Angle Makes it Official - Jumps Ship To TNA
The news that Kurt Angle pulled a quickie on the wrestling world and instead of running to MMA has instead joined TNA could not be worse news for the former WWE Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist. The signing, while huge for TNA, is not a good one for Angle, who was released by the WWE when his physical condition as well as his bitter attitude got the better of him. Things were getting so bad that Angle not only kept getting hurt, but he continued to want his matches changed to his benefit as well as giving the bookers ideas to keep him in each big match week after week on ECW.
I was not a fan of the idea to have him go from the RAW brand to ECW, but I understood why it was done. The WWE management felt that with Angle in ECW, it would bring a lot of the WWE fans to watching the brand, and with Angle's wrestling style, it would allow him to be more of a mat wrestler, and would be easier on him from a physical standpoint as well as from having to wrestle as much. Needless to say it clearly never worked out, and within 3 months of being in the upstart promotion he was suspended and now released.
Of course for TNA they are looking at this as a move that will finally cement them on the wrestling map. They feel that by getting a wrestler with Angle's track record and skill, that he could be the guy that leads them into finally being taken seriously as a threat to the WWE. I don't know if I agree with that, knowing the circumstances that lead up to his departure from the WWE, that included a divorce from his wife, as well as all the physical problems that he has had. One has to wonder if he gets in TNA, and within a few months of not getting main event after main event, and even if he does not get the title right away, if he will again become bitter and start problems with TNA's management.
For now, it's all good for Kurt, and even this portion of what he wrote about his signing with the company is nothing bit happy, albeit a bit perplexing:
"Being with TNA feels like I have finally found my home. I had fun in WWE at certain times, but I was never really happy. Now being part of TNA, I know I have a purpose. I feel like I am part of history, part of a company that is now only on the rise--not only going to be the number one watched wrestling show in the world within a short period of time--but TNA gives me an opportunity to spread my wings. The company has no limits to where it can go. The sky is the limit and the main reason is because they brought the 'real' back into wrestling and that is a perfect fit for the greatest wrestler in USA Olympic history. I have room to grow here and to help TNA grow. Working for these caring and very giving employers of TNA makes me feel like I have a purpose and that the sky is the limit. I don't feel trapped or held back like I did the first six years in my tenure with the other company. They held me back. Now, our wonderful audience will see the real Kurt Angle doing what I love to do--real wreslting--and that's what puts a smile on my face each time I come to work. I even smile when I think about it. TNA will be the most watched television show on cable television. It's only a matter of time. Now, I get the opportunity and privilege of being part of it. Thank you TNA for saving my career, my life and my desire to do what I love. I will be here in some capacity for the rest of my life. That's real...that's damn real."
Isn't it always that way when a wrestler leaves the WWE, only to come back to the organization later on saying that they can't believe they left in the first place? I'm not saying that the WWE does not make mistakes and do wrestlers wrong at times, but going from the WWE to TNA is right now like going from the Yankees to the Devil Rays. The playing field right now is simply not close to being even, and a Kurt Angle signing is not going to bring that margin all that much closer. Don't get me wrong, Angle is still a star, and I am still a fan. But at this point, I still think he would have been MUCH better off taking some time off, getting his life at home and physically back together, and then making a WWE return in mid to late 2007.
I guess for now that is not going to happen, but why do I sense that the TNA signing is another desperate attempt by Kurt to run away from his problems and try to recapture the glory that he really did have winning WWE titles and wrestling in main events at big PPV's and even at WrestleMania.
