Tired
Legend
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2011
- Messages
- 4,768
- Reaction score
- 0
I recently posted details of an interview Kurt Angle had in the UK. Here is the second part of that interview. I posted this one as a trasnscript because it was better in his own words, even if he got jumbled up sometimes.
The funniest Vince McMahon story he knows:
Probably the night that we were flying back from… I believe… gosh, I can’t remember. I know that we were overseas, obviously. But he tried me out, wrestling. It was a long night because he wouldn’t stop. He’s an actual pain in the ass. We flew, I think 8 hours. He spent at least 5 of it finding different ways to jump me or attack me. Then I would reverse him and get him down and he’d say, “I quit! I quit!†It just went on all night.
It got to the point where the pilot sent the flight attendant back and they said ‘â€Listen, you big guys need to sit down.†We were getting near the emergency door. A couple of times we jammed each other against the wall and the door was right there [gestures one body width away]. If you turn it, it’ll open. Then she said, “Listen. The captain said you either sit down or we’re gonna land this plane right away.â€
So Vince McMahon said, “With all due respect, tell the pilot to ‘Go f**k himself. I’ll buy the plane’.†And I thought that was one of the funniest lines I had ever heard. To see the way the flight attendant’s face… the shock! That’s Vince McMahon though. He’s funny and he’s arrogant.
He could’ve bought the plane. So I think he was half serious.
On whether his TNA Wrestling debut was a “game changerâ€:
It was (a game changer) at the time. It felt like it. At that point, for a few years, TNA had been making some noise. It felt really good to be a part of a smaller company that was actually getting more popular and generating more viewers. I felt very good about it.
I didn’t have a choice. When it came down to it, Vince McMahon wanted me to continue to go full time and I couldn’t do the full time thing anymore. I look at guys like John Cena now… I don’t know how he’s done it for 11 years. I’m a pretty tough kid and I did it for 6-and-a-half. And I was injured a good year-and-a-half of it. I don’t know how these guys do it, especially a guy like Cena going 11 straight years on top. It’s hard, it’s really difficult. I know the schedules are a little easier now. But back then it was 300 days a year and not only that, when I wasn’t wrestling, I had other appearances that I had to do. Whether it was for Wal-Mart or K-Mart, or ‘Get Fit with Angela’ or the ‘SmackDown Your Vote’ campaign, I was just on the road all of the time. It just took everything out of me.
To be able to go to a company where I can set my own schedule… that was great. To be able to generate interest from fans by wrestling A.J. Styles or Samoa Joe… and obviously Sting because I would never have gotten to wrestle Sting if I didn’t go there. It felt really good. But the reason why I did leave was because I couldn’t do the full time thing anymore.
Am I happy with my career in TNA? Very much. Back then, it was a lot of fun. When I started in there, and I got to wrestle those young guys, Joe and A.J. … wow! They were every bit as good...
A.J. Styles, when he finally matured in his prime was every bit as good as Shawn Michaels. Every bit as good as Shawn Michaels, there is no doubt about it. He is that good. So I had a rare opportunity to wrestle a guy like that, I’m going to take it.
Can professional wrestling and MMA mix?
It’s very difficult, and that match (against Samoa Joe at LockDown 2008) was the most awkward match that I have ever been in. I didn’t feel real to me. It didn’t feel… just impossible. You can’t mix those two. I mean, all of a sudden I am pounding on Joe’s face and I’m doing it for real, and he grabs a rope and the referee says, “Break!â€. I’m like, “What do you mean, ‘Break’? This isn’t an MMA match, it’s a pro wrestling match.†“Oh, that’s right.â€
The rules just weren’t… there were no rules. It was difficult. I don’t know if Joe and I pulled it off. Maybe we did, maybe we didn’t. He’s another guy… look where he is now. I believe he’ll be up in the main roster pretty soon there. Joe’s that good. I was very proud to wrestle Joe, and nobody his size is that fast or is that good. He’s a 5-star athlete.
