– Kurt Angle recently spoke with Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard blog. The full interview can be found at this link. Below are highlights:
His original plan of finishing up his TNA contract last September and re-signing with the WWE to close his career:
โI havenโt spoke openly about this. but I opened up my options and was going to decide between TNA and WWE. I wasnโt going to leave TNA unless WWE was offering a fair deal.โ
Vince McMahon and Triple H:
โPaul [Levesque] is in charge. I found that out when I contacted Vince. Iโve always had a good relationship with Paul, so I didnโt consider that a problem. But he decided they had enough talent. For the Vince McMahon who I knew, enough was never enough. He always wanted more. I donโt know what was going on over there, but they even canceled our meeting. I never went to see them. They didnโt even sit me down and talk to me.โ
WWE not bringing him back:
โIt blew my mind. It was as if I was a nobody, that I wasnโt Kurt Angle. From a wrestling standpoint, they just werenโt interested. But TNA not only stepped up, they gave me everything I wanted โ the dates, the money, and itโs no secret that Iโve went to rehab in the past, and they gave me time off. You talk about a company thatโs loyal to you, and you want to be loyal back. So I didnโt pursue the WWE any further. When it comes down to it, youโve got to stick with the people who want to take care of you. And [TNA president] Dixie Carter took care of me. But Iโm going to be straight with you. The WWE would have made more money this year if they would have signed me. Thatโs no secret.โ
Potential matches if he would have returned:
โThe best match of the year would have been between myself and Daniel Bryan. Rusev would have made sense, and Brock and I could have went at it again. There were just so many places to go. I donโt know if they just thought I was too old, but obviously theyโre not watching our product. Triple H is the same age as me. It was hard, but at the end of the day, Iโm really happy. Will I ever go back? I really donโt care. Iโm happy to be here in TNA.โ
Seeing more differences than similarities between Vince McMahon and Dixie Carter:
โTheyโre completely different. If I wasnโt feeling good, Dixie would tell me to take the night off โ and she wouldnโt dock my pay. I canโt say that ever happened in WWE. Vince is great at what he does, but so is Dixie โ and I know my body is going to hold up in TNA.โ
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