One of the most famous pay per views in WWE history is the 2001 Vengeance pay per view. On that night, Chris Jericho won a mini tournament to become the Undisputed WWF Champion (it was still WWF at the time). It was no easy feat, as Jericho had to not only beat The Rock, but Stone Cold Steve Austin in one night. Many people forget the fourth person involved in the mini tournament, and that was Kurt Angle. Angle lost to Austin earlier in the night, but it seems like Angle was at one point going to not only defeat Austin, but the winner of Jericho and The Rock.
Angle was asked bout this on the Ask Kurt Anything segment on his Kurt Angle Show podcast where he claimed he was Vince McMahon’s original choice to become the first ever Undisputed Champion. Angle then added that Vince changed his mind leading up to the show and decided to go with Jericho, who was incredibly popular at the time. Angle said he agreed with that move and Jericho deserved that distinction.
“I was actually set to win the (Undisputed) title. But Vince McMahon came to me about a week before and said, “Hey, I’m not going to put the title on you. I’m going to put it on Jericho, because he’s red hot right now, he’s working his way up, and he needs this title more than you.” And I agreed with him, so I said “You’re absolutely right. I’d put it on Jericho too if I were you.” So it was considered for me to win the title, but I think Vince went with Jericho because he needed it more and Chris was a red hot babyface at the time. You know, giving him that title just legitimized him more. He deserved it.”
Jericho held the title until WrestleMania X8, where he lost the title to Triple H. However, you have to wonder how history would have gone if Angle would have been put in that position instead and if he would have held onto the belt until WrestleMania or even longer.
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