty-fifth anniversary celebration in 2000, as well as the 2002 British Columbia Cancer Foundation Benefit Concert in memory of cancer victim Michele Bourbonnais. She participated along with four other Canadian artists: Bryan Adams, Jann Arden, Barenaked Ladies, and Chantal Kreviazuk.

[edit] Afterglow

McLachlan in Menlo Park, California, USA

McLachlan returned to public life and touring with her 2003 album release, Afterglow, which contained the singles "Fallen", "Stupid", and "World On Fire". Rather than shoot a conventional music video for "World On Fire", McLachlan donated all but $15 of the $150,000 budget to various charitable causes around the world and then used the video to explain how it benefited the communities that received the money.

Another live album, Afterglow Live, was released in late 2004. The CD consisted of several tracks from a full-length concert, which was included in its entirety on a DVD, as well as the three music videos from Afterglow.

In 2004, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, who credits McLachlan and her music for lifting him from a period of depression, invited her to join him on a track from his solo album. Although the album was not released until early 2006, remixes of the song "Just Like Me" were included on a number of compilations in 2005.

In 2007, McLachlan's song "Answer" featured in The Brave One starring Jodie Foster.

[edit] Wintersong

In October 2006, McLachlan released a Christmas album called Wintersong. The album included 11 new recordings, featuring covers of Joni Mitchell's "River", Gordon Lightfoot's "Song for a Winter's Night", and John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", which she recorded with her outreach children and youth choir, and seasonal favourites: "Christmas Time Is Here", "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "Silent Night", "The First Noel", and "Greensleeves (What Child Is This?)", among others. The title track is an original work of McLachlan's.

Wintersong debuted at No. 42 on the Billboard 200 album chart the week ending 4 November 2006. It peaked at #7. For the week of 5 December 2006, it was the #1 album on iTunes. Worldwide the album has sold over 1.1 million copies to date. It has been certified Platinum in the U.S. and 2x Platinum in Canada.

Wintersong was nominated for both a Grammy Award, in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category, as well as for a Juno Award, for Pop Album of the Year.

Guest appearances[link]

In November 2006, McLachlan performed the song "Ordinary Miracle" for that year's feature film, Charlotte's Web. The song was written by Glen Ballard and David A. Stewart of Eurythmics. McLachlan was the subject of rumours of an Oscar nomination for the song, but in the end was not nominated. She helped to promote the song and movie by performing it on The Oprah Winfrey Show as well as during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. She also performed the song during the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in her hometown of Vancouver, in front of an estimated 3 billion television viewers worldwide.

In early 2007, she sang on Dave Stewart's Go Green, alongside Nadirah X, Imogen Heap, Natalie Imbruglia, and others.^[13]

McLachlan also appeared on Annie Lennox's album, Songs of Mass Destruction. Together with Madonna, Céline Dion, Pink, Sugababes, Angélique Kidjo, k.d. lang, Faith Hill, Fergie, Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Raitt, Shakira, Anastacia, Joss Stone, Dido, and KT Tunstall, she performed on the song "Sing".

In 2010, McLachlan appeared as herself on the television series Life Unexpected and performed. On September 8, 2010, McLachlan performed and sang "Forgiveness" from her 2010 album Laws of Illusion on a semi-final show of America's Got Talent; she did so again on the Tonight Show, two days later.

Sarah appeared alongside Aimee Mann on the IFC series Portlandia, as a pinata and a yard maintenance person.

On November 22, 2010, McLachlan again performed and sang "Forgiveness" this time on the Regis and Kelly show.

On September 10, 2011, she performed I Will Remember You and Angel at a ceremony in Stonycreek, Pennsylvania, commemorating the passengers and crew of hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 who fought the hijackers and brought down their airplane on September 11, 2001. The event marked the dedication of the Flight 93 National Memorial and was attended by U.S. President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, President Bill Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker John Boehner.^[14]

[edit] Rereleases, Rarities Vol 2, and Greatest Hits

On October 3, 2006, the live album Mirrorball was re-released as Mirrorball: The Complete Concert. This release contains 2 discs that were compiled from 2 concerts performed on consecutive nights in April 1998 at the Rose Garden arena in Portland, Oregon.

On April 29, 2008, Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff Volume 2 was released. The tracklist includes McLachlan's recent covers of Joni Mitchell's "River" and Dave Stewart's "Ordinary Miracle", as well as collaborations throughout her career with The Perishers, Cyndi Lauper and Bryan Adams, among others.

On August 5, 2008, the 15th anniversary 3-disc edition of Fumbling Towards Ecstasy was released. The set includes the original re-mastered album, The Freedom Sessions and a DVD that includes live performances, music videos and more. The album was released by Legacy Recordings.

McLachlan released a greatest hits album, Closer: The Best of Sarah McLachlan, on October 7, 2008. On August 12, 2008, she released a new song from the album, "U want me 2", a mid-tempo contemplative love song, as a digital single on iTunes; also accompanied with a video performance. McLachlan also admitted the song was inspired by the dissolution of her marriage, which she announced in September 2008, during initial promotion. Being quietly released as a single on 3 February 2009 the other new song found on the album, "Don't Give Up on Us", signalled a wrap.

[edit] 2010 Winter Olympics, Laws of Illusion and Lilith Fair 2010

A new single, "One Dream," was released on September 29, 2009 and was the official theme song of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.^[15] McLachlan's first studio album of original material in seven years, Laws of Illusion, was released on June 15, 2010. New York Times music critic John Pareles says about Laws of Illusion - "It’s a kindly, enveloping sound that Ms. McLachlan has long used to conjure passion and empathy laced with melancholy. But now it encompasses a new anguish, deeper and sharper than what she hinted at with Afterglow in 2003." It features 10 new songs in addition to the previously released tracks "U Want Me 2" and "Don't Give Up on Us," as well as various bonus tracks. Previews of the tracks and bonus materials were made available on iTunes and Amazon.com for listening and viewing on May 26, 2010. Lilith Fair kicked off in Calgary, AB on June 27, 2010. In anticipation of the album and the summer's tour, McLachlan appeared on the WNYC-produced radio show Soundcheck. During the wide-ranging interview, McLachlan discussed with host John Schaefer the last eleven years of her life and how she has changed, especially as a working mother of two.

