The Kurt Angle Show - TNA Final Resolution 2007 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

First thing I have to ask coming out of Turning Point - were you excited to be working Joe again at another pay-per-view?

The story is simple. You won the first one. Joe won the second one. There has to be a rubber match. But was this the right time to do another match or would you had preferred if it was held off longer?

As the first Impact after the pay-per-view begins you have Jeremy Borash pinned up against the wall looking for JOe.

To start the build you interrupt Bobby Roode & Traci Brooks who are trying to make Eric Young an offer. Did you see the potential in Roode at that time already?

You announce you’re looking for another match against Samoa Joe. Joe comes out and said that you were the one who insisted it be the final match between the two and he’s ready to move on to Abyss and the NWA Title. You go nuts and put the ankle lock on Don West. What did Don West do to you?

Was West worried about you killing him on the ankle lock?

Later on the show you give Slick Johnson the ankle lock and pull So Cal Val in the ring and step on her hair! Jim Cornette comes out and tells Kurt how Joe had a clause in the Turning Point contract that there would be no rematch and Cornette can’t get around it but he’ll make a tag match next week for you to get in the ring with.

You’re an ultra heel at this point Kurt. Are you more comfortable in this setting being a heel?

Were you surprised how quickly they moved you into a heel role?

Was it your idea to be a heel?

Is it tough when the crowd … who is really excited for you to be there … wants to cheer you and they literally have you beat every crowd favorite up to get heat?

The storyline itself though…doesn’t really lend you to being the heel. You’re trying to avenge a loss and the babyface doesn’t want to wrestle you. Does it make sense to you?

Were you given a lot of creative in the beginning of TNA that was confusing and you had to work your way out of it?

It seems though that something is working as Impact sets its all-time record with a 1.19 rating and 1.4 million viewers. Do you take the credit for that or does anyone in the company give you the credit for it?

The next week the tag match is you & Rhino against Joe & AJ Styles. The match goes 5 minutes and AJ pins Rhino right before you’re about to beat Joe. You put Joe in the ankle lock afterwards and security can’t even get you off of him as you scream about a rematch. The scary part of this match is Joe gets hurt and sprains his MCL. What do you remember of Joe’s injury here and did you know he was hurt when you locked in the ankle lock?

You’re going to be building to a 30 minute iron man match with Joe…is there concern or worry on your part regarding Joe’s injury to have the best match possible?

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer had this note in the research, “Samoa Joe was all black and blue at TV before he hurt his knee, as Angle is giving everyone a beating.” Were you working more snug than they were used to in TNA compared to WWE? Did Joe ever bring anything up to you about it?

You’re a presenter at the Video Game Awards on Spike TV. With this being a cross promotion thing between TNA & Spike, how did it feel to be chosen as the company representative?

You finally get Samoa Joe to agree to a rematch. Mike Tenay & Jim Cornette are in the ring announcing Joe as Mr. TNA for 2006 and you attack his girlfriend and threaten to break her ankle if you don’t get a rematch.

Joe agrees to the rematch and of course you break her ankle anyway. What a heel!

Later on you & Joe brawl and Cornette makes the match a 30 minute iron man match. You’ve done iron man matches before with Brock Lesnar, Shawn Michaels, etc. Are you a fan of iron man matches?

You wrestle Christian … which is odd because you two are the top two heels in the company. Even weirder Travis Tomko attacks you to give you the win and Sting … the number two babyface in the company behind Samoa Joe at this point … saves you. Kurt…what the hell is going on here? Is this Vince Russo has gone mad type stuff?

Somehow you end up putting Christian in a penalty box but Joe attacks you … like what is going on here? Why is there a penalty box?

There’s talk in the Observer that on December 20th the wrestlers are informed that TNA isn’t paying for hotels and rental cars anymore. Was that part of your deal and did they go back on it?

It’s been said you were the highest paid talent for the company at this point. Did you feel or hear any heat from the lower paid guys because this shift comes just months after you join the company?

It’s reported in the Observer that your second match with Samoa Joe did half of your first buyrate. Why do you think that is? Was it the creative? The beating of Joe the first time?

Are you paid based on pay-per-view buys? Is that part of your deal?

