During the latest episode of his Kurt Angle Show, Kurt Angle discussed his hair vs. hair match against Edge at the 2002 WWE Judgement Day event. Angle’s head was shaved after losing the match. Here are the highlights:
Edge not knowing the finish of the match:
“Well, the idea came the day after Backlash. Vince pulled me in his office and he said, ‘Listen, we’re going to have another match with Edge at the next Pay-Per-View and I want Edge to go over. I’m starting to push him really good and I want to make him a huge star. But, what we’re going to do is we’re going to have a hair versus hair match, and Edge is going to shave your head. You’re going bald anyway. You’re receding, so I’m doing you a favor. But don’t tell Edge because I have something planned for him.’ I didn’t understand what he meant, but he said, ‘Please don’t say a word to anybody.’”
“He did tell Edge during the week that we had a match. He didn’t say what kind of match it was. So Edge just knew that we had a match at the next Pay-Per-View. We get to the Pay-Per-View and Vince sits us both down. He said, ‘Listen, we’re going to have a hair versus hair match tonight, and Angle, you’re going over. You’re going to shave Edge’s head.’ Edge was like, holy shit. He couldn’t believe it.”
“After the meeting, he came to me and said, ‘Hey Kurt, I’m a little nervous about getting my head shaved because my head isn’t shaped right. It’s not going to look good bald. The thing is Vince kept this from him. He pulled the prank on him up until right before we went out to compete. At the last second he said, ‘Edge, I’m just kidding. You’re going to shave Kurt’s head. Change the finish now.’ We literally had like two minutes to change the finish and we went out there. So Vince pulled a rib on Edge. It was awesome. It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.”
“He (Edge) was up in the rafters of the arena with a booboo face all day (before being told he was going over). He didn’t want to talk to anybody. He was trying to convince himself that everything would be okay if his head was shaved bald. That’s what he was trying to do. It was just really funny. It was the funniest prank ever put on anyone.”
Getting his head shaved:
“What happened was he (Edge) had the clippers on the wrong way. You’re supposed to have the flat side run against your head and he had them flipped over so as he was doing it, it was pulling the hair out of my scalp. I’m surprised I wasn’t bleeding. It was painful as hell. I was like, ‘Edge, what the fu*k are you doing? Switch the clippers around.’ Eventually the barber told him and he started doing it right? But it was like holy sh*t man. It was painful.”
Getting over by doing this match:
“That’s what Vince wanted. Not only was a star born that night with Edge, but the wrestling machine became reality because Kurt Angle bald turned into the wrestling machine. So that’s what Vince wanted. He wanted me to be taken more seriously. That’s why he had my head shaved, and he wanted me to turn into a wrestling machine. That was the next character that I did.”