Did Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff benefit TNA?
I love Hogan, I love Bischoff. I never had any problems with either one. Actually, Hulk, I’ve always been close with him. Ever since the first time I stiffed him, the first day I wrestled him, we’ve always been tight. He’s a really great guy, I really enjoy his company.
I believe that they did good for the company, for TNA. I also believe it was very expensive. And I also believe that they probably came up with the idea of TNA travelling from town to town every week. It was probably a good idea but where are you going to get the money? I think that there was a lot of money spent. I think it really put the company in a position where it nearly went under again. Whether or not it did before, I don’t know what went on. It went under at the very beginning. What I’m saying is that it looked like the company is going to go under again. I think it has a lot to do with the expenses that we were paying. TNA is a great company, but it is not a WWE. We don’t have the extra funds to take chances. We don’t have the extra funds to say. “Aw hell, we’ll just waste a few million today and tomorrow we’ll be fine.†We had to learn the hard way that every penny counts, and what are we going to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?
Were they good for the company? Yes. Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan were very good for our company. Did they spend a lot of money? Yes! I’m sure it cost a lot of money to get them in there. I’m sure that they had ideas that cost us a lot of money. So it was a good thing and somewhat of a bad thing. I love the guys.
Will he go to the WWE or the WWE Hall of Fame?
I’m in no hurry. I told TNA that I was talking the year off. They respected my wish. They would like to talk to me in a year. WWE’s an option. I haven’t lied to TNA, I haven’t lied to anybody, I’m honest. I just want time off. I’ve been doing it for 16 straight years. I just want some time with my family and to myself. I didn’t want to say I was retiring because I’d be lying again. Even if I do wrestle just one more match and I say I’m retiring in January 31st, then I’m a liar. I’m not going to do that. I’m going to be honest with everybody. I will wrestle again, I just don’t know when.
Is there a possible WWE return? Yes. Is there a possibility of a WWE Hall of Fame? Definitely. I’m going to be inducted, it is just a matter of when. I just want to take some time off.
The funniest Vince McMahon story he knows:
Probably the night that we were flying back from… I believe… gosh, I can’t remember. I know that we were overseas, obviously. But he tried me out, wrestling. It was a long night because he wouldn’t stop. He’s an actual pain in the ass. We flew, I think 8 hours. He spent at least 5 of it finding different ways to jump me or attack me. Then I would reverse him and get him down and he’d say, “I quit! I quit!†It just went on all night.
It got to the point where the pilot sent the flight attendant back and they said ‘â€Listen, you big guys need to sit down.†We were getting near the emergency door. A couple of times we jammed each other against the wall and the door was right there [gestures one body width away]. If you turn it, it’ll open. Then she said, “Listen. The captain said you either sit down or we’re gonna land this plane right away.â€
So Vince McMahon said, “With all due respect, tell the pilot to ‘Go f**k himself. I’ll buy the plane’.†And I thought that was one of the funniest lines I had ever heard. To see the way the flight attendant’s face… the shock! That’s Vince McMahon though. He’s funny and he’s arrogant.
He could’ve bought the plane. So I think he was half serious.
On whether his TNA Wrestling debut was a “game changerâ€:
It was (a game changer) at the time. It felt like it. At that point, for a few years, TNA had been making some noise. It felt really good to be a part of a smaller company that was actually getting more popular and generating more viewers. I felt very good about it.
I didn’t have a choice. When it came down to it, Vince McMahon wanted me to continue to go full time and I couldn’t do the full time thing anymore. I look at guys like John Cena now… I don’t know how he’s done it for 11 years. I’m a pretty tough kid and I did it for 6-and-a-half. And I was injured a good year-and-a-half of it. I don’t know how these guys do it, especially a guy like Cena going 11 straight years on top. It’s hard, it’s really difficult. I know the schedules are a little easier now. But back then it was 300 days a year and not only that, when I wasn’t wrestling, I had other appearances that I had to do. Whether it was for Wal-Mart or K-Mart, or ‘Get Fit with Angela’ or the ‘SmackDown Your Vote’ campaign, I was just on the road all of the time. It just took everything out of me.
