Angle Shoots (or is he Working Himself?)

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The following is from a recap of Kurt Angle’s recent appearance on the Ron & Fez XM show, according to WrestlingObserver.com:

Angle thinks Hunter and Michaels have Vince’s ear. Raw should be built around Cena, but its now built around Dx. He thinks hhh will then say he hasn’t had the title for a year. Dx will turn to shit since Billy Gunn and Road Dog made them. They are on Tna and are awesome Hunter and Shawn are two long haired sissys. They have never been in a fight before and act tough. They are not the real deal like himself, Taker, and Lashley. They are politically blocking everybody.

Brisco and Patterson are great guys. They were the ones that would tell Vince he’s the next Steve Austin and even better. Angle Guarantees that Tna will be beating wwe in 2 years. They are not going to put on smoke and mirrors hardcore matches and hokey storylines. They are more reality based wrestling. He’s there to teach the young guys how to wrestle and tell a story. He was the most diverse wrestler in history. He will go down as the best ever. Michaels is a great entertainer. He likes to chop too much and shake his ass. Michaels can’t be taken seriously. He always has a smirk on
his face.

Unlike Michaels, Undertaker has a great look. He looks like he’s ready to fight in an mma competition. The No Way Out ppv usually has the lowest buyrate of the year They made it one of the highest besides Wrestlemania. The encore did very well because of the feedback. Michaels isn’t afraid to get his ass kicked, but he’s never won one. Hunter would just suck his thumb. Tna is on the right track. AJ Styles is the greatest athlete, but is missing charisma. He’s going to teach him. Daniels is the most underrated.

Abyss is one of the best big guys. Somoa Joe is the most naturally gifted wrestlers. Even more gifted than himself. They have more main eventers on their show than Smackdown, Ecw, or Raw. Angle hasn’t taken a pill in two years. He was tested every week. He felt like a prisoner sitting at home waiting.

The problem was his direction. He went from Smackdown to Raw to Smackdown to Ecw in 2 months. He asked for a month off after Wrestlemania, but he had to due a grueling 8 day tour thru Europe. That was followed by a 2 day shoot for the bash. He had to throw shoot punches at a 30 pound flag and couldn’t move his arms. His neck was broken at the time and needed more weeks off. They needed him to work because Stacey Kiebler was fired and they need a big star. He wanted them to use Rey Mysterio since he was already in Fresno.

Then they made him work that nights house show. After that, he had to travel 4 hours in the back of a medium sized car with Matt Hardy and Helms. Angle was crawled up in a ball with luggage all around him. His neck was killing him and he had to go to the Kane premier that night. He refused to go to the next nights Smackdown unless the gave him a limo for the two hour drive. He was tired and his neck was killing him. Angle ended up only getting one week off. He came back completly clean. Thats when the animostily with Vince strated to grow.

Angle wanted to be used or taken off the road. Vince made Angle his own entity. He would have his own main event matches, but they weren’t for the title. He had to work full time and work every overseas tour because he was the biggest celebrity and top draw. He wanted to be given the ball or work part time.

Once he knew he wouldn’t be given the ball, he asked for his release and was not fired. It had nothing to do with drugs. They wanted him to heal his groin and come back. He believes its a smear campaign and he knows some of the gossip sheets are on Vince’s payroll. Heymans “wrestling himself to the grave” comments didn’t hurt him because he wrestles 100% He wants to wrestle healthy and was forced to wrestle unhealthy.

He suffered 3 injuries in one match near the end of his reign. They strill had him wrestle after. He pulled his groin in a messed up spot that someone else messed up. Then popped his lower abdominal off his pelvis. He then injured his leg when he went for the Angle Slam and turned it into a ddt Rvd didn’t give him a very good jump, so he had to do it himself. He still had to attend a house show. When he made it to a tv, he went straight to Vince and pulled down his pants. He was black from hip to hip across his genitals to his hamstring. Vince told him he can’t wrestle and Angle decided he won’t work Summerslam either. Although he did agree to work Summerslam prior. He did agree to do the thing with Heyman and Big Show. The Big Show didn’t hurt him.

He had to be escorted home and couldn’t walk. It had nothing to do with pain killers. Vince once told that an Olympic medal means nothing to him. He also told him after his pain killer addiction that Angle’s a winner in life not like 99% of the losers in the locker room. Hunter was in the locker room at the time. Vince isn’t a bad guy. He wanted to make Angle feel obligated about coming back with that 5 year deal. He doesn’t have hard feelings. He loves Vince. He did those things for business and family purposes. One example, is that the beer commercial should have gone to Austin. Hunter doesn’t even drink beer. Austin called him on that. Vince is a 2nd father to him and he will see him face to face in a year dueling for ratings.

In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Angle said that he’s been free of painkillers for 18 months but “I still crave it. I want it right now.” From the story:

Mr. Angle said he began taking painkillers three years ago after seriously injuring his neck. Family history told him to be careful. His father fought alcoholism during his life, and his sister would die in September 2004 of a heroin overdose. Still, his pill use snowballed, even as his wrestling performances remained steady, and often spectacular.
He needed the pills just to rise from bed. “Not just a handful,” Mr. Angle said. “A large handful. I’m telling you, excruciating pain, all of the time. Cold sweats. I felt like a shell, like I didn’t have a body or a soul. I was just a skeleton … until I took those pills. About 18 [in the morning]. I’d lie there for five minutes with my eyes closed, and then it would kick in, and I could open my eyes again. Like, OK, I was ready to get up. That would carry me for about four hours.”

In response, WWE’s lawyer McDevitt said: “The WWE has done everything it can to help Kurt and continues to be concerned about his wellbeing … I think Kurt needs to direct his tremendous competitive heart to solving his issues and getting them squared away.”

Also, on PittsburghLive.com, Angle said “I was a junkie” and that he was hooked on Percocet, Vicodin, Norco and Lorcet, popping up to 65 pills a day. Some Angle quotes from the story:

“Painkillers are like heroin. When you get caught up in it, you start taking 10 or 20. I was up to 65 a day. I had to take 18 to get out of bed. I went to the pharmacy every other day. I found a way to get 10 different doctors to get my prescriptions. It worked out perfectly; every other day I got 120 pills. My first priority was to get to the pharmacy.”

“I love Vince. He’s a great guy. But he treated me like a superhero. He wanted me to rehab on the road instead of at home. My doctor said I couldn’t do that. Vince said that I was an Olympic goal medalist and I could overcome anything … Then, one day, my Olympic medal didn’t mean (anything).”

According to WWE’s McDevitt, “The WWE cares greatly about Kurt Angle the person and Kurt Angle the performer … It is our hope that he applies that huge and creative heart of his in the right direction so that we can all see that happen.” The story goes on to claim:

The WWE suspended Angle last summer after he failed a drug test that wrestlers are randomly subjected to under the company’s wellness policy. Angle said he failed the test because he was receiving cortisone shots in his neck. The pain was the result of four severe neck injuries he had suffered — the first at the 1996 Olympic trials.

In other TNA news:

– Kurt told PWInsider that he hurt his ankle in the Abyss match, but he’ll be fine for Sunday.

– WrestlingObsever.com reported that the TNA special was heavily pushed during the live UFC show.

– As a follow-up to the TNA Bloomfield, CT, houseshow cancellation story, the local police issued this general statement and commented on the unlikely Vince McMahon involvement.

Matthew Michaels is editor emeritus of Pulse Wrestling, and has been since the site launched.