He first earned recognition for winning a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics despite competing with a broken neck, and achieved wider fame for his tenures in WWE and TNA.

[21] Following this victory, Angle began preparing for the 1996 Summer Olympics (also in Atlanta) under Dave Schultz at the Pennsylvanian Foxcatcher Club,[23] training between eight and ten hours a day.

[26] 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,[27] herniating two discs, and pulling four muscles.

[28] He won his gold medal in the heavyweight (90–100 kg; 198–220 lb) weight class despite his injury,[22] defeating several competitors including Mongolian Dolgorsürengiin Sumyaabazar, Cuban Wilfredo Morales, Ukrainian Sagid Murtazaliev, and others.

[35] Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s On October 26, 1996, Angle was convinced by fellow Pittsburgh native Shane Douglas to attend the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) event High Incident.

[36] Angle, shocked by the controversial imagery and afraid that his career prospects were going to 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.

He is noted for learning the art of pro wrestling quicker than almost anyone else;[39] WWE executive and former opponent Triple H described Angle as "probably the fastest guy I've ever seen pick this business up", owing to "phenomenal" athleticism and an "aptitude" for the industry.

[43] After several weeks of vignettes, Angle made his televised WWF in-ring debut on November 14 at Survivor Series at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, defeating Shawn Stasiak.

[82] At New Year's Revolution on January 8, Angle again challenged Cena for the title, this time in an Elimination Chamber match, also involving Shawn Michaels, Kane, Carlito, and Chris Masters.

[98] At Final Resolution on January 14, 2007, Angle defeated 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 on February 11, which he lost to Christian Cage after interference from Tomko and Scott Steiner.

At Final Resolution on January 6, 2008, Angle successfully defended the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Cage, due to interference from Styles, and again at Against All Odds on February 10, with help from Tomko.

[128][129] 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.

[141] 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.

[149] 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.

[153] 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, thus turning heel in the process.

[154] 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.

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, cementing his heel turn.

[155] 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.

[183] Angle unsuccessfully challenged Devon for the TNA Television Championship on the December 20 episode of Impact Wrestling, after interference from Aces & Eights, Garett Bischoff, Samoa Joe, and Wes Brisco.

[184] On the January 3, 2013, episode of Impact Wrestling, Angle and Samoa Joe defeated Devon and a masked member of Aces & Eights in a steel cage tag team match.

[190] Angle was defeated by Jeff Hardy in a four-way number-one contenders match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, which also included Magnus and Samoa Joe, on the March 21 Impact Wrestling.

[199] On June 20, Angle attacked TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray at the end of the Impact Wrestling episode, and revealed himself as the first member of Sting's New Main Event Mafia.

He announced a TNA World Heavyweight Championship rematch for the July 3 episode of Impact Wrestling between Lashley and Eric Young, and reinstated Bobby Roode, who had been indefinitely suspended by MVP.

Angle was booked to face Brock Lesnar in a champion-versus-champion match for the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) on June 29, 2007, and defeated him by submission to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

[218] He returned on January 4, 2009, at Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome in a special eight-man tag match, where he, Kevin Nash, Chono, and Riki Choshu faced Great Bash Heel (Giant Bernard, Karl Anderson, Takashi Iizuka, and Tomohiro Ishii), with Angle getting the win for his team.

[233] On the October 8, 2018, episode of Raw, Angle made a surprise return, disguised as "The Conquistador", winning a battle royal after last eliminating Baron Corbin to qualify for the WWE World Cup at Crown Jewel.

[236] Angle returned at TLC on December 16 to help Braun Strowman, along with Apollo Crews, Finn Bálor, Bobby Roode, Chad Gable, defeat Baron Corbin to strip him of authoritative power.

[240] Over the following weeks, Angle embarked on a "Farewell Tour", facing several handpicked opponents, including Apollo Crews,[240] Chad Gable,[241] Samoa Joe,[242] and AJ Styles.

[246] On July 22, 2019, Angle appeared on Raw Reunion and raised a toast alongside Triple H, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and various other fellow wrestlers of his era.

He attended a fan convention on November 6, the eve of Bellator 145, then joined the commentary booth the next night, during the Bobby Lashley vs. James Thompson match, where he teased possibly fighting for the promotion himself.