Guitars and equipment[link]

For years, Sarah McLachlan's main stage guitar has been a late-'70s Larrivée C-10 with rosewood back and sides, a spruce top, and a Florentine cutaway. The guitar is amplified with a Fishman Rare Earth Blend (which combines a magnetic pickup and an internal mic), running through a Radial JDV Mk3 active DI. She has also performed with Canadian-made Morgan guitars, and at the time of the interview, she was trying out Taylor models with Expression System electronics.

McLachlan strings her guitars with phosphor-bronze or vintage bronze Dean Markleys. She uses medium-lights (.012–.054) for her guitars in E A D G A D and D A D G A D tunings. Sometimes she uses lights (.011–.046) and raises E A D G A D a whole step so her capo positions can be two frets lower. For instance, in the past she played "Building a Mystery" in E A D G A D with a capo at the seventh fret, but now she tunes to F# B E A B E and capoes at the fifth fret. McLachlan's capo of choice is a Dunlop C-Four.^[16]

Awards and achievements[link]

McLachlan has been nominated for twenty-one Juno Awards and awarded eight. In 1992, her video for "Into the Fire" was selected as best music video. In 1998, she won Female Vocalist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year (along with Pierre Marchand), Single of the Year for "Building a Mystery", and Album of the Year for Surfacing. In 2000, she won an International Achievement award and in 2004, won Pop Album of the Year for Afterglow and again shared the Songwriter of the Year award with Pierre Marchand for the singles "Fallen", "World on Fire", and "Stupid."

She has also won three Grammy Awards. She was awarded Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1997 for "Building a Mystery" and again in 1999 for the live version of "I Will Remember You." She also scored Best Pop Instrumental Performance in 1997 for "Last Dance." Among these, she is credited for various nominations.

Her song "Building A Mystery" came in at 91 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s.^[17]

McLachlan has been extensively profiled by media including cover stories for Rolling Stone, Time magazine, Entertainment Weekly and Flare, a Canadian fashion magazine.

Through her career, she has also received many awards, primarily in recognition of her efforts in launching Lilith Fair. She was awarded the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Visionary Award in 1998 for advancing the careers of women in music. In 1999, she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada by then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson in recognition of her successful recording career, her role in Lilith Fair, and the charitable donations she made to women's shelters across Canada. In 2001, she was inducted to the Order of British Columbia.

On February 12, 2010, McLachlan performed her song "Ordinary Miracle" at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

On June 15, 2011, she was recognized with an honorary degree from Simon Fraser University.^[18]

Philanthropy[link]

McLachlan contributed the track "Hold On" to the 1993 AIDS-Benefit Album No Alternative produced by the Red Hot Organization. She also performed at the Leonard Peltier Defense Fund Benefit Concert on February 12, 1997 and went on to release a haunting cover version of Unchained Melody created as part of her support for Peltier and later included on the album Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff Volume 2.^[19]

In early 2005, McLachlan took part in a star-studded tsunami disaster relief telethon on NBC. On 29 January McLachlan was a headliner for a benefit concert in Vancouver along with other Canadian superstars such as Avril Lavigne and Bryan Adams. The show also featured a performance by the Sarah McLachlan Musical Outreach Choir & Percussion Ensemble, a children's choir and percussion band from the aforementioned Vancouver outreach program. In addition to her own headliner show she also joined Delerium live on stage for their first-ever performance of 'Silence'. The concert was titled One World: The Concert for Tsunami Relief, and raised approximately $3.6 million for several Canadian aid agencies working in south and southeast Asia. The show was the brainchild of McLachlan's manager, Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk. It ran for four hours and aired live on CTV across Canada.

She is an avid supporter of the ASPCA and animal welfare. She filmed a two-minute advertisement for the organization which featured her song "Angel".^[20] The advertisement's imagery of shelter animals mixed with the soundtrack and McLachlan's simple appeal for donations has raised $30 million for the ASPCA since it began to air in 2006, which allowed the organization to air appeals in higher profile prime-time cable ad slots; subsequently the organization produced a new ad for the 2008 holiday season featuring McLachlan appealing for the ASPCA over her Wintersong performance of "Silent Night", and a new ad with her was released in January 2009 featuring the song "Answer".^[20] In 2012, McLachlan wrote a letter on behalf of PETA to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, protesting that country's annual seal hunt.^[21]

In 2008, she donated a song to Aid Still Required's CD to assist with the restoration of the devastation done to Southeast Asia from the 2004 Tsunami.

On July 2, 2005, McLachlan participated in the Philadelphia installment of the Live 8 concerts, where she performed her hit "Angel" with Josh Groban. These concerts, which were held simultaneously in nine major cities around the world, were intended to coincide with the G8 summit to put pressure on the leaders of the world's richest nations to fight poverty in Africa by cancelling debt.

McLachlan also funds an outreach program in Vancouver that provides music education for inner city children. In 2007, the provincial government announced $500,000 in funding for the outreach program.^[22]

For raising millions of dollars for causes including women's charities, AIDS sufferers and inner-city kids, Simon Fraser University conferred Sarah McLachlan the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa on June 13, 2011.^[23]

Discography[link]

• 1988: Touch
• 1991: Solace
• 1992: Sarah McLachlan Live EP
• 1993: Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
• 1995: The Freedom Sessions
• 1996: Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff
• 1997: Surfacing
• 1999: Mirrorball
• 2001: Remixed
• 2003: Afterglow
• 2005: Bloom: Remix Album
• 2006: Wintersong
• 2008: Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff Volume 2
• 2008: Closer: The Best of Sarah McLachlan
• 2010: Laws of Illusion

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sarah McLachlan

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sarah McLachlan

• Official website
• Sarah McLachlan at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Sarah McLachlan

Kurt Angle
Angle at a WWE Q&A in August 2005.
Ring name(s)	Kurt Angle
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Billed weight	240 lb (110 kg)[2]
Born	(1968-12-09) December 9, 1968 (age 43)[3] Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States
Resides	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Billed from	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States[2]
Trained by	Dave Schultz Dory Funk, Jr.[4] Tom Prichard[4]
Debut	October 15, 1998

Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968 in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania) is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and actor. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is a former five-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion. He is also known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (WWF/E), and for being the only Olympic gold medalist in the history of professional wrestling.

Angle was involved in amateur wrestling during both high school and college. In college at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, he won numerous accolades, including being a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion. After graduating, he won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1995 World Wrestling Championships. Angle then competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he won a gold medal in heavyweight freestyle wrestling. Kurt Angle is also one of only four people to complete a Grand Slam in amateur wrestling which is the junior nationals, the NCAAs, the World Championships and the Olympics. He was named the greatest shoot wrestler and one of the top 15 college wrestlers of all time by USA Wrestling.

