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WWE Tough Enough competition may have been a forgotten competition in today's wrestling world, but back in the 2000s, it used to be a huge deal, and after the first season that took place in 2001, the expectations for season 4 were at their peak. Maven Huffman and Nidia Guenard won Season 1, and both of them got to work in WWE as in ring competitors as well.
Season 4 of the competition produced many future stars, one of whom was Daniel Puder, who could not find a successful career in WWE but became a famous star in UFC. While he was having an amazing time in the tournament, he had an infamous moment with professional wrestling legend Kurt Angle.
Kurt Angle remembered the incident with Daniel Puder from 2004
During an unscripted segment, Kurt Angle kept on challenging the participants of the Tough Enough competition in wrestling matches. After defeating all of them one by one, he stood face to face with Daniel Puder. Surprisingly, Puder locked Angle in an Arm Lock, and Angle was unable to get out of it.
The referee quickly saved the situation by counting three since Puder's shoulders were down, and saved Angle from the embarrassing situation. Kurt Angle recently remembered this incident, which is now more than 20 year old. Speaking on the “Dos and D” podcast, the Olympic Gold Medalist explained the following;
Kurt Angle had an embarrassing moment during the Tough Enough competition of season 4
“Daniel Puder, uh nice kid. What happened was I just got over a neck surgery and me physically I could do about five push-ups. My upper body was completely weak. There was nothing because of my nerve problems in my neck going down my arms. I had no circulation. So that means my circulation was cut off. My arms started getting smaller.
"They were atrophying. I was getting weaker and weaker so Vince wants me to do this shoot thing with the Tough Enough kids and Daniel Puder was part of it and they kept telling me don’t pick Daniel Puder because he’s an MMA fighter. I was like, why I’m not afraid of him, you know?
Daniel Puder won season 4 of the Tough Enough competition
“So, what happened was I went out there and I picked Daniel and we got in the ring, we started wrestling and I’m wrestling, but this kid didn’t understand that it wasn’t submission. It was pinfall. So, he gets me in a key lock and I take him down. He’s cranking my arm. Now, he was this close to breaking it, but I was like, “You’re a dumbass, dude. This isn’t submission. This is pinfall.
"Okay. So, uh when he got up, I actually pinned him because he was on his back. I pinned him and we got up and I said, “You know what? You’re a *******.” He said, “What are you talking about?” I said, “This was pinfall. This isn’t submission.” And um so he, you know, he laughed it off. And what happened was my writer, Brian Gewritz, said, “Hey, you want to do a program with him?” I said, “Yeah, once he learns how to wrestle.” said WWE Hall of Famer.
