You're An Idiot And Here's Why 4.26.07: Kurt Angle
Posted by Rob Halden on 04.26.2007
He doesn't suck. But he is an Idiot. It's Kurt Angle.
This week: Kurt Angle
At 39 years old Kurt Angle is one of the most accomplished, acclaimed and decorated wrestlers in the world today. Holding eleven championship reigns, with six world titles to his credit, the former Olympic Gold Medallist is not only a marquee name and a highly respected performer, but also an idiot.
After a storied and incredible six years with the WWE, Kurt Angle's importance to the company became apparent on two separate occasions in quick succession at the beginning of 2006. In January of that year Batista, Smackdown's lead performer and World Heavyweight Champion, was forced out of action with an injury. The WWE selected Angle to make a surprise brand switch and immediately win the vacant championship. A clear indication of Kurt's position and value to the company, the move allowed Angle to become the lead performer of the Smackdown brand, something he was not afforded on the crowded scene of Monday Night Raw. Smackdown had not only lost the star power of Batista's big name, but his vacating the belt had also damaged the lineage of the World Heavyweight Title. Kurt Angle solved both problems in one fell swoop, and as WrestleMania approached, he brought that credibility and star power to Smackdown's main event at the biggest stage of the year. It would be an overstatement to say Kurt Angle carried the brand during those months, but he certainly carried a lot of the weight.
Then in May of the same year the WWE resurrected ECW as it's new third brand. It was clear from the beginning that this show would need something more than nostalgia to draw viewers in, and so yet again Kurt Angle was selected to become the lead performer of the new fledgling brand. Angle was not only to lend ECW his marquee name and established WWE fan-base, but his world-renowned legitimacy was to form the basis of (what was to become) the new ECW style. A more amateur, mat-based grappling to compliment ECW's hardcore wrestling.
On August 25 2006 Angle was released from his WWE contract. At the time he left he was clearly a valued and important wrestler, viewed as having the talent to lead one of the brands. Angle's history of injury, surgery and near constant pain are well documented, and at the time the WWE was acting in the best interests of its employee. Giving Angle a release to take time off from the grueling profession and seek whatever medical help or period of rest and rehabilitation he needed, to not only recuperate but to also overcome his addiction to painkillers. In many ways the release was very similar to the one given to Eddie Guerrero in 2001. Guerrero was released from the company while he sought to repair not only his body but also his life. The WWE rehired a healthy Guerrero just ten months later, bringing him back into the fold, and his career picked up from where it left off. The WWE had similar intentions with Kurt Angle, and all parties viewed the time off as being beneficial, not only for his future career but for his health and well-being.
But instead of following the path of Eddie Guerrero, instead of taking the time his WWE release afforded him to repair the damage done to him by a lifetime of wrestling and his spinal surgery, Kurt Angle threw himself straight back into wrestling, by signing for TNA.
Whenever I would hear the stories of Kurt Angle winning his Olympic Gold Medal with a broken neck, I would think "Wow, now that's a real man". But now, with the hindsight of seeing Angle's willingness to sacrifice anything to compete, all I can do is see it as the first step on a self-destructive path. And I can't help but be convinced that we will all witness Kurt Angle wrestle himself into a career-ending injury.
For Kurt Angle to think the WWE was mistreating him by taking him off Raw is idiotic. For Kurt Angle not to take the WWE's release of him as anything other than a break for his own good is idiotic. For Kurt Angle to even be thinking of Mixed Martial-Arts fights is sheer lunacy. And the following comment is right up with the rest;
"Those are some great fans. They were incredible. I really did mean what I said - they do kick WWE fans' (butts). I'd rather wrestle in front of those 1,500 fans, which had the charisma and created a hostile environment, than 32,000 people that don't do anything."
That's a quote from Kurt Angle to a reporter from the Bristol Press. I've heard wrestlers bad-mouth Vince McMahon and Triple H and the company. And fair enough, if that's who you think wronged you and you're pissed, go ahead and do it. But I don't think I've ever heard a wrestler bad-mouth the fans like that.
I love Kurt Angle. He's one of my heroes. But I know an Idiot when I see one.
Feedback
Well…no one hates me this week….I, erm…I don't quite know what to do now. Guess…guess I'll…just show these very pleasant e-mails…
Andrew Hutchinson
I just read your column about Jerry Lawler. In fact, I actually just read all three of your columns, I've been a bit busy to do my usual read of all the 411 columns lately so you had previously slipped under my radar!! I must say I have agreed with you on all of the subjects you covered. Particularly about Cena. I think the WWE has a done a great job with Cena and the way they have handled him because one way or another they have created heat for his matches. I was at the Raw and Smackdown tapings in Manchester last October and the crowd was red hot for the time Cena was in the ring, quite split but very noisy. The following night however Batista hardly tore the house down. The key to the Cena machine from the WWE's point of view is to get people interested for one reason or another and they as an organization and he as a performer do that very well I feel.
Anyway onto Lawler. I must admit when I read all this stuff about the match the first thing I thought was "big fat who cares?". I mean I'm surprised that Hogan v Lawler could be perceived as a lucrative match in 2007 but then if its Lawler in Memphis and Hogan anywhere then there's no accounting for taste. However it soon became clear to me that people were interested in the match and the cancellation had clearly created quite a storm.