Initially turning down an offer to join the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Angle signed a multi-year contract with the company in 1998. His first big push in the company was in February 2000, when he held both the European Championship and the Intercontinental Championship at the same time. A few months later he won the King of the Ring tournament. Not long after, Angle began pursuing the WWF Championship, which he went on to win later in the year, capping off a rookie year which the company has referred to as the greatest in WWE history.^[5] He continued to be a part of main event matches until August 2006, when Angle was granted a release from his contract. Throughout his tenure in the company, he was a six-time world champion (four-time WWF/E Champion, World Heavyweight Champion and WCW Champion), he also held the United States Championship, Intercontinental Championship, European Championship, Hardcore Championship and WWE Tag Team Champion once each. In addition, he was the winner of the King of the Ring tournament in 2000, the tenth Triple Crown Champion, and the fifth Grand Slam Champion. In addition, he is one of three wrestlers (Edge and Big Show being the others) to have held every currently active male championship in the WWE.

After leaving WWE, Angle joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he became the second wrestler in TNA to win TNA's Triple Crown and the first man to hold all three TNA championships simultaneously. While in TNA, his real-life wife Karen began accompanying him to the ring and playing a part in his on-screen storylines. Angle has also made appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling as well as Inoki Genome Federation, where he held their version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. In addition, he is a five-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion, the second Triple Crown winner in TNA history—being the only one to hold all the required titles at once (while also holding the IWGP Title, making him a quadruple champion for a brief time).

Angle is the only wrestler in history to be a Triple Crown winner in both WWE and TNA. He is the first man to have held the WWE, WCW, TNA, IWGP, and World Heavyweight Championships in his career. Angle is also a two time King of the Mountain winner, winning at the 2007 and 2009 Slammiversary PPV event, making him the only wrestler to have been both King of the Ring (WWE) and King of the Mountain (TNA). Between WWE, TNA, and Japan, Angle has won 12 World Championships and 19 total championships. In 2010 the Wrestling Observer Newsletter named Angle the Wrestler of the Decade of the 2000s.^[6]

Amateur wrestling career[link]

Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Competitor for the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold	1996 Atlanta	100 kg
World Championships
Gold	1995 Atlanta	100 kg
World Cup
Bronze	1992 Moscow, Russia	100 kg
Silver	1995 Chattanooga, US	100 kg

Angle started amateur wrestling at the age of six.^[7] He attended Mt. Lebanon High School,^[8] where he won varsity letters in football and wrestling and was an All-State linebacker.^[8][9][10] He went undefeated on the freshman wrestling team at Mt. Lebanon High and qualified for the state wrestling tournament his sophomore year.^[8] Angle also placed third in the state wrestling tournament as a junior and was the 1987 Pennsylvania State Wrestling Champion as a senior.

Upon graduating from high school, Angle attended the Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where he continued to wrestle at an amateur level.^[11] He was a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion,^[12] national runner-up in 1991, and a three-time NCAA Division I All-American. In addition, Angle was the 1987 USA Junior Freestyle champion, a two-time USA Senior Freestyle champion, and the 1988 USA International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles Junior World Freestyle champion.^[13]

After graduating from college, Angle continued to wrestle. In 1995, he won a gold medal at the World Championships in Atlanta, Georgia.^[12] Following this victory, Angle began preparing for the 1996 Summer Olympics under Dave Schultz at the Pennsylvanian Foxcatcher Club,^[14] training between eight and ten hours a day.^[15] In January 1996, not long after Angle began training at the club, Schultz was murdered by John Eleuthère du Pont, the sponsor of Schultz's team of Olympic prospectives.^[16][17][18] As a result, Angle quit Eleuthère du Pont's team, searched for new sponsors, and joined the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club in Schultz's memory.^[19]

Angle faced further hardships while taking part in the 1996 Olympic Trials, when he suffered a severe neck injury, fracturing two of his cervical vertebrae,^[20] herniating two discs, and pulling four muscles. Nonetheless, Angle won the trials and then spent the subsequent five months resting and rehabilitating. By the Olympics, Angle was able to compete, albeit with several pain-reducing injections in his neck.^[12] In the fall of 2006, Angle stated that he temporarily became addicted to the analgesic Vicodin after injuring his neck.^[21] He won his gold medal in the heavyweight (90–100 kg; 198–220 lb) weight class despite his injury,^[13] defeating the Iranian Abbas Jadidi by officials' decision after the competitors wrestled to an eight minute, one-one draw. The bout saw Jadidi earn a point after two minutes and 46 seconds by turning Angle, and Angle earning a point of his own with a takedown after three minutes and eleven seconds. The officials' decision was protested by Jadidi.^[22]

Shortly after his victory, Angle turned down a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).^[13][23] In the same year, he became a marketing representative for Protos Foods, the manufacturers of OSTRIM, an ostrich meat based foodstuff.^[16][23]

In April 2011, Angle revealed that he was planning a comeback to amateur wrestling for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.^[24][25][26] It was announced in April 2012 that he would be unable to make the trials for the US team due to a knee injury.^[27]

Professional wrestling career[link]

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996)[link]

On October 26, 1996, Angle was convinced by fellow Pittsburgh native Shane Douglas to attend the taping of an Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) event named High Incident.^[13] He provided guest commentary during a match between Taz and Little Guido, but left the building after Raven "crucified" The Sandman by attaching him to a cross using barbed wire.^[28] Angle, shocked by the controversial imagery and afraid that his career prospects would be damaged if he was associated with the incident, threatened to sue ECW owner Paul Heyman if he was shown on television in the same broadcast as the stunt.^[13]

In 1997, following the incident, Angle worked for a year as a sportscaster on Pittsburgh's local Fox affiliate WPGH-TV.^[29][30] He also did a commercial for Pittsburgh-based pizza chain Pizza Outlet.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment[link]

Debut and various rivalries (1998–2000)[link]

In October 1998, Angle began a career in professional wrestling and signed an eight-year contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He was assigned to the Power Pro Wrestling developmental territory in Memphis, Tennessee, where he began training. Angle's first appearance on WWF television was on the March 7, 1999 episode of Sunday Night Heat, where he took part in an angle with Tiger Ali Singh. This angle involved Singh paying him money to blow his nose on the American flag. Angle instead blew his nose on Singh's flag and fought him off. His first official WWF match was a dark match victory over Brian Christopher on April 11, 1999. In the following months, he wrestled in house shows and other dark matches in preparation for his televised debut.

