Kurt Angle Says WWE “Could Have Done More” With AEW Star
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle has discussed one of his old rivals from his days in TNA as he says WWE could have done more with current AEW star, Samoa Joe.
Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe had a memorable feud in TNA with the Olympic gold medallist becoming the one to end Joe’s impressive undefeated streak in the company.
Samoa Joe left TNA, which was by then known as IMPACT Wrestling, in 2015 and he soon made his way to WWE, first appearing on the NXT brand. Joe would hold the NXT Championship a total of three times during different spells but on the main roster, he only managed two reigns as US Champion.
Joe was released by the company in April 2021 but was immediately rehired by Triple H who brought him back to NXT. Samoa Joe was then let go for a second time in January 2022 when several other NXT personnel such as William Regal and Raod Dogg were also fired.
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While they both eventually returned to the company, Samoa Joe moved on and debuted for Tony Khan at Supercard of Honor in April 2022 as Joe returned to Ring of Honor. Joe now competes for both ROH and AEW and will resume hostilities with old rival CM Punk in the sem-finals of the men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
Speaking on The Kurt Angle Show, Angle discussed the career of Samoa Joe and says that the star was used well at the beginning of his run in TNA:
“Joe, he got utilized properly in TNA at the beginning. Until he lost his undefeated streak against me, his value dropped dramatically. They’ve never really picked back up and brought Joe back to the level he was when he was undefeated.”
As for Joe’s run in WWE, Kurt Angle felt that there was a lot more he could have done, including becoming WWE Champion:
“I think that WWE could have done more with him. They did do some, they did a lot, but I know they could have done more. He was that talented. I’m not sure if it had to do with his look. I love his look. I think that everybody should be different; big, tall, short, wide. Doesn’t matter. I don’t know if it had to do with his look, but Samoa Joe was so talented. He deserved to be a WWE Champion, he really did. Probably and that’s not me blowing smoke, that’s me being honest.”