The Kurt Angle Show - Total Nonstop Angle [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Following up on our Leaving the WWF episode, now we’re going to talk about all that happens from the time you leave the WWE to the time you sign with TNA.

Let’s set the landscape of professional wrestling and MMA at the time. In America you have Total Nonstop Action, Ring of Honor and various other independent promotions. There’s no one really at the AEW level of current up against the WWE as TNA would be the closest comparison to that.

In Japan you have New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Zero-One, and HUSTLE.

In MMA you have obviously the UFC, Pride Fighting Championships based out of Japan, K-1 and the IFL. To show how far this is...Bellator does not exist.

Are you thinking there’s opportunity, money, something more elsewhere?

Did your body need the break as well to reset and come back a better person & performer?

So you leave the WWE. We’ve always heard about non-competes, etc. What was the status of your contract when you exit? Are you free to do what you please? Do you buyout your contract to work immediately? How does that all go down?

Map it out for me. You sit down with a plan I’m assuming. You made “X” amount of money and now have a lifestyle that fits that. Are you trying to make the most money possible in the quickest amount of time? Just to try and sustain that lifestyle? Are you now starting to think more about the long term ramifications of not just your body but family as well?

From the Observer … “He is now the single most in demand individual, perhaps in the history of the industry. He now has the ability to, at least on a short-term basis, make more money than he ever has before, and perhaps, in the process, destroy his body even farther. While few will publicly say so, virtually every major promotion from Ring of Honor to several groups in Japan to UFC and numerous other MMA groups, and everyone in between have expressed everything from curiosity to extreme interest in using Angle as soon as he heals up from his current batch of injuries. Nobody has said so publicly. Privately, everyone, and I mean everyone you can think of, is trying to contact him and talking about ideas on how he could be used. While he can write his ticket in pro wrestling, from the ability to work a light schedule for big money in Japan or TNA, it is in MMA where he has the ability to get a one-day payday that could very conceivably approach his annual $I million salary from working in WWE.”

Who is doing the negotiating for you? Who reaches out to you directly? Are you reaching out to anyone?

How quickly is the news out of you not working with the WWE anymore that people are contacting you? Talent, promotions, etc?

Anyone come to you and say … “Kurt can you imagine? We can start a pro wrestling company or MMA company around you we just need you to come aboard and everyone will follow?” type of deal?

You would give a company in any genre … pro wrestling or MMA … instant credibility but were you worried that the news of your struggles and the exit in WWE were going to hurt you?

In 2006 at the time of you being out of the company Brock Lesnar was recently stripped of IWGP Heavyweight Title in Japan due to money issues. You and Brock had long been tied together in the WWE. Do you reach out to Brock or vice versa?

In April of 06 while IWGP heavyweight champion Brock announces he’s beginning of train for his MMA debut which is to happen for the HERO’s promotion. There HAD to be people calling you up saying … “Kurt you vs. Brock in a MMA ring is going to be a gigantic event” right?

Were you ready really to step into a MMA arena to fight or did you think it would take you months to train to be ready?

It’s reported that Dana White and the UFC is in heavy pursuit of you. What are those negotiations like and what was the pitch from UFC? What does Dana White like to deal with?

It’s also reported that you vs. Bob Sapp is presented as a big money MMA match. Was that ever broached to you?

How big a deal is it to stay based in America compared to having to travel to Japan so often?

Are you in a hands on approach when it comes to any negotiations or are you leaving it up to your agent?

There’s a thought process that goes with it that with the WWE and you cutting ties that the WWE no longer saw value in you as a performer worth the TV time to invest. On September 1st … I’m not sure to call it a shot at you or a response to you speaking about your own story but from the Observer … “sending out a message on its mobile alert stating that the meeting the week before between Angle and WWE executives was "heated and confrontational," and labeled Angle as an "emotional wreck" when he left the building.”

Did you talk to anyone in the WWE about this at the time? Do you think it was their way of attempting to hinder negotiations with you and rivals?

Also from the Observer … “Wrestlers in WWE who worked with Angle of late have advised friends with power in other companies, who are thinking of how they can best utilize Angle to grow their business, not to touch him. Exactly what the terms of his release were are unclear: Not confirmed, but from a source very close the top man in the company stated Angle's non-compete was until February, which means WWE will

pay him until then. That was to avoid any chance of him working for TNA, which another source close to Angle said Angle has no interest in doing because he feels doing that would be an affront to McMahon, who considers TNA his competition.”