Angle as the "Eurocontinental" Champion.

After several weeks of vignettes, Angle made his in-ring debut on November 14, 1999 at the Survivor Series, defeating Shawn Stasiak.^[31] In his initial push, he remained undefeated for several weeks, eventually losing to the debuting Tazz at the Royal Rumble.^[32] Angle's television character was an "American hero" gimmick based on his gold medal win at the 1996 Summer Olympics. In his promos, Angle presented himself as a role model and stressed the need to work hard to realize one's dreams, stressing the 3 Is, "Intensity, Integrity, and Intelligence". In his promos and ring entrances, Angle would always wear replicas of his gold medals around his neck. Despite standing for many principles that are associated with "good guy" wrestlers, Angle's character was arrogant, talked down to the audience, and behaved as if he thought he was better than the fans, leading to him quickly becoming a villain. Angle won both the European Championship and the Intercontinental Championship in February 2000,^[32] billing himself as the "Eurocontinental Champion". He dropped both of his titles without ever conceding a fall in a two falls Triple Threat match with Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 2000. The match had been agreed to on Angle's behalf by his mentor, Bob Backlund.

Pursuit of the WWF Championship (2000–2001)[link]

Angle at King of the Ring (2000).

Throughout mid-2000, Angle and Edge and Christian ("Team ECK") feuded with Too Cool and Rikishi, with Angle defeating Rikishi in the finals of the King of the Ring tournament.^[33] He went on to feud with Triple H after a love triangle between Angle, Triple H, and Triple H's wife Stephanie McMahon developed.^[34] As a change to the intended storyline of Stephanie turning on her husband and going with Angle, he lost to Triple H at Unforgiven.^[33] Following his feud with Triple H, Angle received another push and began pursuing the WWF Championship, defeating The Rock at No Mercy, after interference from Rikishi.^[33] With his victory over the Rock, Angle became the first wrestler to have won both an Olympic Gold medal and the World title. Angle retained the WWF Championship for the rest of the year in matches with The Undertaker at Survivor Series and in a six way Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon.^[35]

After beating Triple H at the Royal Rumble, Angle eventually lost the title to The Rock at No Way Out, after holding the WWF Championship for four months. He then feuded with Chris Benoit, whom he defeated at WrestleMania X-Seven but lost to him at Backlash in an Ultimate Submission match; Benoit defeated Angle four falls to three in sudden-death overtime. Continuing the feud, Angle again defeated Benoit in a two out of three falls match at Judgment Day. Benoit pinned Angle after an Angle Slam in a "Pinfalls Only" fall, and then Angle made Benoit submit with the ankle lock in the "Submissions Only" fall. Angle won the third fall, a Ladder match, with the help of Edge and Christian.

The Invasion; Team Angle (2001–2002)[link]

When World Championship Wrestling and ECW formed The Alliance and invaded the WWF in mid-2001 (dubbed as "The Invasion"), Angle became a face character and began a storyline where he joined forces with WWF Champion Steve Austin to repel them. At Invasion, Angle and Austin captained a team of five WWF superstars against five handpicked members of the Alliance. As part of the angle, Team WWF lost to Team Alliance when Austin turned on his team to join The Alliance. At the close of the match, Austin nailed Angle with a Stone Cold Stunner, causing him to get pinned by the other team.^[36] After winning and losing the WCW Championship,^[37][38] WCW United States Championship,^[39][40] and the WWF Hardcore Championship in matches with Alliance members,^[41] Angle was booked to defeat Austin in a SummerSlam rematch for his second WWF Championship at Unforgiven.^[42] He dropped the title back to Austin on the October 8, 2001 episode of Raw when WWF Commissioner William Regal joined The Alliance and cost Angle the match.^[43] As part of the storyline, Angle subsequently turned into a villain again and joined the Alliance himself; during a WrestleMania X-Seven rematch between Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon, he interfered seemingly to aid Vince but instead struck the members of team WWF with a steel chair.^[44] Angle, however, ultimately returned to the WWF side by enabling The Rock to defeat Austin in a "Winner Takes All" match between the WWF and The Alliance at Survivor Series. He remained a villain by claiming sole responsibility for the destruction of The Alliance.^[42]

After dropping the WCW United States Championship to Edge, the duo were booked into a lengthy feud. During this feud, Edge helped the fans with the already started "you suck" chants every time Angle entered a WWE ring, usually in tune with Angle's entrance music.^[45] The chants followed Angle throughout the rest of his WWE career. In the course of the feud, the naturally balding Angle lost a "hair versus hair" match to Edge at Judgment Day, and his head was shaved bald.^[46] Angle has retained the shaved head since. Following the loss of his hair, Angle's storyline called for him to wear a wig and insult bald people,^[47] leading to a feud with Hollywood Hogan, who stripped Angle of his wig.^[48] Angle later scored a submission victory over Hogan at King of the Ring.^[49]

In October 2002, Angle became the fifth WWE Grand Slam Championship winner when he won the WWE Tag Team Championship with Chris Benoit at No Mercy 2002. Their team was successful but problematic, as the two bickered constantly, with Benoit often fed up with Angle's over-the-top antics.^[50] After dropping the title to Edge and Rey Mysterio on an episode of SmackDown!,^[51] Angle won his third WWE Championship at Armageddon, defeating The Big Show, with the help of Brock Lesnar.^[52] While still in his third reign, Angle began a new storyline when he gained the services of manager Paul Heyman and "Team Angle".^[53]

Feuding with Lesnar and Guerrero (2003–2004)[link]

Angle and Brock Lesnar after their WWE Championship title match at WrestleMania XIX

He then began feuding with Brock Lesnar, who had won the 2003 Royal Rumble match,^[54] after Lesnar claimed to be the new top superstar on SmackDown!. Angle dropped the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania XIX to Lesnar.^[55]

