Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of news this week. I do have more in-depth information on the Kurt Angle firing, so that’s our top story for the second week in a row, but it’s pretty sparse everywhere else.
TOP STORY: WWE REVERSES PUBLIC STANCE ON ANGLE DEPARTURE
When the news about Kurt Angle’s departure from WWE broke, it was believed to be a mutual agreement. As I detailed in last week’s Top Story, this was not the case, as Angle was outright fired for problems stemming from his erratic behavior and drug dependency.
WWE wanted the public to believe that the agreement was mutual and that Angle truly understood, on a personal level, that he needed help. Even though this wasn’t the case and Angle did not willingly leave the company, they were still willing to let the public believe as such, mostly because of Angle’s status as a company man and dedicated performer during his WWE tenure. People in the office believe that Angle would see the firing as an obvious sign that he needed help, and that he’d get his life back in order and either come back clean and work a limited schedule or assume a position as a road agent with one of the three brands.
This, however, did not happen.
Instead of taking his release peacefully and going home to clean up, Angle went to the press. Instead of agreeing with the company line saying that he needed to get help, Angle confirmed that he had no plans of retiring any time soon. WWE officials, including Vince McMahon, were infuriated, and the decision to reverse course and bury Angle was made. That’s why the company suddenly sent out the news via WWE Mobile Alerts that Angle was seen despondent and visibly upset when leaving WWE headquarters; after all, if Angle agreed with the company position that he needed help, then why would he be visibly upset upon leaving the meeting where he obtained his release?
The truth of the matter is that Angle’s firing was based more on his erratic behavior than problems stemming from painkiller issues. When Angle lost the Smackdown title at WrestleMania, he began constantly trying to get the belt back. He was moved to ECW because he could do a shooter gimmick, which Paul Heyman knows how to book and would, if done properly, extend his career by a few years and perhaps help him lower his narcotic dependencies. The company did not schedule him on the Vengeance show, but he hounded Brian Gewirtz until they finally relented and not only agreed to put him on the show, but have him win the match and the belt. Before the match took place, however, Angle failed a drug test. It wasn’t for painkillers, however, and he did have a valid prescription, but the prescription had run out and he was flagged for a violation by Dr. David Black. He was verbally warned by Vince McMahon and suspended.
During his suspension, Angle’s behavior turned wildly erratic, often mirroring the behavioral tendencies that Brian Pillman displayed in 1996. He constantly emailed, called and text-messaged Vince, Kevin Dunn, John Laurinatis and other friends, sometimes more than 20 times per day. Sometimes he’d be completely lucid and sometimes he made no sense whatsoever.
During Angle’s suspension, there was a strong push within the company to never bring him back. He’d gotten scary, to the point where most of his friends were concerned with his well-being and knew that he should not be brought back on the road or back to the wrestling environment. ECW badly needed help, however, so the company brought him back immediately upon the cessation of his 30-day suspension.
When Kurt returned to the ECW locker room, he immediately alienated most of his supporters and friends along with the creative team. He dropped Rob Van Dam on his head during a house show match, and allegedly told an agent backstage that the miscue was Van Dam’s fault. Angle and Van Dam had another incident that happened because of something Angle said to Van Dam in the ring.
Angle suffered a groin injury on August 13 at a White Plains house show. He showed up for the ECW TV show a few days later and tried to downplay the severity of his injury, but Vince McMahon saw straight through his guise and pulled him from the ladder match to determine the SummerSlam title contenders. Throughout this entire time, Angle was pushing to get the ECW title back, and many in the company believe he took the belts more seriously than perhaps anyone else in the history of the business.
Angle called John Laurinaitis on August 21 and told him that his legs were numb and that he was being pushed in a wheelchair through the airport. Angle said that his sports massage therapist told him that he’d been working with a torn abdominal muscle for quite some time. From all reports, this was the moment that caused Vince to open his eyes and see what Angle had become, and McMahon ordered Angle to undergo an MRI. McMahon’s reception of the news was also apparently when the decision was made to fire him.
The company fired Kurt Angle on August 25, paying him 90 days worth of his normal salary. The 90 days salary payment also set in stone his no-compete period.
The general feeling within both WWE and TNA is that Angle will sign a deal with TNA the very same day his WWE no-compete clause expires. This is one of the major reasons WWE begun to bury Angle, as they truly believe it is only a matter of a few months before Angle is suiting up in a TNA ring.
That Angle will give TNA some much-needed star power is not in question; the smaller promotion has signed just about every other star WWE has dropped over drug and other issues, and Kurt Angle is a far bigger star than any of them. The true question mark surrounding this deal is whether or not bringing in Kurt Angle to work for TNA would be akin to sentencing him to death. Kurt Angle is not going to give up wrestling unless he’s forced to, but the only way to force him out of wrestling is for all other promotions in the world to avoid signing him, and that simply isn’t going to happen. All Japan Pro Wrestling and NOAH have both expressed major interest in bringing him to work major shows in Japan, and there is believed to be some major MMA organizations who are salivating over the prospects of a Kurt Angle/Brock Lesnar shoot fight.
My source in TNA believes they can work out a schedule with Angle that will allow him ample time to heal between working dates and will give him a huge amount of time to rest his body. TNA doesn’t do house shows, and so they believe they can give him the best possible deal right now in terms of how much he’ll have to work.
The best choice, again, would be for Kurt Angle to simply retire and deal with his issues, and then re-sign with WWE as a road agent. Sadly, in the cutthroat world of pro wrestling, this will not be the case.
>> WWE NOTEBOOK << – For those who don’t already know, the company has quietly instituted a major change to the drug policy regarding failed test results. From this point forward, if someone fails a drug test, they will be docked their downside guarantees for 30 days and will continue to work both television and pay per view. They were not happy with having to drastically change the booking at Great American Bash because of failed drug tests, so they’re going to allow the workers to stay on television for storyline purposes. This is the reason why we haven’t heard any news about the Raw drug test results; there will not be any noticeable effect as a result of a failed drug test because the performer will stay on television, so there’s no real reason for them to make the results public any more. – The creative team is now drafting storylines for the return of Chris Benoit, so he should be back on the road within a few weeks. – SummerSlam did a roughly $800,000 gate on a legitimate 13,500 paid sellout. Unforgiven in October is nearly sold out as well. – Lita is leaving pro wrestling to be the frontwoman for a punk rock band called “The Luchagors”. No, I did not make up that last sentence to amuse you. – Psicosis is still on the roster, but isn’t being used. He was recently buried by one of the road agents during a creative team meeting, so they aren’t coming up with anything for him to do right now. – For those who are wondering (and to the joy of Eric), Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has confirmed that his wrestling days are “absolutely over”. Johnson feels that he’s built up enough credibility within Hollywood and among moviegoers that he doesn’t need to return to WWE every time he has to promote a movie. – Hulk Hogan trashed Dave Meltzer on Bubba The Love Sponge on Wednesday, claiming that Meltzer was responsible for the downfall of his daughter Brooke’s singing career. Ah, Hulk, the joys of being completely delusional: you don’t realize that your daughter is devoid of singing and/or musical talent and looks like a chip off the old block. – Guys in Deep South are complaining about the abusive training habits of Bill DeMott and have written John Laurinaitis about the situation. Folks, that’s it for the week. I told you things were bleak this week, and I can’t promise it’ll be better next time around. Stay tuned for the launch of Inside Pulse V3 – I’ve seen it, and it is HOT.
