‘Going to lose all my money’ – Vince McMahon slapped WWE megastar with staggering fine for laughing backstage
Vince McMahon has never been shy about dipping into a wrestler’s wallet when his rules were broken.
One of his best ever exports in Kurt Angle found that out the hard way.
The Olympic gold medalist was still cutting his teeth in WWE when a backstage order left him thousands out of pocket in the space of just a few minutes.
McMahon had made it clear that breaking character in his empire was a no no – whether live on a show or during a pre-taped segment. Doing so would carry punishment.
Sadly, for the Olympic star, the piece he was working on was funny – and Angle couldn’t keep a straight face.
Kurt Angle reveals being fined $8,000 for laughing backstage in WWE
He told the NotSam Wrestling podcast: “We were doing these pre-tapes and Vince told us: ‘If you break character, it’s a $2,000 fine.’
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“Of course, I laughed four times, I ended up paying eight grand.”
The incident came at a time when Angle was still, relatively speaking, new to the wrestling world and the cut-throat environment of WWE.
He had made his televised debut at Survivor Series in November 1999, beating Shawn Stasiak, and within weeks was feuding with names like Val Venis and Hardcore Holly.
By early 2000 he held both the European and Intercontinental Championships, and later that year he beat The Rock to win the WWE title. Few rookies ever rose so fast, but in those first months he was still learning the rules of McMahon’s empire – and learning they came with a cost.
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Angle later admitted the fine forced him to take things more seriously. “I started getting serious. I was like, ‘I can’t do that anymore, I’m going to lose all my money,’” he added.
He wasn’t the only one to suffer at the hands of McMahon’s financial discipline. Batista was reportedly fined $100,000 in 2008 for blading during a cage match on Raw, while Chris Jericho was fined $10,000 for desecrating Brazil’s flag during a live event.
R-Truth has also spoken about being fined $20,000 in 2011 for smoking inside a UK arena during a WWE tour, a penalty linked directly to the building’s laws.
In each case McMahon used money to send a message: rules were rules, and breaking them carried consequences.
Why Kurt Angle's career made him a one-off in WWE
Angle’s $8,000 fine might not have been as eye-watering as Batista’s six-figure hit, but for a rookie still finding his feet, it was every bit as punishing. At that stage of his career he was still fighting for recognition in a locker room stacked with names like The Rock, Triple H and The Undertaker, and McMahon made sure every newcomer understood the stakes.
Ironically, Angle would go on to deliver some of WWE’s funniest moments, from dousing The Alliance with milk in 2001 to the infamous tiny cowboy hat routine alongside Steve Austin.
His willingness to lean into comedy became part of his legacy, but the early lesson from McMahon presumably never left him. The laughs were gold for television, but there was no escaping the fact they once cost him thousands.
Angle didn’t fare too badly, of course – by 2017 he was inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame as recognition for a stellar career that few have since matched.
He’ll go down in history as a curious hybrid, too: a phenomenal in-ring athlete with the ability to draw a laugh – even if it sometimes landed him in hot water.