Kurt Angle Explains Having To Teach TNA Wrestler During Rivalry

Kurt Angle has lifted the lid on how he helped develop the in-ring skills of Nigel McGuinness during their rivalry in TNA Wrestling.

McGuinness had enjoyed success on the independent scene and seemed set to join WWE in late 2009, but after negotiations broke down he opted instead to put pen to paper with TNA Wrestling.

The London-born star debuted under the name Desmond Wolfe and introduced himself to the company by attacking Kurt Angle on the 22nd October 2009 edition of Impact!.

The pair would go on to battle in a memorable series of matches that culminated with Angle defeating his British opponent in a Three Degrees Of Pain match at Final Resolution 2009.

Angle reminisced fondly about the feud on a recent edition of ‘The Kurt Angle Show‘, revealing that he enjoyed helping McGuinness grow as an in-ring performer:

“I loved working with him. He was so good technically, actually too good. He was such a great chain wrestler, what he forgot is some psychology.

I’ll give you an example. He was a heel, I was wrestling him as a baby face, and he would be chain wrestling me. We would go back and forth, and he would put me in something and put a lock on it so I couldn’t reverse it. I’m like, ‘What are you doing Desmond? I’m the babyface. I’m supposed to out-wrestle you. You have to give me an opening.’

And he wasn’t quite understanding it, but after a while, he started picking it up. He was like, ‘Oh okay, I got you. I’m the one that needs to be out-wrestled. You need to be the better technician because you’re the baby face.’ I said, ‘Exactly.”

Kurt Angle Reveals Which Wrestler Inspired His Career

Kurt Angle joined WWE to begin his professional wrestling career in 1998 having found global fame for winning a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Despite initial reluctance to change careers, Angle recently revealed which wrestler ultimately helped inspire him to join WWE.

H/T: WrestlingInc for the above transcription