I'm eating my words. I was one of the people that said that Kurt Angle would never go to TNA so i'm shocked. This is great for TNA as a company because it's obviously sparked some much needed interest into them. At the same time, I think it's bad for Kurt Angle. It shows how much he loves the business, sure....that's admirable and all but he's gonna kill himself. I guess this is what the argument between Vince and Angle was about....Vince wanted him to take the time to rest up, Angle didn't want to. The way I look at it is this.....there's no denying that Kurt Angle was perhaps the WWE's best wrestler and all-around performer. Being who he is, you think Vince would let a guy of his caliber go if there wasn't anything majorly wrong with him?
Back a couple weeks after Eddie Guerrero passed away, there were rumors of another superstar that some of the guys in the back were saying needed a break before he wound up killing himself and that taking time off would perhaps save his life. They were obviously talking about Kurt Angle. As a wrestling fan, seeing Kurt Angle competing is great...it's especially great if you're a TNA fan but i'm concerned for him as a human being. He's made millions over his time in WWE....he doesn't need the money. This is really just about his passion for wrestling.....and I kinda fear that his "passion for wrestling" may wind up prematurely ending his career and even his life. I don't want to see an "Eddie Guerrero" all over again.
People say well....TNA has a lighter workload, they're only working in Orlando and blah blah blah. That's all true but every time you go into a wrestling ring, you're risking something. You get battered and bruised, you risk injury in every single match especially with some of the guys in TNA that go all-out with their move set and everything. I also doubt that TNA hopes to just stay in Orlando and not start travelling because the company obviously wants to get as big as they could get. If TNA starts travelling, Kurt's gonna put himself at even bigger risk.
It doesn't matter how easy the workload is in TNA...he needed a break but is refusing to take one and I guess he didn't care who he was screwing over by doing it. It's kind of a shock if Kurt and Vince are on bad terms especially since they were apparently friends and Kurt specifically put in the end of his letter to the fans a couple weeks ago "Vince, next time coffee's on me".
Or of course, Kurt Angle may be downplaying this all as not too big of a deal. Perhaps Angle sees TNA as a short-term option to keep himself at top-shape for whenever WWE wants him back. He may just be there for a little while before trying to get into the MMA circuit.
I don't know what it is....but if it's doing anything, it's drawing more interest into BOTH comapnies. I expect tomorrow's Raw to draw a huge rating because everybody's gonna see if WWE takes a shot back. I wouldn't expect any direct Kurt Angle OR TNA references because let's be real....WWE never wanted to acknowledge them on their television show before, they're not gonna want to now. Mentioning TNA on WWE television would just get more people interested in what's going on in TNA. The nWo return I guess is a possibility over the next couple of weeks. I would personally LOVE to see them go all out with the nWo angle and just start it all over with only Scott Hall showing up on Raw at first interupting a match saying the "we're taking over AGAIN" line. Bring in Nash, X-Pac, possibly take a stab at signing Randy Savage, and bring in a couple of new names into the nWo banner. I'd like to see that.
Also this week on Raw, it's already been announced that they're going to announce the new GM and the Women's Title Tournament is gonna start. Besides that, DX is running a three team gauntlet. ANOTHER nWo idea to possibly be a part of tomorrow night's Raw would be to make Hall and Nash the third team on the gauntlet.
Even if they didn't bring the nWo in, i'd just like to see one power heel stable rise up. I'm also anticipating a Chris Benoit return as that will be in the cards sooner than later I think. I also expect the WWE to actively pursue Chris Jericho and try to get him back under contract as soon as possible.
If the Kurt Angle signing with TNA has done anything for me, I think it's actually increased my interest in WWE more than anything.