Thanks to Adam Samons for sending in the following report of Kurt Angle on the Between The Ropes radio show… This is quite frankly the most level-headed and interesting Angle has sounded since he first jumped to TNA, in my opinion, which makes me wonder just how much of his appearances on Bubba the Love Sponge’s shows is an act; although taking all rumors and reports into consideration, this interview could also be an exception to the rule. Time will tell, I guess….
On Wednesday night, February 14, professional wrestling’s only gold medalist, TNA’s Kurt Angle joined hosts Brian Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci live on Between The Ropes on Central Florida’s Sports Radio 740 The Team to discuss his role in TNA, his opinion of the talent on the TNA roster, his MMA aspirations, and much more.
The interview began with a discussion about how Kurt came up with his new TNA entrance. Kurt explained, “I came up with the idea of no longer wearing the gold medal, though I still wanted to wear the American flag. In the other company I was always presented as the ‘anti American hero.’ I’m very proud of my country and I always wanted to wear the American flag, but in the other company the boss obviously didn’t feel the same way. I also remembered when Gangrel rose up from the stage a long time ago, so I though the slow rise with that music would be a really good way to make an entrance. I thought it would be one of the best entrances in wrestling, and as it turned out it is.”
That question was followed up with Kurt being asked to compare how psyched up he would get as an amateur wrestler as opposed to today when he makes a professional wrestling entrance. “As a professional wrestler you are a little more level headed, but you still get pretty amped up. The difference is that as an amateur wrestler I was always taught to just focus on my opponent and I went by my instincts. I didn’t really think. I had a game plan because I watched film of everyone I wrestled dozens of times, but you learn that even in MMA you go by instinct, you go by reaction. In professional wrestling you have to remember that there’s a crowd there and you can’t ignore that crowd. You want that crowd to be a part of you so it’s the complete opposite.”
The talk then turned to what Kurt thinks of TNA in his tenure so far. Kurt stressed that, so far, his time in TNA has “been a growing experience.” Kurt explained that he had learned a lot as a performer, from the perspective of an agent, and from the perspective of a writer. Kurt then said that he now has more input on what his character is doing and where his character is going. He also noted that he would like to one day be in a high position within TNA.
Kurt then spoke of the difference in talent that he sees on the TNA roster as opposed to the WWE roster. “We’ve got a lot of talented guys in our locker room, so that makes me really excited. We have a lot of guys I can face. In WWE I was looking around saying ‘gosh, the talent list is pretty shallow here.’ There are not a lot of guys I can have matches with like I had with Shawn Michaels, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Benoit. Down in TNA there are guys that I can lead, guys like Chris Sabin, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, guys in the X division, even guys like Senshi. Guys that I can have 5 star matches with that a lot of people don’t even know yet, or that they’re just starting to know. That’s what makes me so excited.”
Kurt said that one obstacle for many on the TNA roster is that they have learned how to get over in the indy environment, but not on the national scene. Kurt then continued by saying that “a lot of them will get an opportunity to go on TV but in an hour show you’ve only got 5 minutes sometimes for a match. So, they try to put a 15 minute match into 5 minutes, so you lose the story in that match. That’s the problem. In the indies they’re taught that it’s all the moves that they do that gets them over, but on the national scene that’s not what’s going to get you over. What is going to get you over is your character and the way you sell that character and pull the audience in. It’s so much different than an indy show. At an indy show they want to see the trademark moves and they want to pop for all the crazy spots. From a national perspective you want people to care about you, to care about everything you do, from a punch to a superplex off the top rope. But it has to be at the right time and you have to know when to do it, how to do it, and why you’re doing it.”
Kurt then noted that his goal is to open doors for the younger wrestlers on the TNA roster so that when TNA eventually has a second hour of television time they will be ready to shine.
Kurt then gave his thoughts on the recent lack of wrestling on Impact. Kurt said that he feels that the story lines have gotten hard to follow, especially given the short time TNA has to explain everything. Kurt then said that beginning this week TNA will begin going “back to where it started” with more emphasis on wrestling. He added that once Impact gets a second hour that hour will be used for more wrestling so that TNA will go back to being known as “the wrestling show” so as to contrast to WWE.
The interview then shifted to whether the talk of Kurt becoming involved in MMA could become a reality? “Oh yeah, this is honest to God real. What happened with me is that mixed martial arts has eluded me since day one. When I won the Olympics I had a broken neck and had to take a year off. By the time I came back UFC had offered me the biggest contract they had ever offered anyone up to that point. I was a recent gold medalist, the perfect weight, perfect looking guy, a guy that could carry the company. They thought I could be a really good fighter. Then they were banned in 48 states.” Kurt went on to say that he is currently in negotiations with both Showtime’s EliteXC and UFC. He also said he only plans to have about 3 fights and to only fight until he’s 40.
Kurt was then asked for his thoughts on his 3 matches with Samoa Joe. He replied, “I enjoyed wrestling with Samoa Joe. I feel he’s one of the most talented guys in the locker room and in wrestling period I was surprised when the pay per view ratings didn’t spike when we wrestled, but I think a lot of people didn’t buy that Joe was going to beat me.” Kurt went on to say that “I think that it’s one of those things where people are going to have to get to know him a little bit more. Once they do he’s going to be one of the biggest stars in wrestling.”
He was then asked if he was surprised that he’s already had three matches with Joe, and if he feels that was something of a squandered opportunity for TNA. He answered: “I felt we needed it in TNA. I also felt it was the only match I could have gone to at the time. I definitely didn’t want to go to Sting. I feel that’s a dream match that we’ll hold off until the very last matches Sting has. So where was I going to go beside to the title or to Joe? I didn’t want to go to the title because you don’t want to just walk into a company and take the title, that doesn’t say much about the company. So I think that Joe was really the only pick. I’m proud I wrestled Joe. I learned a lot from him and he learned a lot from me.”
Kurt then put over some specific wrestlers on the TNA roster, saying that Abyss is “improving every week,” Christian Cage “will always be one of TNA’s biggest stars,” AJ Styles “is a heel in the making who will really stand out.” Kurt then said that TNA needs to, and is beginning to, develop Christopher Daniels’ “Fallen Angel” character. Lastly, Kurt said similar things about establishing a character for Chris Sabin and admitted that he had nicknamed him “Pigpen” after the Peanuts character.
Kurt ended the interview by reiterating his vision of having the main event talent featured on Impact while they develop mid-card talent in preparation for Impact’s eventual expansion to two hours.
To listen to the Kurt Angle interview, including Kurt discussing who he hopes to fight and how he plans to train for MMA, his opinion on Dana White’s hesitance to sign him since he is a wrestler, whether he thinks Scott Steiner has anything left in the tank, as well as the entire February 14 edition of Between The Ropes in streaming audio, visit the show online at http://www.BetweenTheRopes.com. Between The Ropes airs two hours every Wednesday night at 10:00pm ET on Central Florida’s Sports Radio 740 The Team and worldwide on BetweenTheRopes.com.