On April 11, 2003, Angle underwent neck surgery performed by Dr. Hae-Dong Jho to repair nerve and spinal damage, calcium buildup, bone spurs, and intervertebral disc problems. Rather than have Dr. Jho remove the afflicted discs and fuse his vertebrae together, Angle opted for a less conventional surgery where Jho removed only the spurs and selected portions of the discs. The alternative surgery reduced Angle's rehabilitation time from one year to three months.^[56] He returned as a face character in June. Shortly after returning, Angle defeated Lesnar and Big Show in a Triple Threat match at Vengeance to regain the WWE Championship. During this time, Lesnar seemed to become an ally to Angle. Lesnar, however, secretly worked with Vince McMahon on a plot against Angle, turning on him during a steel cage match between himself and McMahon in which Angle was the special guest referee, and stated that he never tolerated losing the belt to him at Vengeance.^[57] After retaining the title in a singles bout at SummerSlam by making Brock Lesnar tap out to the ankle lock, he dropped the title to Lesnar in an Iron Man match on an episode of SmackDown!.^[58][59] Angle then formed a five-man team to rival Lesnar's team at the Survivor Series, with Angle's team coming out victorious.^[60]

Angle then got involved in a feud with Eddie Guerrero. Initially being a firm friend and ally to Eddie during the latter's feud with his nephew Chavo, Angle turned on him when it was announced that Guerrero, not Angle, was the number one contender for the WWE Championship, thus becoming a villain once again. At No Way Out, Guerrero defeated Lesnar to win the WWE Championship, and Angle won a match to become new number one contender. After losing to Guerrero at WrestleMania XX, Angle began to once again suffer from legitimate neck problems.^[61] As a response, he was made the on-screen General Manager of SmackDown!,^[62] with his absence from the ring attributed to injuries suffered after Big Show chokeslammed him off a ledge.^[63] Angle continued his feud with Guerrero throughout 2004. He cost Guerrero the WWE championship against John "Bradshaw" Layfield in a Texas Bull Rope match at The Great American Bash by participating in the worked finish; Angle came down to the ring and showed a replay where JBL's shoulder hit the corner pad before Guerrero's hand.^[64] Angle was later fired by Vince McMahon as General Manager in July 2004, after discovering that he was faking his handicapped status.^[65]

In November 2004, Angle initiated the Kurt Angle Invitational, a worked weekly segment where "hometown heroes" (plants), challenged him to a match, with Angle promising to give his Olympic gold medal to the first person to last more than three minutes in the ring with him.^[66] The Invitational was won by Eugene in July 2005 starting a new angle for both men.^[67] As a result, Angle faced Eugene at SummerSlam, defeating him by making him tap out to the ankle lock.

On November 4, 2004, episode of SmackDown!, taped in St. Louis, Missouri, during an unscripted segment of Tough Enough, Angle challenged the finalists through a squat thrust competition.^[68][69] Chris Nawrocki won the competition, and the prize Nawrocki won was a match against Angle.^[70] Angle quickly took Nawrocki down, breaking his ribs, then made him tap out with a neck crank.^[70] After Angle defeated Nawrocki, Angle challenged the other finalists.^[70] Daniel Puder, an American professional mixed martial artist, accepted Angle's challenge.^[70] Angle and Puder wrestled for position, with Angle taking Puder down, however, in the process, Puder locked Angle in a kimura lock.^[69][70][71] With Puder on his back and Angle's arm locked in the kimura, Angle attempted a pin, one of two referees in the ring, Jim Korderas, quickly counted three to end the bout, despite the fact that Puder's shoulders weren't fully down on the mat, bridging up at two.^[69][70][71] Puder later claimed he would have snapped Angle's arm, thus making Angle tap out on national television, if Korderas had not ended the match.^[70] Dave Meltzer and Dave Scherer gave these following comments:

"It was real. If you don't follow fighting, Puder had Angle locked in the Kimura, or keylock as Tazz called it, although Tazz didn't let on the move was fully executed. Not only was Angle not getting out of the move, but most MMA fighters would have tapped already. Angle couldn't tap for obvious reasons. The ref counted a three even though Puder's shoulders weren't fully down, trying to end the thing, because the reality was Angle would have been in surgery had it gone a few seconds longer or had Puder not given up the hold." ― Dave Meltzer^[69][71]

"As you would expect, Kurt Angle was less than happy backstage at Smackdown after almost being forced to tap out to Tough Enough contestant Daniel Puder. Downright ticked off would probably be the best way to describe his mood. The unscripted nature of the contest was the main reason that Angle was made to look so bad since Puder just reacted to the situation and could have forced Angle to submit had the referees not thought quickly and counted a pin that wasn’t there on Puder." ― Dave Scherer^[69]

The Wrestling Machine (2005–2006)[link]

Kurt Angle after retaining his Olympic Gold Medal at SummerSlam (2005).

In January 2005, Angle took part in the Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by Shawn Michaels, who had returned to the ring to eliminate in retaliation.^[72] After mocking Michaels by defeating his former tag team partner, Marty Jannetty,^[73] and attacking former manager, Sherri Martel,^[74] Angle defeated Michaels in an interpromotional match at WrestleMania 21, which won Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) Match of the Year Award.^[72] He continued to feud with Michaels upon being drafted from SmackDown! to Raw in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery,^[75] losing to Michaels at Vengeance.^[76] Angle later challenged John Cena for the WWE Championship at Unforgiven, where Angle won the match by disqualification, thus not winning the title. Angle also challenged Cena again in a Triple Threat match along with Michaels at Taboo Tuesday, in a losing effort.

Angle returned to the SmackDown! brand in January 2006, where he was pushed to gain the vacant World Heavyweight Championship in a twenty man battle royal, turning face in the process for the first time since 2004.^[77][78] He retained the title against Mark Henry at the Royal Rumble. Shortly after the match, The Undertaker made his return and challenged Angle for the title. Angle retained the title in a match with Undertaker at No Way Out^[79] before dropping it to Rey Mysterio in a Triple Threat match, which also included Randy Orton, at WrestleMania 22.^[80]

At Judgment Day, Angle was defeated by Mark Henry via countout. On May 29, 2006, Angle was drafted to the newly created ECW brand. It was during this time that he acquired the nickname "The Wrestling Machine,"^[81] wearing a mouth guard and quickly squashing opponents. Upon coming to ECW, he issued an open challenge for One Night Stand, which was accepted by Orton.^[82] Angle defeated Orton at One Night Stand,^[83] later losing to him in a rematch at Vengeance. Angle appeared sporadically on WWE television throughout mid 2006. On August 25, 2006, Angle was granted an early release from his WWE contract because of health reasons.^[84][85] Angle stated in the Kurt Angle: Champion documentary DVD that he asked for his release from WWE because Angle couldn't take time off and he was working hurt, severely on some occasions. He also states that when he quit, WWE lost their very top talent, as he was at the very top of the payroll.^[86]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling[link]

Debut and World Championships (2006–2007)[link]

Kurt and Karen Angle watching at ringside during Impact!

