The following quotes are from an interview with Kurt Angle conducted by The UK Sun which you can read at http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/article1723920.ece
TNA Gimmicks and Match Stipulations: “Being in TNA is exciting and frustrating at the same time. Weâve been doing a good job but what we need to do right now is to simplify things. We get a little bit too complicated with our gimmick matches and run-ins. Iâve spoken to the bookers, writers and owners of TNA and said: âListen. Wrestling is very simple, keep it simple.â
Why TNA Overindulges in Gimmicks: “TNA do it because we want to be different from WWE and innovative. But what happens is sometimes we are, but then sometimes we are too old school. Letâs face it, a tar and feather match today wouldnât go over too well. But weâve actually done that. Thatâs a 1960âs match, this is 2008. Weâre in an MMA world. Fans want to see mano a mano. One on one. Letâs go at it. We call ourselves Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. We say: âTNA â” we are wrestling.â No weâre not. Weâre f***ing gimmick matches.”
TNA Protecting Talent: “At the last PPV, No Surrender, we had a triple threat main event between me, Christian Cage and Samoa Joe. We had a great match, but Samoa Joe won because Jeff Jarrett came in and hit me with a guitar. I would have won if Jeff didnât do that. I believe that Joe should have kicked my ass and Christianâs ass and won straight up and then afterwards Jeff could have come in or even waited until the next night on TV and attacked me. Iâm trying to make our younger guys more popular. I let AJ beat me the last four times we wrestled for a reason. To make him a bigger star. I wanted Joe to beat me and Christian at the PPV to make him a bigger star. But whatâs been happening is we have run-ins to create the wins, so I get protected. I donât want to be protected and I donât need to be protected. Iâm having a real struggle with it. We need to back up and realize who we are and what weâre trying to get across. We have the best wrestlers in the world, WWE canât compare. But how do we use them to our advantage? By simply wrestling, because thatâs what theyâre good at.”
His Future In MMA: “Iâm talking to several fight companies about doing MMA by the end of next year – 2009. Iâm going to cross over to the MMA world for a while but I want to end up back in TNA and back in wrestling. Iâve always wanted to do it. Iâm the only Olympic gold medallist that will enter the Octagon and it feels right for me. I can almost guarantee youâre going to see me in the Octagon.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
