Kurt Angle Announces He's Re-Signing with TNA

[Olan]

I agree he is probably nearing the finish line of his career so if he wants to stay in TNA good for him.

I am reading about who can he feud with? Is he healthy enough to wrestle fulltime? What if he becomes like Flair is now: a manager; a mouthpiece with only ocassional matches?

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Good for Kurt Angle. Look how many years does he still have as an active wrestler anyways maybe 1 or 2 years top? Its logical for him to want to stay in TNA, 1) they have a lighter schedule 2 )anyways he has enough money, so i don't think he has to go back to WWE and destroy his body more than he would in TNA.


My feeling is that with the news of Edge retiring, Angle feels it might be better for him to stay in TNA and preserve his body.

 

[Rayne]

File this under "Things That Were Obvious Before They Happened".

Before we get started, the most important element of contract negotiations is leverage. (It's the most important social element of life, but let's take this one step at a time.) What were Kurt Angle's options?

The WWE probably had some degree of interest in picking him up, but if any, it was very muted. The WWE is going through a youth revolution right now, and added to their roster, how much would Kurt Angle offer to them that they don't already have? There's probably more of an interest now then there was last week, after Edge got the Ricky Steamboat verdict- the W is running low on names with history with which to build their new guys. (HHH has a few runs left in him but I don't think he wants to use them, Undi looks to be down to about 1-2 matches a year, Orton and Cena will be around for a while. Chris Jericho will be back, CM Punk is big but not quite there yet.) I think he would have gotten hired back after a "you're sure you're straight now, right?" conversation, but he didn't offer the WWE something that they didn't have people for at the time.

He wasn't going to wrestle in restaurants (Hi, X-Pac! Hi, Sid Vicious!), and obviously, he chose not to retire. Unless he's been entirely foolish with his money (he wouldn't be the first), he's able to retire and live to that ripe old age of 48-49 that so many wrestlers pop off at.

That leaves TNA. He likely got a good deal, because if TNA tried to put the screws to him, I do think he had options within the WWE. TNA also needs Kurt Angle. One thing they are christingly low on is performers who can slide up and down the depth chart. Kurt Angle could work a believable program with Amazing Red one month, and be world champion the next month. (Or be stuck in a program for months that gets short term laughs and does nothing to position the company for the near or far term future.) He's valuable for the same reason Chris Jericho is; he can do it all, and make the people he's working with look great while he's doing it.

Now let's just hope TNA hires him a car service.... and finds that dastardly Twitter hacker.

 

[Nate DaMac]

OK? Why is this news? Of course Angle is going to go back to TNA. He's not going to go back to the E where they test for drugs regularly and where 3 or 4 arrests will not go unnoticed. The only positive news that could come from Angle is that he's finally going to go into rehab and get his fucking life together.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Not surprising at all. Angle has said several times he intends to retire in TNA.

Kurt Angle's deal in TNA is probably the closest thing in wrestling to Hulk Hogan's WCW deal. Angle makes more money than the vast majority of the TNA roster, he gets time off whenever he wants it & for however long, TNA has a much lighter schedule than the WWE does and Angle has Dixie Carter wrapped around his little finger.

Angle's stroke with Dixie is almost Svengali-like in its influence. If Angle wants to have another title run then Dixie will give it to him. If he wants to work a program with ANYONE on the roster, he gets it. He threatened to quit if Jarrett didn't disappear from TNA when he started dating Angle's ex-wife. Despite the fact that Jeff Jarrett founded TNA and still owns nearly 30% of the company, Jarrett wasn't seen or heard from in TNA for about 6 months. If all that's not enough, TNA looks the other way when their talent fucks up. Angle's been arrested a couple of times since joining TNA, Jeff Hardy seems to be only steps away from becoming another wrestling tragedy and it seems to be all good with Dixie so long as nothing gets in the way of them doing their job.

 

[manstis1804]

Y'know part of being the underdog is not actively playing up that "we're the underdog" card to pander to people. Underdogs just suit up, scratch and claw to get the job done as best as they can, and focus on improving themselves instead of the public's perception by saying buzzwords/phrases like "taking it to the next level".

 

[Kenny Powers]

Well, Angle re-signing with TNA is about as shocking as Sting re-signing. Angle is probably treated like a king and is more useful in TNA then WWE now.

 

[roy]

i know i am a minority in this but i was really hoping kurt would get out while he can still function.

between him and taker i feel like there is a game of russian roulette going. who is going to get popped first? =/

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

^^^^I agree. Taker only wrestles hard like once a year, but Angle, especially because he has no legit finisher, has to wreck his body in any match he's in to get the crowd into it. With his neck history I don't see him lasting much longer.