A few weeks after his WWE contract expired, Angle signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). The new signing was viewed by some as a promotion not having concern for the health of a wrestler.^[87] On September 24, 2006, during the closing segment of No Surrender, TNA President Dixie Carter announced that TNA Wrestling had signed Angle to a contract, with Jim Cornette introducing video footage of Angle training in a six-sided TNA ring.^[88] On the December 28, 2006 episode of TNA Impact!, this was announced as the "Moment of the Year" for TNA.^[89]

Angle made his TNA debut on October 19, confronting Samoa Joe after Joe refused to relinquish the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt that, according to the storyline, he had stolen from Jeff Jarrett.^[90] The two men ended up fighting while Jarrett took the title back.^[90] Angle was then the special enforcer for the Title vs. Career match between Jarrett and Sting at Bound for Glory, but, as part of the worked finish, he took out referee Rudy Charles and assumed the referee's role for the rest of the match-up.^[91] Angle's first match in TNA took place on the November 16 airing of Impact!, where he was booked to defeat Abyss with the ankle lock and be attacked after the match by Samoa Joe.^[92] At Genesis, Angle defeated Samoa Joe, ending Joe's undefeated push.^[91]

At Final Resolution, Angle was booked to defeat Samoa Joe in a thirty minute Iron Man match 3–2 to earn a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Against All Odds,^[93] which he lost to Christian Cage after interference from Tomko and Scott Steiner.^[94] This led to a feud between Angle and Steiner, with Angle pinning Steiner at Destination X.^[95] After Angle defeated Steiner, he was picked to lead a team of four other wrestlers against a team of Christian Cage's choice in a Lethal Lockdown match at April's Lockdown. Angle chose Samoa Joe, Rhino, Sting, and Jeff Jarrett for Team Angle, while Cage chose A.J. Styles, Scott Steiner, Tomko, and Abyss. The man who gained the winning pinfall would become the number one contender to Christian Cage's NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Team Angle was victorious after Jeff Jarrett hit Abyss with a gimmicked guitar full of thumbtacks and allowed Sting to score the pin.^[96] Cage was set to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Sting and Angle in a triple threat match at Sacrifice.^[97] The day of the PPV, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the owners of the NWA World Heavyweight and the NWA World Tag Team Championships, stripped Cage of the title and Team 3D of the tag team title.^[98] NWA Executive Director Robert K. Trobich stated the reason was that Cage refused to defend the NWA Title at NWA live events.^[98] At the PPV event, Cage, still holding the physical NWA Championship belt, defended what was billed as the "World Heavyweight Championship" against Angle and Sting. Angle was the victor of said contest by making Sting submit, who had technically just pinned Cage, and was announced as the new "World Heavyweight Champion".^[99] The Impact! following the event, Angle came to the ring with a new championship belt, and announced he was the new "TNA World Heavyweight Champion".^[100] Afterward, Cage and Sting came to the ring and the three began to argue over who was the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Due to the controversial finish to their match at Sacrifice, the title was declared vacant by Cornette. A tournament was held for the title which culminated in a King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary on June 17, 2007.^[100] At the event, Angle became the TNA World Heavyweight Champion by defeating Cage, Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, and Chris Harris.^[101] He then attacked Joe after denying a request for a handshake, reigniting their feud.

At Victory Road, newly-crowned X Division Champion Samoa Joe teamed with Kurt Angle to face TNA Tag Team Champions Team 3D, with the stipulation that if a wrestler pinned the other opponent, he won his championship.^[102] As part of the planned outcome of the match, Joe pinned Brother Ray of Team 3D to win both tag team belts, which he held by himself.^[102] On the following episode of Impact!, Joe (now holding the X Division and Tag Team Championships, with Angle holding the TNA and (IGF recognized) IWGP Heavyweight Championships) challenged Angle to a match at Hard Justice where it was winner take all.^[103] While illustrating how he would take away everything important in Angle's life, Joe brought Angle's wife Karen into the fray, as she demanded a divorce.^[104] During the match, however, Karen turned on Joe and aided her husband.^[105] As part of his next push, Angle won, gaining all the championships and becoming the second Triple Crown champion in TNA and the first to hold all three titles at the same time. Including the IWGP Title, this made Angle a quadruple champion.^[105] Angle, however, dropped both the X Division and Tag Team Titles to Jay Lethal and Team Pacman, respectively, at No Surrender. At Bound for Glory, Angle lost the TNA World Title to Sting, but won it back on the October 25 episode of Impact!.

The Angle Alliance (2007–2008)[link]

Angle holding IGF's version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship

Angle then joined forces with A.J. Styles and Tomko as The Angle Alliance at Turning Point against Samoa Joe, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall. Styles had planned for Christian's Coalition and The Angle Alliance to team up together, but Christian Cage demanded to be the leader of The Angle Alliance after Cage denied Angle's request of being his "lackey". At Final Resolution, Angle successfully defended the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Cage due to interference from Styles and again at Against All Odds with help from Tomko. At Lockdown, Angle lost the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Samoa Joe after being pinned.

The Main Event Mafia (2008–2009)[link]

After suffering a neck injury, Angle was out of action. In the storyline, he returned to Impact! to ask his estranged wife Karen to reunite with him, but she declined his offer. Later that night, after Styles suffered a beating at the hands of Team 3D, Booker T, and Tomko, Angle added to the mugging by hitting Styles with a steel chair. At Slammiversery, Angle lost to Styles, being pinned after interference from Karen. At Victory Road, Angle and Team 3D won a six-man tag team Full Metal Mayhem match defeating the team of Christian Cage, Rhino, and Styles. At Hard Justice, Angle once again lost to Styles – this time in a Last Man Standing match. The feud continued on the next episode of Impact!, with Styles winning Angle's gold medal in a mock amateur wrestling match. The next week Angle challenged Styles to a ladder match for the Olympic Gold Medal. As they both stood on the top of the ladder, the arena went dark and Jeff Jarrett's music played. When the lights turned on, Styles had a guitar and performed an Acoustic Equalizer on Angle to win the match.

