WWE News: Kurt Angle Talks Shane McMahon, Rebooting Team Angle, His Health, Daniel Bryan And More
Former WWE and TNA Superstar Kurt Angle has been in the United Kingdom for the past few days, doing interviews and taking part at the London Film And Comic Con. Below are a few highlights from the many interviews he’s held this past weekend.
While on the most recent TNA Maximum Impact tour, Kurt sat down with ESPN UK to talk all things TNA, WWE and beyond.
His current status:
“Wrestling has treated me very well. I had a great time in WWE, I had a great time in TNA. I’m very proud of my accomplishments, but I’m at a point in my life where, right now, family is more important, and it’s time for me to spend more time with them.”
“I’m gonna take a break from professional wrestling, I know that for sure, at least a year. So we’ll see how it goes and I’ll go from there. I’m not gonna say I’m gonna retire. I am pretty much done with TNA. Not sure, maybe down the road, maybe I might come back, but most likely I probably won’t, because there’s a chance that I might not wrestle again. I just wanna get a feeler this year and see what I wanna do and see where I wanna go.”
His health at this moment in time:
“I feel it now (the injuries) … and I don’t regret anything I’ve done, in amateur wrestling or pro wrestling. I’m 47 years old and I have my pains and aches just like anybody else but the thing is, I can still go in that ring. I’m as good as anybody if not better. Even at 47, I’m at the top of my game, so the only thing I need is a little bit more time to recuperate, but other than that I can put on the five-star matches. So I’m not really concerned about my performance, I’m more concerned about how I’m gonna feel for the next 30, 40 years.”
Suffering a concussion at SummerSlam 2000 against Triple H:
“There was a spot where Triple H was going to hit me with his sledgehammer, but I had the concussion and didn’t even know I was out there. My mind was blank. I came to two hours after the pay-per-view. When Triple H was going to hit me, but he actually put his hand on my head and made sure I ducked. If you watch it over, you’ll see that I was clueless, but he was looking out for me the whole match. They literally had to walk me through every step of the match to make sure I was safe. I don’t remember any of it.”
At the London Film and Comic Con this past weekend. Reddit user SCFack recapped Kurt’s comments to a packed London Olympia.
He said Vince wanted him to be serious from the get go. Bryan Gerwitz was writing all the comedy for him early on as well as for Edge and Christian and The Rock. He really put over Gerwitz. The character he played after he was shaved bald was what Vince wanted from the start.
The medals he wore at the start of his run were from Elementary School. This includes the ones Austin threw in the river. After about 3 years Vince had duplicates made of the Olympic medals. They had three and they cost $3000 each. One was stolen, Kurt has one and one is in the WWE warehouse.
He cites Chris Benoit as the best wrestler he has faced. He said it was like wrestling himself .
He wanted to wrestle Daniel Bryan during his eventual comeback. He knows Bryan’s doctor and said he was told Bryan wasn’t healing how he should be.
He seems very keen on a return to the WWE on a part time basis. He expressed interest in a Team Angle reboot with Jordan and Gable (American Alpha). He said this would allow them to wrestle regularly in his place and he could just work the PPVs
He likes Roman Reigns, but feels he should turn heel since the crowd boos him. He understands the crowd’s frustrations.
He said bringing back Shane McMahon was the best thing WWE has done in 5 years. He said for Shane to come back after what happened he must “really love his family.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsV0bNyJYo4
Ski’s Take: It’s great to hear that Kurt is taking some time out, especially after being in the business for so long, some well deserved family time would do him some good. Except…..that he’s facing Rey Mysterio at UR Fight’s March 20 show in Phoenix, Arizona! It seems like he really can’t keep away from doing what he loves can he?
All of this makes me wonder, if all the pieces fell into place, would/could he been seen in WWE in the near future? Like, as soon as WrestleMania soon? Could he be using the match with Rey as a tune up, ready for an appearance at the Grand Daddy Of Them All?
Yes I am the eternal optimist, my glass is always half full (actually it’s always full as I never let it get anywhere near half way), and I hope that Kurt can have his last hurrah in the company that he made his name.
As soon as American Alpha were formed months ago, comparisons have been made as to how they remind people of Team Angle. It’s great to see that Kurt himself sees that and would love to be teamed with them. They would get the rub from Angle and as he said in his interview, he could ride their coat tails and perform the part time schedule he wants, and in my eyes, deserves.