Angle Talks AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, TNA in 2011 and Creative

[It's Damn Real!]

http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/TNA/article10022749.shtml

Angle on 2011 for TNA: "I think that 2011 was a subpar year, I think We did a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong. The most important thing I would say is the lack of communication within the writing and creative team. When you have a written show and you present that to everybody and then they start changing things and it becomes a watered down version of what the writer wanted in the first place. Now you don’t know which way to go. We do have a lot of chefs in the kitchen. I think that is the hardest part for our company because when Vince Russo is writing the show and you have Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff and a few other people and other TNA writers changing it up the last second which I don’t disagree with what Hogan says, I agree with him 100 percent.

"But we need to regroup earlier, maybe a week earlier and get it done, change it up, make sure we have the right changes so that we can keep going with the story the right way. So I think 2011 was a confusing year, so this is what we are going to capitalize on in 2012. We are not going to make the same mistakes. I think Hulk Hogan will get with to Vince Russo quicker, I think Eric Bischoff will get with Vince Russo quicker. We will get the show written, get it done a week earlier instead the day of the show, and changing it up. It was just very frustrating. Because I’m a little bit of part of everything in TNA and I watch what’s going on and sometimes I get a little frustrated when I see what Vince Russo is trying to do and I see what the outcome is."

Angle on Bound For Glory: "We literally had a change in 2011 at Bound For Glory right before the match in the main event. In other words, somebody was supposed to win and it got turned to me winning that night. It worked out for the better, I’m not going to lie to you. So the change was good, but literally we didn’t hear about it until that night and me and Bobby Roode was like What?! I’m winning?! I have a torn hamstring and I can’t even wrestle."

Angle on Samoa Joe: "We have not done Joe justice. Whether it had to do with an attitude problem an attitude change. In wrestling you have to play by the rule book. Joe was a little bit of a rebel. I think that might have hurt his cause. I believe Joe is rational. I think we can still make Joe a big star again. I think Joe is a full time main eventer. I think we need to do it now because if we don’t do it now it will never happen."

Angle on the next main event guy: "AJ Styles was there for a while. And then we pulled him down which I didn’t agree with. Now we got AJ up there, Jeff Hardy is here, Robert Roode, James Storm. We’re starting to get to a point where these guys are going to start full time and Kurt Angle and Sting can dwindle off and retire. That’s what we need to happen and that’s what’s happening now and I’m glad because I don’t want to leave TNA and leave an open spot there. I cant wrestle forever. As a matter of fact I am already talking retirement. It’s about making guys and putting them in my spot and making sure they are secure there before I leave."

--

Really nice to see him disagree with the fact TNA Creative knocked down AJ and Joe. Joe I was never a superfan of, but Styles I've always thought was sort of TNA's version of Shawn Michaels. He's past being a mid-card guy on a full-time basis and needs to be up in the main event picture at this point with Storm, Roode and others. He's earned it, certainly.

The brightest spot in all of this, though, was certainly his approach on tying up loose ends between creative members. The most interesting of which was what seemed to be strong support for Vince Russo.

Thoughts on all of this?

 

[JJYanks121]

Well, I'm certainly glad you posted this my man. Even if Kurt's word hasn't always been the most reliable, perhaps we can read the part about Bound For Glory and put to bed this crap that "it was the plan all along for Kurt to win". Based on that, it obviously wasn't. That's not to say that making changes last minute can't end up working out (I don't think it has but that's personal opinion), but the fact that some vehemently claimed that the chain of events that happened from BFG on were "always the plan" should now be tossed aside.

Now, I always take what Kurt says with a grain of salt because his track record of honesty isn't the best (perhaps a step above politician if that), but there's some interesting stuff there. I'm glad to hear that he's behind some young talent, but the key now is doing something truly interesting with them. Draw people in and make people care. That's the step that needs to be taken. Of course, he mentioned Samoa Joe so we know that part is getting ignored.......

 

[Lowdown]

It looks like Kurt is being candid in this interview. Can't really say if he really believes what he's saying. I agree with him that AJ and Joe have been underutilized over the course of 2011 being that both are former heavyweight champs. In regards to BFG, certainly the fans expected Roode to win in the main event, and its very possible that creative changed the ending at the last minute. But like mentioned before, I tend to take what most wrestlers say with a grain of salt.

