During a recent interview with The Paradox of Sports, Kurt Angle commented on turning down offers from AEW, what he likes most about the company, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On his retirement match against Baron Corbin in WWE and what he thought of how the company used him: “I’m not sure what it was. I’m sure it had a lot to do with me leaving the company in 2006, and there were some bitter words that were exchanged [laughs]. So, when I came back, I knew it wouldn’t be the same. But I wanted to do it for the fans and the WWE universe that supported me all those seven years in WWE, and also supported me in TNA for 11 years. So, I wanted to go back there and have my final matches and retire. I knew ahead of time I wasn’t gonna get a title run or anything like that. I actually knew they were probably gonna stick it to me, and that was okay. I totally understood. Don’t forget, I had a painkiller problem, I had an injured neck. They looked at me as somewhat of a liability, and they didn’t want to take a chance with me. So, I completely understood.”
On his current health status: “I’m hanging in there. My knees, my back, and my neck are hurting pretty badly. I have good days and bad days. But at 52 years of age, wrestling for over 40 years, I’d say I’m doing pretty good for what I’ve done.”
On what he likes most about AEW: “I like the fact that they’re making noise. They’ve signed a bunch of great wrestlers. Chris Jericho is at the helm. He’s an incredible athlete, one of the best that has ever done it. They have some really talented guys. They even took some guys from WWE that got released. The good thing about it is there are two big companies going right now. That’s good for the wrestlers. That gives them options and gives them jobs to look for. It’s actually a good thing to have two companies instead of one.”
On the reason he turned down AEW offers: “I considered it. I was offered a couple of deals. I turned them down. But I’m a WWE guy and my loyalty is there for right now. I’m not signed with them in any particular way. But I do have some projects coming up that is part of WWE, and I don’t want to mess that up. So, I am going to stay loyal to WWE right now.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