I like the fact that your article addresses the point from a different point of view to most others I have read on the subject, ie that Vince and the WWE are not the bad guys in all of this. All they are doing is protecting their interest in a guy (Lawler) that they have recently invested time and effort in (ie putting him in the HoF while still "active"). I feel Lawler is pretty lucky to have got away as lightly as he will. Imagine a situation something like this:
Lawler wrestles the match against Hogan and loses (because we all know that's where it was heading) in a high-profile match, perhaps the most high-profile match in years in a territory where he has always been the top guy. The match or footage or whatever end up on Hogan Knows Best on VH1 (which I understand is why WWE pulled the plug). WWE fires Lawler for breach of contract and totally bury him on the way out (hell they've done it enough times to JR and he's still there!). Lawler is a now a washed up old man with no decent run left as a wrestler (and having just jobbed in the one place where he has any clout left) and who has become a parody of himself as an announcer, and therefore very little prospect.
The above scenario would not have been a wholly unreasonable road for Vince and Co to take, especially given Lawler's history (The Kat incident you refer to being one of these) but instead they offered Lawler a chance to continue to pick up his pay check and to continue to milk the fame associated with his now being a HoF member. Lawler HAS made the right call by agreeing to pull out of the match, but I don't know how much option he was given there, I'm guessing very little!!
Overall you have presented a very fair perspective of the whole issue, while approaching it from a different side to most other writers. I think other people have put forward good arguments as to why Vince and Hogan have both acted at least stupidly in this affair (Hogan should have known Vince would never have allowed the match, Vince could have been less public in his burial of Hogan) but the buck should really stop with Lawler who agreed to have the match.
Top article anyway and keep up the good work!!
Yep…I'm ace…seriously, no one hates what I said last week?
Dylan Brenner drops by with some kinda late thoughts on John Cena.
"I get heat a lot for digging enjoying John Cena. By all means I should be part of the crew who hates him for his wigger, white-boy wannabe rapper gimmick. However, I can't help but the man knows how to entertain. In the ring he's nothing special but he can definitely work a match. Look at his match with Umaga at NYR and more so Royal Rumble. That had shit written all over it but through intensity and passion he (and Maagz) was able to put on a great match. So boom, he's not the "worst wrestler the WWE has ever had." That's just ig'nant. Alright now onto his mic work. Any time he gets on the mic he knows how to excite people. Take his program with Michaels, for instance. Every Raw before 'Mania I was graced with some of the best promos I've seen in the past 3 years aside from maybe some of the One Night Stand stuff (Foley, Styles shoot, etc.) And to this day any time I hear his music hit I know I'll be entertained for the next fifteen minutes or so, no doubt. The man does his job and he does his job well. Stupid gimmick? Maybe. Does he make the most of it and make it work? Most definitely. And if you can't see that well then, you can't see me"
Any Cena/HBK interaction on the microphone is gonna be a good segment. And Umaga does everything he should be doing. He plays his role perfectly and deserves some love and some big wins…and no Jeff Hardy doesn't count. I said big. Not girly.
Donnie Middel nearly hates me…but not quite. Put some effort in, man!
"I just read your article about Lawler/Hogan, and in the feedback section at the bottom of the page you made a rather ignorant comment about the IWC saying that they are all a bunch of hate filled 16 year old kids, The last time I checked the IWC was the male demographic between 19-25 also considering the fact that you are writing a wrestling article for a website that is primarily used by Smarks then would that not put you in the exact same category?"
I said "I know the IWC is supposed to be a bunch of hate-filled 16 year-olds". Now look at that sentence again Donnie (by the way….great name) and try to pick out which word is important there. Look closely now…have you got it yet? No? Okay, take another minute…….time's up Donnie, the correct answer is ‘supposed'. Also, when 19-25 years olds whine and bitch like they've got a yeast-infection, then they get downgraded to Hate-Filled 16 Year Olds. It's my new system.
Nick Marsico wants to step to me? I said Big Show/Hogan would be a bigger match than Lawler/Hogan. And Marsico decided to get mouthy about it.
"Not according to ticket sales, and not in Memphis, my man. Lawler vs. Hogan had a legitimate shot at selling at least 10,000 tickets. Hogan/Wight has only sold 1,500 at this point, and it likely won't get higher than 3,000 at the very most. Hulk Hogan vs. The Big Show is a decent match to throw, for the sake of nostalgia and a Hogan/Andre flashback, in the middle of a card that has a few other blockbusters on it. To headline a show, though? It's very weak. Hogan is a star who means very little to the wrestling business in 2007, and Show is a guy who, while very solid in his run as ECW Champion, hasn't meant anything significant to the wrestling business since 2002 at the most recent, and even then it was only for the benefit of Brock Lesnar.
Hogan/Lawler is by far a bigger match than what the fans are going to get now. By far."
Oh yeah? Well I got some news to start your weekend with Marsico! Legit-Bad-Ass-Former-Champion-This-Decade-Big-Enough-To-Eat-Your-Head Vs. Hulk Hogan, is a thousand times bigger than Old-Announcer-Guy-Who-Likes-Young-Girls Vs. Hulk Hogan. And no, I didn't use any fancy-schmancy "statistics" to prove my point, I used freakin' logic! Clearly the South don't know squat about what makes a bigger match, and neither do you Marisco.
In fact, you'd better watch your step Nick, cuz you're officially One Step Away From Being An Idiot. I'll be watching.
