angle didnt enter the wwf as a cocky gold medalist, he was a baby face at first. i remember him having a feud with tiger ali singh when he had some india is better than america gimmick goin on, but i think angle got hurt before that went anywhere and then came back with the cocky olympic hero gimmick. i was watching the kurt angle its true its true video a few days ago and i just wish wwe would turn him heel again. some of the promos on that video were some of the funniest ive ever seen. his character seems kinda lame now
Actually that wasn't really a feud at all. It was more just to get heat on Tiger Ali Singh and his anti-american gimmick. Of course they did originally plan to have him debut against Stasiak as a face, but the fans reaction to his pre-debut vignettes and to Angle himself made him a heel.
I get the feeling that if Angle debuted in '97, then by now he'd probably be retired from the business because of his neck. We'd probably be talking about how good he was, and wondering what might have been.
FUN FACT: Angle def. Stasiak in a dark match at KOTR '99.