Former WWE and TNA star Kurt Angle was the recent guest on “The Steve Austin Show”, which you can listen to in its entirety at this link or in the provided audio player. Below are some interview highlight quotes from Angle:
On His New Life on the Indy Scene:
I took the shield off. I wanted to take a break. I actually got the chance to wrestle a few guys before I step out. One of the guys was Cody Rhodes. I had the chance of facing him a few times. It’s crazy; the indy scene is doing really well, especially in the UK, Scotland. They’re getting about 4-7,000 fans. They are livestreaming their ppv’s. The money is incredible, especially on an indy show. Wrestling right now is really good no matter where you are. I never thought I would make the money I am making wrestling on the indy scene. I know a couple of the wrestlers are doing; they didn’t tell me how much they were making but they were pretty happy with the pay. I wrestled Cody Rhodes, and I couldn’t believe the outcome and how they were able to advertise. I really believe these companies in the UK are about to get some major steam. I think they are going to get TV deals and get bigger. For some reason, wrestling out there is getting a lot hotter than wrestling here in the States.
On How Hot the Indy Scene Market Is:
I think that right now, I really believe the indy scene is just about good as WWE. I wouldn’t say completely, because obviously, WWE is the cream of the crop. Don’t get me wrong, WWE is heavy on recruiting. They have a lot of talent, but the indy scene is not that much worse. There are a lot of great matches, a lot of great workers. I was on a card with myself and Cody Rhodes, Alberto Del Rio, there were a few other wrestlers that were former WWE and TNA wrestlers. This card is not just one match that is the headline, you’re going to have about 4 or 5 matches that made it to the big time, that will be on these cards, it’s ridiculous. I never thought I would get to see the day for that to happen.
On Stardust Not Getting Over Because of the Style of Pace in the Ring:
Well, I have always believed in his talent. I think I understand why he left. I don’t think he’s going to be gone from there forever. I think that he will eventually go back there. I just think he wanted a break, and wanted to do something where he could just find himself. I think that in WWE, he was doing what they wanted him to do, and I know he wanted to elaborate more on the Stardust character. It seemed that watching, he was on TV every week so I give WWE credit for that, but I just didn’t see him progressing in the ranks, I just saw him continue to be where he was. I don’t think they saw him where he thought he should be, and there will be a lot of people that agree with Cody on that, but at the same time, I look at WWE and there are a lot of good talent right now. Their style have picked up the pace more, they need to pull that back a bit. They need to go back to being a little more old school. I think their pace is going really fast, and I think the one thing that they are not doing is selling as much as they should. I think that down the road, if they continue to do that and pick up the pace it could eventually kill the business. You know wrestling works in cycles. There was a time when I was in WWE, I remember were I started 50 straight matches without tying up; it started with punches, but then it slowed down, then came to technical wrestling. I think it’ll come around again, I just think right now they are giving wrestlers less time on TV, so there’s no time to tell that story and show their wrestling ability.
On the Speed of Wrestling Interfering with the Story of the Matches:
I think a lot of these guys believe they have to have a beginning of a match. If their time is being cut from a 10 minute match to a 6, then they have to start with the heat, it’s not a bad thing to start off a match doing that. I think these guys want to tell an entire story so they don’t have time to do it, so they speed it up and just try to get it all in. It doesn’t appear good on TV. As a fan, you see them going around 150 miles per hour, no one sold anything. I think that if they don’t have the time, just start with the heat. It’s probably the best thing you can do.
On Having Creative Control on the Indy Scene:
They give me creative control. I can do what I want to do. Most matches I have been in this year, I have lost. I don’t see winning these matches on the indy scene being important to me. It’s more about having a great match with the guys. The fact that they are younger, it gives them a great rub with one of the best wrestlers ever. To me, the winning and losing part is not important, it’s just about getting my reps in. Next year I plan on going back somewhere. I don’t know where yet, but I wanted to keep myself mentally sharp. I booked my matches this year; one against Rey Mysterio, with Cody Rhodes. I have another one coming up with Alberto Del Rio, and Joe Coffey. I had a match with Zack Sabre Jr, who is in the Cruiserweight tournament. He’s a very talented kid. These guys I pretty much picked, knowing I would be able to wrestle these talented kids, before I attempt to most likely come back to WWE.