To be able to go to a company where I can set my own schedule… that was great. To be able to generate interest from fans by wrestling A.J. Styles or Samoa Joe… and obviously Sting because I would never have gotten to wrestle Sting if I didn’t go there. It felt really good. But the reason why I did leave was because I couldn’t do the full time thing anymore.
Am I happy with my career in TNA? Very much. Back then, it was a lot of fun. When I started in there, and I got to wrestle those young guys, Joe and A.J. … wow! They were every bit as good...
A.J. Styles, when he finally matured in his prime was every bit as good as Shawn Michaels. Every bit as good as Shawn Michaels, there is no doubt about it. He is that good. So I had a rare opportunity to wrestle a guy like that, I’m going to take it.
Can professional wrestling and MMA mix?
It’s very difficult, and that match (against Samoa Joe at LockDown 2008) was the most awkward match that I have ever been in. I didn’t feel real to me. It didn’t feel… just impossible. You can’t mix those two. I mean, all of a sudden I am pounding on Joe’s face and I’m doing it for real, and he grabs a rope and the referee says, “Break!â€. I’m like, “What do you mean, ‘Break’? This isn’t an MMA match, it’s a pro wrestling match.†“Oh, that’s right.â€
The rules just weren’t… there were no rules. It was difficult. I don’t know if Joe and I pulled it off. Maybe we did, maybe we didn’t. He’s another guy… look where he is now. I believe he’ll be up in the main roster pretty soon there. Joe’s that good. I was very proud to wrestle Joe, and nobody his size is that fast or is that good. He’s a 5-star athlete.
Did Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff benefit TNA?
I love Hogan, I love Bischoff. I never had any problems with either one. Actually, Hulk, I’ve always been close with him. Ever since the first time I stiffed him, the first day I wrestled him, we’ve always been tight. He’s a really great guy, I really enjoy his company.
I believe that they did good for the company, for TNA. I also believe it was very expensive. And I also believe that they probably came up with the idea of TNA travelling from town to town every week. It was probably a good idea but where are you going to get the money? I think that there was a lot of money spent. I think it really put the company in a position where it nearly went under again. Whether or not it did before, I don’t know what went on. It went under at the very beginning. What I’m saying is that it looked like the company is going to go under again. I think it has a lot to do with the expenses that we were paying. TNA is a great company, but it is not a WWE. We don’t have the extra funds to take chances. We don’t have the extra funds to say. “Aw hell, we’ll just waste a few million today and tomorrow we’ll be fine.†We had to learn the hard way that every penny counts, and what are we going to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?
Were they good for the company? Yes. Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan were very good for our company. Did they spend a lot of money? Yes! I’m sure it cost a lot of money to get them in there. I’m sure that they had ideas that cost us a lot of money. So it was a good thing and somewhat of a bad thing. I love the guys.
Will he go to the WWE or the WWE Hall of Fame?
I’m in no hurry. I told TNA that I was talking the year off. They respected my wish. They would like to talk to me in a year. WWE’s an option. I haven’t lied to TNA, I haven’t lied to anybody, I’m honest. I just want time off. I’ve been doing it for 16 straight years. I just want some time with my family and to myself. I didn’t want to say I was retiring because I’d be lying again. Even if I do wrestle just one more match and I say I’m retiring in January 31st, then I’m a liar. I’m not going to do that. I’m going to be honest with everybody. I will wrestle again, I just don’t know when.
Is there a possible WWE return? Yes. Is there a possibility of a WWE Hall of Fame? Definitely. I’m going to be inducted, it is just a matter of when. I just want to take some time off.
