Kurt Angle has opened up about Hulk Hogan’s role in getting him involved with Real American Freestyle (RAF) during a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.

The Olympic gold medalist joined Helwani on Wednesday to promote RAF’s second event, set to take place on Saturday, October 25, at the Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State. Angle will serve as a commentator for the event, which will air on Fox Nation. During the interview, Angle revealed that Hogan originally reached out to him about joining the promotion but that he initially turned the WWE Hall of Famer down.

“(Hogan) said, listen, we can make this thing really big, but I need you to be a part of the team. Well, I turned him down because the first time he offered me a certain amount of money and I said, well, to be a part of this promotion, I probably need a little bit more than that. And he said, well, we can’t give it to you right now,” Angle explained.

Angle went on to say that he was also approached by another company, the Champions League of American Wrestling, but ultimately decided against joining them as well. He later returned to negotiate with Hogan, and the two came to an agreement before Hogan’s passing.

“We talked again and we made it work. And then he passed away in the process of me signing the contract. So Chad Bronstein, the other owner, continued on with me and he signed me on. So I’m really excited about this because for the first time, I feel like freestyle wrestling could be mainstream,” Angle said.

Angle also revealed that he now owns a percentage of RAF in addition to his commentary role. Reflecting further on his relationship with Hogan, Angle spoke about the deep respect the two shared throughout their careers.

“Terry, him and I were always close. We had a mutual respect for each other. I remember when I got the opportunity to wrestle him, and not only did I wrestle him but he really surprised me. He was probably in his late 50s and I was in the prime of my career, and we had a great match. And the crazy thing is I’m the first one to ever make him tap out and I never thought he’d go for it, but he did. He had enough respect for me to say you know what Kurt, I’ll do the job tonight. And it was really cool that Hulk Hogan did that for me. He took me to another level.”

“I was a fan boy, I’m like holy crap I’m wrestling Hulk Hogan, I was so excited,” Angle added with a laugh.

Angle’s full interview with Ariel Helwani can be viewed below.