 

[New Hot Fed]

If only TNA managment had the same opinion on Joe. It's not that difficult, stop using him like a jobber.

 

[billm75]

You could've stopped with "Angle talks" and you would have enough to go on. Kurt Angle is at best a mental midget. Physically, sure, he can get it done in the ring. Everywhere else, on the mic, backstage, off camera, in his personal life, etc, he's a moron.

I dont' know what anyone sees in this idiot. Most give him props for being the #1 or #2 guy on a second rate show. (that's Hogan/Bischoff's fault, I want to like TNA) But if you're the #1 on a throw-away product, doesn't that make you like #10 anywhere else? It does to me. He's boring to listen to on the show, he's incoherent in most interviews. Here's a sample:

"I think that is the hardest part for our company because when Vince Russo is writing the show and you have Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff and a few other people and other TNA writers changing it up the last second which I don’t disagree with what Hogan says, I agree with him 100 percent."

I challenge you to make sense of that. Let's try, just for the sake of being fair:

1: Russo writes the show. (I'm with you Kurt)
2: Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff change some stuff (again, still with ya!)
3: Then some other people.... Other people? Who? What other people? Some bum from the A-Train? What the hell?
4: Finally the TNA writers change something. Presumably to try to make some sense of the shit being spewed forth by numbers 1 through 3.

I had to read this a few times to even try to follow it. What other people Kurt? And why would a professional, a #1 guy, put up with such incompetence? Oh, that's right, because you have a name built in the WWE and you're the so-called face of the company. With your best years behind you, and nothing really to add to the product as a whole, you're hanging on and cashing in on name recognition alone. No wonder you love Hogan. He pioneered that trick.

Sorry folks, I want to like TNA, but they need to cut dead weight like Angle and build their own stars, their own brand and do it in their own way. Losing the old ring was a mistake, honestly, and I'm a huge fan of the WWE. It was just a small thing that stood out. Don't try to be the WWE-light, be TNA and don't be ashamed for it. Have fun, build a good product and quit hanging on to jackasses like Angle.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I often find myself agreeing with Kurt Angle in interviews. I don't know if that means we both have great wrestling minds, if we're both dribbling fruit loops, or both.

I'd still prefer Joe to go to WWE. Firstly, I don't see TNA management ever using him right on a consistent basis. Secondly, he's got the stigma of a dozen bad storylines stuck to him. Third, he's just part of the furniture at TNA now, and furniture just isn't that exciting. Unfortunately, it seems Joe suffers from Stockholm syndrome when it comes to TNA, so that probably puts paid to that idea.

Obviously, I agree with him about AJ. Though AJ's also part of the furniture - and has a particularly unsightly tattoo - he's exciting furniture; interesting furniture. I don't know what distinguishes him from Joe, but something does. Maybe he's from Ikea or something, I dunno.

Out of all of this, I'm most surprised to see Angle discuss retirement. This is a 43-year-old man who's been training to be in the United States Olympic wrestling team. This is the man that was arrested for stalking Rhaka Khan. I don't know letting go was in his playbook.

 

[shattered dreams]

Angle interviews are always interesting but somewhat predictable. He is a wrestler's wrestler through and through. He is always going to favor the guys that wrestle over everything else. Stories, writers, personality, audience reaction etc. all play second fiddle to being able to go in the ring. There isn't anything wrong with that but it is a little naive way to talk about how things should be from that one specific scope only. I do enjoy how he will Taz up each comment at the end though.

On the Roode comment you will notice that he said they did not hear about it until that night. That doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as no one had considered it before then.

I do find the comments about the structure of the writing process to be candid and interesting. However, I am not entirely sure Angle is involved in the creative process as much as he is giving his perception of it. That seems like an exaggeration because he is one of those guys in wrestling that thinks they can put a show together, but he really just has a couple of ideas and knows what he personally likes. Angle has never been involved much in the creative process in any company.

I also strongly disagree that Joe can be a full-time main eventer "as is" in a mainstream company.