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Kurt Angle has just returned to the US after a successful promotional tour of the UK. He shall be returning to the British Isles at the beginning of next month to finish off his TNA career. He won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship last time he was there. He took some time to answer questions about his career, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit.
Kurt Angle started off by saying that the upcoming TNA Wrestling tour of the UK is being promoted as his "retirement tour". He said that he had a great time in the company and didn't regret a moment. He was excited to finish his run in the UK because the company normally has its best crowds there.
(Note: Angle was very careful to say that this was his TNA retirement, and not his career retirement. But he made no mention of what his plans are beyond that).
Angle says he knows that his amateur wrestling background earned him a lot of respect from the very beginning of his career. Nobody ever tried to test him in the ring, play mean jokes on him or threaten him. Everybody respected him from the top stars and management, down to the rookies. Angle mentioned that Steve Austin and Undertaker both treated him like a peer even though he wasn't yet. He was always treated with a lot of respect and he treated people with a lot of respect, and never had a problem.
The interviewer claimed that Angle jumped straight into a main-event position despite his small size. He wanted to know if there was someone like Vince McMahon who was advocating for him, or did he have to earn his way up? Angle immediately said it as Vince McMahon. McMahon saw much more in Angle than Angle saw in himself. He was no giant because he was 5' 10'' and only 220lbs. He believed his Olympic gold medal carried a lot of weight. McMahon saw him as an upper-tier guy early on and protected him.
He said that he noticed that a lot of shorter guys have had to earn their spot and work around their size. He called Paul Heyman an advocated for smaller guys. Heyman did help Angle, but he particularly helped Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho.
Heyman wanted to build both the original ECW and the WWE ECW brand around Angle. He claimed that he never had a problem with Heyman, but didn't agree with the infamous crucifixion stunt. He didn't like that Heyman didn't say that Angle was a part of the same show.
Angle says that Heyman didn't change between their first meeting and working with him in WWE. He came to like Heyman and Heyman did a lot of good for Angle's career. He has no idea why Heyman wanted him to be a big part of either ECW. ECW is associated with hardcore and weapons matches, and Angle was an amateur wrestler. He also didn't understand why the WWE drafted him to the ECW brand. Angle felt that it didn't make sense for their best pure-bred wrestler to be on that brand.
The interviewer asked if this was why he wanted to leave the WWE, and Angle dismissed it. He pointed out that he had bounced back and fourth across all three brands for months. He didn't feel uncomfortable with his position.
He called Eddie Guerrero a true friend, very passionate and they had great matches. His only criticism was that Eddie was in bad shape when they got to work together. Eddie already had a very long career, had multiple injuries including car crashes, and other problems. He thinks that nobody realised how badly Eddie was hurting because he hid it so well. They never talked about his health, but Angle still tried to protect him. He is certain that they could have had even better matches if Eddie was in better shape.
Angle believed that Eddie Guerrero in his prime was as good a performer as Shawn Michaels was in his prime. He was disappointed that the Eddie he worked with wasn't quite as good as he was told he was. However, Angle maintains that Eddie was one of the best.
When asked about Chris Benoit, Angle said he liked him even though he was very hard to get close to. People like Eddie and Chavo Guerrero were able to get close to him but Angle didn't. He found Benoit to be very professional and they got on well.
The reason why he doesn't consider Benoit to be the best is because "whoever/ the powers that be" have erased him from everybody's minds. They had great in-ring chemistry because Angle could amateur wrestle and Benoit could counter. He said that there is no better match than their Royal Rumble 2003 encounter. Benoit was the only person who could match, and even surpass, Angle's intensity.
Angle feels that if Benoit did not do what he did, then people would be calling him the best ever. The interviewer asked if Benoit's injuries led to him doing what he did, and Angle honestly said he didn't know. He wasn't close enough to know how wrestling, the business or anything else was affecting him. He refused to guess what led to Benoit's actions.
Kurt Angle started off by saying that the upcoming TNA Wrestling tour of the UK is being promoted as his "retirement tour". He said that he had a great time in the company and didn't regret a moment. He was excited to finish his run in the UK because the company normally has its best crowds there.
(Note: Angle was very careful to say that this was his TNA retirement, and not his career retirement. But he made no mention of what his plans are beyond that).
Angle says he knows that his amateur wrestling background earned him a lot of respect from the very beginning of his career. Nobody ever tried to test him in the ring, play mean jokes on him or threaten him. Everybody respected him from the top stars and management, down to the rookies. Angle mentioned that Steve Austin and Undertaker both treated him like a peer even though he wasn't yet. He was always treated with a lot of respect and he treated people with a lot of respect, and never had a problem.
The interviewer claimed that Angle jumped straight into a main-event position despite his small size. He wanted to know if there was someone like Vince McMahon who was advocating for him, or did he have to earn his way up? Angle immediately said it as Vince McMahon. McMahon saw much more in Angle than Angle saw in himself. He was no giant because he was 5' 10'' and only 220lbs. He believed his Olympic gold medal carried a lot of weight. McMahon saw him as an upper-tier guy early on and protected him.
He said that he noticed that a lot of shorter guys have had to earn their spot and work around their size. He called Paul Heyman an advocated for smaller guys. Heyman did help Angle, but he particularly helped Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho.
Heyman wanted to build both the original ECW and the WWE ECW brand around Angle. He claimed that he never had a problem with Heyman, but didn't agree with the infamous crucifixion stunt. He didn't like that Heyman didn't say that Angle was a part of the same show.
Angle says that Heyman didn't change between their first meeting and working with him in WWE. He came to like Heyman and Heyman did a lot of good for Angle's career. He has no idea why Heyman wanted him to be a big part of either ECW. ECW is associated with hardcore and weapons matches, and Angle was an amateur wrestler. He also didn't understand why the WWE drafted him to the ECW brand. Angle felt that it didn't make sense for their best pure-bred wrestler to be on that brand.
The interviewer asked if this was why he wanted to leave the WWE, and Angle dismissed it. He pointed out that he had bounced back and fourth across all three brands for months. He didn't feel uncomfortable with his position.
He called Eddie Guerrero a true friend, very passionate and they had great matches. His only criticism was that Eddie was in bad shape when they got to work together. Eddie already had a very long career, had multiple injuries including car crashes, and other problems. He thinks that nobody realised how badly Eddie was hurting because he hid it so well. They never talked about his health, but Angle still tried to protect him. He is certain that they could have had even better matches if Eddie was in better shape.
Angle believed that Eddie Guerrero in his prime was as good a performer as Shawn Michaels was in his prime. He was disappointed that the Eddie he worked with wasn't quite as good as he was told he was. However, Angle maintains that Eddie was one of the best.
When asked about Chris Benoit, Angle said he liked him even though he was very hard to get close to. People like Eddie and Chavo Guerrero were able to get close to him but Angle didn't. He found Benoit to be very professional and they got on well.
The reason why he doesn't consider Benoit to be the best is because "whoever/ the powers that be" have erased him from everybody's minds. They had great in-ring chemistry because Angle could amateur wrestle and Benoit could counter. He said that there is no better match than their Royal Rumble 2003 encounter. Benoit was the only person who could match, and even surpass, Angle's intensity.
Angle feels that if Benoit did not do what he did, then people would be calling him the best ever. The interviewer asked if Benoit's injuries led to him doing what he did, and Angle honestly said he didn't know. He wasn't close enough to know how wrestling, the business or anything else was affecting him. He refused to guess what led to Benoit's actions.