Kurt Angle was one of the two big stars who was originally drafted to WWE\'s version of ECW when it was first revived by the company and his joining gave the brand some much-needed legitimacy.
During the recent episode of his new podcast, the former world champion talked about the early days of the extreme brand and revealed how Vince McMahon convinced him to join ECW.
Angle explained that the boss promised him to be the face of the newly created brand and he also bumped his pay to make sure Kurt was not losing money:
“When Vince decided to start ECW, he came to me and said ‘Hey I want you to be the face of this new company that I’m starting, ECW. We’re going to ramp it up and I want you to be the face but I’m going to tell you this. You’re going to work in smaller arenas and make less money.’ I said ‘Why would I want to do that?’
What he did was, I would do the house shows and T.V.s and then the PPVs, Vince would triple my [pay] so I would get the same money as I would if I was on RAW or SmackDown.\" said Angle, \"He did promise that and did go through with it.”
WWE did not hold a draft in 2006 but the ECW representative Paul Heyman got one pick from Raw and SmackDown each for the roster of the newly revived ECW.
When given the chance, Heyman chose Kurt Angle and RVD as the two names for his brand in May 2006. Though Angle didn\'t last in the company for long after this and he asked for his release in August.