Kurt Angle in TNA

Angle began a feud with Jarrett after No Surrender when Jarrett hit Angle with his guitar, a match that involved him, Christian Cage and Samoa Joe for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On the October 2 episode of Impact, Mick Foley announced that he would be the special enforcer for Angle's match with Jarrett at Bound for Glory IV. Angle lost to Jarrett in this match, being pinned after taking the mandible claw from Foley and a guitar shot and Stroke from Jarrett. He started attacking other superstars backstage in order to get a rematch against Jarrett. On the first HD Impact!, Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash, and Sting started a new stable of legends called The Main Event Mafia. Scott Steiner joined the group the following week. Angle then defeated Abyss at Turning Point in a Falls Count Anywhere match. After weeks of torturing Jeff Jarrett to give him a rematch, Jarrett said that if Angle could defeat Rhino at the second Final Resolution of 2008, with Mick Foley as the Special Enforcer, he would grant it. Angle defeated Rhino to earn a rematch with Jarrett at Genesis after Al Snow made a surprise appearance and distracted Foley for Angle to cheat. At Sacrifice, Angle lost his leadership of the Mafia to Sting because of their match's stipulation. On June 21 at Slammiversary, Angle won (so he wouldn't leave TNA) the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the third time in a King of the Mountain match with help from Samoa Joe. On the following episode of Impact!, Angle regained leadership of the Main Event Mafia after he and the rest of the Mafia, attacked Sting while introducing Joe as their newest member. At No Surrender Angle lost his championship to A.J. Styles in a five-way match which also included Matt Morgan, Sting, and Hernandez.^[106]

Various feuds (2009–2010)[link]

Angle in a match against Desmond Wolfe.

After defeating Morgan at Bound for Glory,^[107] Angle came out on the following episode of Impact! and put over the younger talent of the company. Afterward, he was assaulted by the debuting Desmond Wolfe,^[108] who defeated him via knockout in a street fight the following week.^[109] At Turning Point Angle defeated Wolfe in a rematch.^[110] The following month at Final Resolution Angle faced Wolfe in a "Three Degrees of Pain" two out of three falls match. Wolfe managed to gain the first fall by pinning Angle following the Tower of London, but Angle forced him to tap out with the ankle lock to win the second fall. In the final fall, which could only be won by escaping the Six Sides of Steel, Angle managed to escape first and won the match.^[111] On the January 4, 2010, live, three hour, Monday night edition of Impact! Angle received a shot at A.J. Styles' World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated in the main event of the show.^[112] Two weeks later at Genesis Angle received one last shot at the World Heavyweight Title, but was once again defeated by Styles, who turned heel with the help of Ric Flair and nailed him with the title belt. As a result, Angle was barred from challenging for the belt as long as Styles is the title holder.^[113] Due to the circumstances surrounding the loss, Hulk Hogan gave Angle another shot at Styles and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on the January 21 episode of Impact!, but this time he lost the match after referee Earl Hebner, who was later revealed to have been paid off by Flair, called for the bell in an incident similar to the Montreal Screwjob. Angle responded to the incident by spitting in Hogan's face, threatening to quit TNA and go back to WWE.^[114] Angle apologized to Hogan, after being saved by him from Scott Hall and Syxx-Pac.^[115] At Against All Odds Angle took part in the 8 Card Stud Tournament to crown a new number one contender, but was defeated in the first round by Mr. Anderson, after Anderson used Angle's dog tags to bust him open.^[115] On the following episode of Impact! Angle promised to make Anderson suffer for disrespecting the U.S. soldiers, but was in the end once again laid out by him, effectively starting a feud between the two.^[116] At Destination X Angle defeated Anderson in a rematch.^[117] Angle and Anderson were booked in a rubber match inside a steel cage at Lockdown.^[118] On the April 5 episode of Impact! Anderson defeated Angle in a ladder match to win possession of the key to the cage door.^[119] At Lockdown, Angle defeated Anderson in a steel cage match and afterwards announced that he would now be taking some time off from wrestling.^[120]

Rankings climb (2010)[link]

Angle returned on the May 20 episode of Impact! and was ranked number two by the Championship Committee in the inaugural top 10 rankings for a World Heavyweight title shot. Angle, however, decided to take his name out of the running for a title shot and vowed to fight his way through the top 10 and earn his spot at the top of the company.^[121] At Slammiversary VIII Angle started his climb back to the top by defeating Kazarian, who was ranked number ten.^[122] Angle continued his climb, defeating Desmond Wolfe, who was ranked number nine prior to the match, on the June 24 episode of Impact!, and D'Angelo Dinero, ranked number eight, at Victory Road.^[123][124] Prior to his match with Dinero, Angle announced that should he lose on his way to the top of the rankings, he would retire from professional wrestling^[125] On the July 22 episode of Impact! Angle defeated number seven ranked Hernandez and followed that up three weeks later by defeating number six ranked A.J. Styles.^[126][127] On the August 19 episode of Impact! the TNA World Heavyweight Championship was vacated and instead of continuing his climb, Angle was entered into an eight man tournament for the title, defeating X Division Champion Douglas Williams in his first round match.^[128] At No Surrender Angle first wrestled Jeff Hardy to a twenty minute time limit draw, after which Eric Bischoff ordered a five minute extra time. After that and a second five minute extra time also ended in draws, it was ruled that, due to a cut, Angle wouldn't be allowed to continue the match, ending the match in a no contest.^[129] After wrestling a draw on the September 16 episode of Impact!, it was announced that both Angle and Hardy would advance to the finals at Bound for Glory, where they would compete with Mr. Anderson in a three–way match.^[130]

Feud with Jeff Jarrett (2010–2011)[link]

Angle and Jeff Jarrett at Slammiversary IX.