Is that a type of concern when the buyrates drop like that?

There are rumors at the time TNA was trying to talk to Bob Sapp for a program with you. Do you remember hearing about that? Was that something you would’ve been excited to do?

Kurt you’re handpicked to be one of the final guests on the George Michael Sports Machine show. For those that don’t know, it was a syndicated show for 22 years. What do you remember about being on the show?

TNA runs a show in Lisbon, Portugal in front of 5,000 fans which at the time was the most fans for a TNA show in the company’s history. You wrestle Joe in the main event and win clean with the ankle lock. Was it nice to be working in front of a near capacity crowd of that side?

Alright Kurt we’re at the show and Meltzer isn’t the most positive regarding the match in his write-up.

“Of the three matches so far, this would rank as No. 3.

It as slower-paced, and both men's physical condition and being forced to go 30

left them with little leeway. Joe has been wrestling for more than a week, but his

knee can't be I 00% Angle suffered a concussion at around the 8 :00 mark of the

match. Angle calls all his own matches, and he apparently told both ref Earl

Hebner and Joe that he thought he had a concussion and couldn't remember what

to do next. Basically, Joe and Hebner called the match at that point, which is

probably another reason it was slower-paced. I'm not really a fan of Iron Man

matches to begin with, because nothing hurts the intensity of a match more than

fans knowing exactly when a match will, and more importantly, won't, be

ending. If fans don't know when a match is ending and it goes 30, it can be a

classic build. If they know exactly when it is going to end, it's more difficult for

the wrestlers because fans know that nothing means anything until they are

maybe 25 minutes in.”

Is this a fair assessment of how an iron man match works and hurts the crowd?

Do you remember the concussion and telling Joe and Earl you were knocked out?

Did anything change with the injury? Do you work different?

“6. Kurt Angle beat Samoa Joe 3-2 in the 30:00 Iron Man match. Everything was smooth

and these two are so good they can be forced to go 30, with one guy knocked out

and the other with a bad knee, and still have a very good match. Angle worked

over Joe's bad knee early in a slow, deliberate open. Joe used an elbow suicida

early. Joe took the first fall with a choke in 12:54. Mike Tenay and Don West

explained the strategy in that guys will tap out on submissions quicker because

they know they have to go 30:00 and don't want to risk an early injury. Thank

God they did that, because we've seen match after match of these guys not

tapping out, so the quick taps made no sense without that reasoning. Angle took

the second fall with the ankle lock in 16:03 with a quick tap. Angle took the

third fall in 18:56 with the ankle lock. Angle got a near fall with the Olympic

slam. He tried for another ankle lock but Joe rolled out of it. Joe won the fall

in 22:19 with the muscle buster to even things up. Angle went for the ankle lock

again. Joe escaped and got behind him for a German suplex, but Angle turned

it into a front rolling cradle to go ahead at 24:41. Joe then went on the attack,

but Angle came back and wrapped Joe's leg around the post twice. Joe, selling

the leg, came back with an enzuigiri and a muscle buster, but Angle got his foot

on the ropes. Joe kept going for a choke. Very good finish where Angle was

defending the choke and Joe was using elbow after elbow to Angle's head to

loosen him up. Finally Joe grabbed an ankle lock with 25 seconds left. Angle

teased tapping for the last 15 seconds as they counted down. Right after the

buzzer sounded to end the match, Angle tapped. *** I /2”

It really is a well worked match and the submissions early make a lot of sense and it was never explained that way in another iron man match. Who’s idea was that?

Kurt going to put you on the hotseat. Out of your first 3 matches with Joe - do you agree with Meltzer this is 3rd? Do you think the 1st was the best?

Christian vs. Abyss vs. Sting is the main event after you guys. Do you think it was hard for those 3 to follow after you and Joe in this type of match?

You’re scheduled to take on Christian at the next pay-per-view after he becomes NWA Champion. We’ll cover that next month!

Later on this month we’ll be doing a super Rumble episode with you Kurt! We’re going to be covering Royal Rumble 2000 where you meet Tazz in his WWF debut, Royal Rumble 2001 where you take on Triple H for the WWF Title, and Royal Rumble 2002 with you and Triple H being the last 2 in the Rumble!