Back in August, Kurt Angle posted his first TikTok. The video was brief, essentially just introducing viewers to his TikTok page and encouraging them to follow it.


However, toward the end of the video, he spends a few seconds staring silently into the camera in order to set up a joke that pays off at the video’s end. Little did Angle know that those few seconds of silence would lead to him becoming a meme.


@realkurtangle Oh #ItsTrue! YOUR Olympic Gold Medalist and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle is NOW on #TikTok! #ProWrestling #Wrestling #OlympicWrestling #Olympics #WWERaw #Smackdown #NXT #WWE #KurtAngle #AEW ♬ WWE: Medal (Kurt Angle) - WWE & Jim Johnston


In the past few weeks, the “Kurt Angle 1,000-Yard Stare” has become the newest standard meme template, with users taking to X/Twitter to share their best jokes using the format.





Angle, however, isn’t quite sure of what to make of this. In an episode of his podcast quoted by Fightful, he said, “I don’t know why like, I know that that video you know, it’s kind of a weird-looking face, but for some strange reason everybody caught on and wanted to throw out some memes and I was the butt of the joke, I guess.”


This reached a peak recently when someone made a version of the meme saying, “The genie looking at me after I asked him for a THIRD blow job.” Angle posted the meme to his Instagram story, simply captioning the image, “REALLY??? C’MON!”



That said, Angle knows a good marketing opportunity when he sees one. He’s since started selling shirts with his iconic face on them — and so long as people keep making these memes, he’ll keep responding to him.