At Bound for Glory Angle was defeated by Hardy, when he turned heel and pinned Anderson, after an interference from Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, who then went on to form an alliance named Immortal, with Hardy, Abyss and Jeff Jarrett.^[131] On the following episode of Impact! Angle came out to make his retirement speech, after his failed attempt to win the World Heavyweight Champion, but was interrupted by Jarrett, who announced that he had made a deal with Hogan and Bischoff in order to end Angle's career at Bound for Glory, before attacking him, when he was restrained by TNA's security officers Gunner and Murphy.^[132] The following week Angle returned, trying to get his hands on Bischoff and Ric Flair, before being stopped by TNA's security officers.^[133] Angle returned three weeks later on the November 11 episode of Impact!, saving Samoa Joe from Jeff Jarrett, Gunner and Murphy.^[134] After not appearing again for two weeks, Angle made another return on the December 2 episode of Impact!, saving Samoa Joe from Jeff Jarrett and Abyss.^[135] On the January 6, 2011, episode of Impact! Angle interrupted Jarrett's $100,000 Mixed Martial Arts Challenge and signed a contract to face him at Genesis in an MMA exhibition match, since he had promised not to wrestle again.^[136] The match was thrown out in the third round after Jarrett blinded Angle. After the match Jarrett bloodied Angle, before announcing that he was ending his mixed martial arts career and promised that his wife, Karen Jarrett (formerly Karen Angle), would be joining the retirement party.^[137] On the January 13 episode of Impact! Karen made her return and stopped Angle just as he was about to attack Jeff, telling him that she would not allow him to ruin their personal lives and promised to tell all about their divorce the following week.^[138] The following week Karen slapped Kurt, providing a distraction which allowed Jeff to beat him down. At the end of the show Crimson saved Angle from a beating at the hands of Immortal and Fortune.^[139] The following week Ric Flair reinstated Angle in order to place him and Crimson in a seven–on–two handicap match against Jarrett, James Storm, Robert Roode, Kazarian, Rob Terry, Gunner and Murphy. The match ended with Jarrett pinning Angle for the win. Afterwards, Angle was saved from another beatdown by the returning Scott Steiner.^[140] The following week Fortune turned on Immortal and aligned themselves with Angle, Crimson and Steiner.^[141] On February 13 at Against All Odds Jarrett defeated Angle in a singles match and as a result Angle was forced to walk Karen down the aisle, when she and Jarrett renewed their wedding vows on the March 3 episode of Impact!. After the match Angle hinted at a possible retirement by leaving his wrestling boots in the ring.^[142] On March 3 Angle proceeded to destroy the wedding set with an axe and forced wedding guest, New York Jet Bart Scott to tap out with the ankle lock.^[143] On April 17 at Lockdown, Jarrett defeated Angle in an "Ultra Male Rules" Two out of Three Falls steel cage match, with help from Karen.^[144] On the May 12 episode of Impact!, Angle revealed Chyna as his backup in taking care of the Jarretts.^[145] At Sacrifice, Angle and Chyna defeated the Jarretts in a mixed tag team match.^[146] Later that same month, Angle signed a new three-year contract with TNA.^[147] With Karen out of the picture, Angle defeated Jarrett on June 12 at Slammiversary IX in what was billed as the "final battle" between the two to retain his Olympic gold medal and become the number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.^[148] However, on the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Jarrett challenged Angle to a Parking Lot Brawl and agreed to sign a contract that would force him to move to Mexico without Angle's children, should he lose the match. Angle ended up winning the fight after choking Jarrett with a shirt, forcing him to say "adiós".^[149]

Regaining the World Heavyweight Championship (2011–present)[link]

With his feud with Jarrett behind him, Angle aligned himself with Sting to feud with the rest of Immortal, including the group's newest member, TNA World Heavyweight Champion Mr. Anderson.^[150] On the July 14 episode of Impact Wrestling, Angle helped Sting regain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Anderson.^[151] On August 7 at Hardcore Justice, Angle defeated Sting, after hitting him with a chair he snatched away from Hulk Hogan, to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the record-breaking fifth time.^[152] On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Angle explained that he did not agree with Sting, who, using the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, wanted to hand the promotion back to Dixie Carter, as he had found out that she had lied to him about not knowing of the relationship between Karen and Jeff Jarrett. When Sting confronted Angle, he was attacked by Hogan, which led to Angle revealing that Hogan had been the one who had exposed Carter's lie to him. Angle also revealed that his goal was now to ruin Carter's youth movement in TNA by eliminating the younger wrestlers one-by-one and started by attacking Bound for Glory Series leader Crimson after the main event.^[153] Angle made his first televised title defense on the September 1 episode of Impact Wrestling, defeating Sting in a rematch, following interference from special enforcer Hulk Hogan and the rest of Immortal.^[154] The following week, Angle's title match with Mr. Anderson ended in a disqualification, following interference from Immortal, which led to a three-way match between Angle, Anderson and Sting on September 11 at No Surrender, where Angle managed to retain the title, following interference from Hogan.^[155][156] On October 16 at Bound for Glory, Angle successfully defended the title against Bobby Roode.^[157]

On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Angle lost the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Roode's tag team partner, James Storm.^[158][159] Angle returned on the November 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, attacking James Storm and revealing himself as the man who had attacked and bloodied him also the previous week, costing him his match with Bobby Roode for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.^[160] On December 11 at Final Resolution, Angle was defeated by Storm in a singles match.^[161] On January 8, 2012, at Genesis, Angle defeated Storm in a rematch.^[162] On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Storm defeated Angle in a number one contender's match.^[163] Angle returned on the February 16 episode of Impact Wrestling, costing Jeff Hardy his shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.^[164] On March 18 at Victory Road, Angle defeated Hardy in a singles match, pinning him while grabbing a hold of the ring ropes.^[165] On April 15 at Lockdown, Hardy defeated Angle in a rematch, contested inside a steel cage.^[166] On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Angle defeated A.J. Styles, following interference from Styles' rivals Christopher Daniels and Kazarian.^[167] The following week, Angle warned the two Immortal associates never to interfere in one of his matches again.^[168] On May 13 at Sacrifice, Angle defeated Styles in a rematch, following another interference from Daniels and Kazarian. After the match, Angle made the save for Styles, chasing Daniels and Kazarian out of the ring.^[169]

Japanese promotions (2007–2009)[link]

On February 18, 2007, Angle made his debut in New Japan Pro Wrestling, teaming with former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata to defeat fellow TNA wrestler Travis Tomko and fellow WWE alumnus Giant Bernard.^[4]

Angle was booked to face Brock Lesnar in a champion versus champion match for the Inoki Genome Federation on June 29, 2007, and defeated him by submission for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship,^[170] and he challenged him to an MMA fight.^[171] On December 19, 2007, Angle defended the IWGP World Title successfully against Kendo Kashin.^[172]

On January 4, 2008, Angle made his third successful IWGP World Championship defense when he defeated Yuji Nagata at the New Japan Pro Wrestling supershow Wrestle Kingdom II in Tokyo Dome by forcing Nagata to tap out to the ankle lock.^[173] On February 17, 2008, Angle lost the IWGP title to Shinsuke Nakamura in a unification match, thus ending the IWGP championship controversy.^[174] Kurt Angle is not recognized as an IWGP Heavyweight Champion by New Japan. He returned in August during the G1 Climax in two special tag matches A.J. Styles as his opponent with Shinsuke Nakamura and Masahiro Chono as Angle's partners and Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinjiro Otani as Styles' partners. Angle's team won both matches.^[175]