Kurt’s new angle

He’s the only Olympic gold medallist to ever step foot inside a WWE ring. He’s been a WWE Tag Team Champion, Intercontinental Champion, King of the Ring, WWE Champion and World Heavyweight Champion. He’s done it all in the WWE – and now he’s jumping ship.

About a month after being released by World Wrestling Entertainment for health reasons, Olympic champion Kurt Angle has joined WWE’s chief rival, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

The news came as a surprise because it was believed that Kurt Angle would be taking time off from wrestling to spend time with his family and heal his body. The last thing on anyone’s mind was that he’d return to wrestling this soon, and with his former employer’s biggest competitor no less.

I can only speculate on Angle’s reasons for jumping ship, but I think they’re along the same lines that fellow TNA defector Christian Cage might have had. The WWE has become so much about gimmicks and cheap tricks that somewhere along the way, the wrestling became secondary. (The WWE addressed this somewhat by reviving the ECW, which Kurt Angle then became part of, but creative control for ECW is still in the firm grasp of Vince McMahon, which means anything revolutionary will have to wait.)

There’s no doubt that Kurt Angle will instantly become the biggest name on the TNA roster, where he will be among a mix of familiar and unfamiliar talent. The top-tier of TNA already includes the likes of Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Christian Cage, "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown, Samoa Joe and "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner.

If I were the WWE, I’d start to worry. Kurt Angle has the credentials to take TNA Wrestling to the next level. This reminds me of about a decade ago, when WCW started to overtake the WWE (WWF then). The greatest champion and the biggest legend the WWE ever had, Hulk Hogan, left the WWE and joined WCW. It gave WCW instant credibility. A few years later, WCW brought two more of WWE’s biggest names, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. When these three men came together in WCW, ratings went through the roof. WCW was leaving the WWE in its dust. A similar situation is happening today. The WWE is getting stale, big names start leaving and people start to notice the competition. The only thing TNA Wrestling might need to get them over the hump is that one superstar who has enough credentials to make viewers take a second look, much like Hogan in his WCW days. TNA now has that wrestler in the Olympic gold medallist and multi-time champion Kurt Angle.

These are Kurt Angle’s own words posted on the TNA Wrestling website (tnawrestling.com):

"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 a part of TNA, I know I have a purpose. I feel like I am part of history, part of a company that is not 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. This 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 wrestling – 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 a 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."

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For questions, comments or corrections, please e-mail me at emailcarlramirez@yahoo.com.