We know that at the end of this process you’ll be signing with TNA but when you leave the company was that your sentiment? Similar to Chris Jericho who for years claimed he would never work for anyone in the United States other than Vince McMahon … and then signed with AEW … but you end up going anyway.

Do you think anyone in the WWE locker room like Dave stated there, had an axe to grind with you and would talk badly to other people in the business about you?

You wrote a message at the time on your website and I want to read some excerpts to you.

“"Many say I am, some may say I'm not. But I want you to know with

over six solid years of non-stop wrestling action under my belt from all the shows to the world tours, I treated every single match as if it were my last. I've never known a time in my life from training, competition or entertainment that I have not tried to give you over 100% I honestly do not know of any other way to wrestle or perform, and I have always wanted to give you, the fans, what I would expect to see."

What made you put this out there? Was it someone giving you advice or you felt the need to stand up for yourself to the fans?

Angle said he believed he has yet to reach his peak as a pro wrestler, and mentioned the all-time greats, listing Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and Undertaker, and said, "But there is one big difference between us. I am by far the most aggressive and intense athlete of all on the mat. When I step into the ring, I treat it as real, it feels real and then I play it like a real shoot fight."

Was this an attempt to really sell yourself to MMA companies?

"Injuries have always been a natural part of the business and my life, but

where I have failed is not taking the time to recover. When I'm out, the mental stress, sitting back, becomes worse than the physical pain. Something tells my inner soul to go back regardless of the condition. The funny thing is, this obsession is what the industry loves, but this obsession can also be my destruction."

“He talked about the pain being so bad he would have to take a Motrin

just to get up and take out the garbage.”

Did it take your release to realize this?

Did you think taking months off was the right thing for your body but you needed the money?

How quickly into you being a “free agent” do you think you can make the same type of money if not more than you were making with the WWE for less dates?

There’s talk of you being signed to UFC and debuting on the Ultimate Fighter as a wrestling coach but also gives you the ability to be trained for MMA at the same time. Is that a real negotiation idea between you & UFC?

Was MMA really ever under serious consideration? Were there worries about you being cleared by a real doctor to compete compared to the carny commission doctors of pro wrestling?

Are you in contact with any top stars in the WWE after you leave to check in on you or are you persona non grata?

Bodog Fight comes out of nowhere and is said to be in heavy negotiations with you. It’s reported in the Observer you were offered $500,000 to fight Royce Gracie and that you turned it down as you were looking for something long term compared to short term in MMA. What do you remember of them and how accurate is this?

Let’s talk about TNA. TNA is in the process of one of the bigger months in company history. It’s moving into primetime in November. It changes the whole creative team over with removing Mike Tenay, Scott D’Amore and Jeremy Borash and installing Vince Russo as the head of creative. What were your conversations and discussions like with TNA? Did you have anything to do with Vince Russo being put back in charge of creative?

Were you excited to work with Russo again?

The rumor and innuendo is that you and your team dealt directly with Dixie Carter and besides you two only Jeff Jarrett knew. Is that accurate?

Your manager at the time...Dave Hawk...announced that you were retiring as a professional wrestler to become a full time MMA fighter. Was that the plan at any point or was it all a swerve?

Was TNA the highest money offer of what you were getting or did you just want to stay in professional wrestling at this point?

You go to Nashville on September 20th to film secret vignettes in a local warehouse. From the Observer … “ TNA did not even allow its regular television crew to film it, using a different crew, making them sign confidentiality papers and filming at midnight. The only thing that did get out is they hired several local independent workers to set up a ring, paid them well, and made them sign confidentiality agreements as well. But none of them saw Angle and they left confused, believing that nobody ever got into the ring they set up. Angle wrote a six-page handwritten thank you letter to Carter that day, which apparently she was touched by.”

How was it filming in the warehouse and who was part of that process?

Supposedly in your contract with TNA it allowed you to do MMA as well. Why was that important to you?

Who came up with the plan for you to be introduced at the end of No Surrender?

Was there anyone you said you wanted to work with when you signed? We’ve always heard of these great claims of wrestlers signing and being promised titles and choice of programs with certain talent...anything you were pushing for at the time?

Were you watching the show since you weren’t there?

Here’s the note supposedly you wrote to Dixie Carter and I think it’s a great way to close this episode: “Angle's actual statement, handwritten on a hotel notepad in Nashville this past week after shooting his vignettes, read as follows:

"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 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. The 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 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."

We’ll get into a lot more TNA as we progress through the Kurt Angle Show to discuss all of it!