Leave it to Kurt Angle to Angle Slam his way into the conversation with a nick-of-time contender for meme of the year.
As you’ve no doubt seen all across TikTok, Twitter, and beyond in recent days, the former pro wrestler and Olympic gold medalist's filmed stare has become shorthand in expressing several emotions, namely those of the understated "Are you fucking serious right now?" variety.
Of course, now that we’ve reached the point in the meme life cycle of writing news articles explaining what it means, it’s relatively safe to say we have quite possibly killed the meme itself. RIP. Then again, the recently-made-viral crying Vince McMahon meme is still going strong months after its peak, so who's to say?.
At any rate, we’ve broken down the Kurt meme below. Keep reading for more.
What's Kurt been up to lately?
Kurt Angle retired at WrestleMania 35 in 2019, following an extensive career of memorable moves and fearless feuds.
“I’m grateful that Vince McMahon brought me back, I’m grateful to be a part of the Hall of Fame, and I’m so grateful to be able to retire here, especially at WrestleMania,” Angle said on the eve of his final showdown.
Earlier this year, Angle's journey from Olympic gold medalist to WWE Hall of Fame wrestling star was chronicled in a Peacock documentary directed by Alex Perry.
Where did Kurt's memed stare come from?
Whenever a new or resurfaced meme starts making the rounds, it's a good idea to dig into its Know Your Meme listing. In the case of the Angle meme, that's how you'll find confirmation that its path to virality began with a quick TikTok update from the wrestling legend in August of this year.
From there, the KYM database points to the account of @thebasedlander2 as the inaugural act of memery.
How are people using it?
The Angle meme is a particularly versatile one, as seen in the selection of hits below.
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