Kurt Angle 1,000-Yard Stare

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About

Kurt Angle 1,000-Yard Stare, also known as the Bald Guy Staring, Kurt Angle Staring or Kurt Angle Thousand-Yard Stare, refers to a video of professional wrestler Kurt Angle staring into the camera similar to the Thousand-Yard Stare meme. The meme trended on TikTok in late 2023, paired with distressing and creepy captions. Then, the video spread as a reaction image and GIF across websites like Twitter / X and Instagram, among others.

Origin

On August 2nd, 2023, professional wrestler Kurt Angle posted a video to his TikTok^[1] account, @realkurtangle, in which he introduced himself and then ended by staring blankly into the camera. The video received roughly 2.6 million plays and 299,000 likes in four months (shown below).

Currently, the first-known meme to use the video was posted by TikToker^[2] @thebasedlander2 on December 3rd, 2023, who added a How the Genie Looks at Me caption about wishing for vodka instead of a child's surgery, gaining roughly 1.9 million plays and 360,400 likes in four days (shown below).

Spread

After the aforementioned video went viral, others picked up the template. For instance, on December 5th, 2023, TikToker^[3] @couragepathh posted an iteration with a caption about being assigned homework on holiday break, gaining roughly 594,500 plays and 145,400 likes in two days (shown below, left).

Also on December 5th, 2023, TikToker^[4] @super_snax_ posted a similar meme, gaining roughly 1.6 million plays and 393,700 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Iterations of the meme continued to use different TikTok sounds, evident in a video shared by TikToker^[5] @mrcrabsmc on December 6th, 2023, that gained roughly 1.3 million plays and 228,400 likes in less than a day (shown below).

Twitter / X Spread

As the meme became commonplace on TikTok and other video platforms, discourse and meme about Kurt Angle's stare spread on Twitter / X as a reaction image and GIF. For instance, on December 9th, 2023, X^[6] user @joshbechill5 tweeted, "Them Kurt angle edits putting me in tears," gaining over 37.9 million views and 9,500 likes in three days (shown below).

The tweet gained over 37.9 million views due to numerous viral quotes that used it. For instance, on December 10th, 2023, X^[7] user @Dez_Mfd added their own edit in a quote that received over 42,000 likes in two days (shown below).

On December 11th, 2023, X^[8] user @Izzzybopz drew Kurt Angle, writing, "what is that one gif of the guy who looks like this i dont know wtf it is but its hilarious to me," gaining roughly 62,000 likes in a day (shown below, left).

During the same timeframe, users shared Kurt Angle as a reaction image, such as X^[9] user @THEUN1VRSE on December 11th, whose quote received over 26,000 likes in a day (shown below, right).