Post by Pennyroyal_Tea (admin) on Mar 29, 2005 11:14:27 GMT -5
A taped interviewed with Kurt Angle done on Live Audio Wrestling cut down in two parts. Here is the recap.
Part 1
How is his health these days?
He says he’s felt better now than he has in two years. He says the fans and Vince McMahon had lot some faith in him, but with the way he’s been lately, as well as wrestling lately, both are starting to get behind him again. He says whether he’s been a good guy or a bad guy, he has a reputation of putting on good matches and that’s what going to happen at Wrestlemania. That’s what happened at No Way Out. He had one of his greatest matches of his career.
When Vince McMahon lost faith in him, was it because he thought his body was shutting down on him in that sense?
It was one of those things where he won’t put him in a position to win the title. He said he won’t be put in many title matches, because Vince doesn’t want to have a champion who will be liable to get injured. Kurt understood that as he feels you don’t want to have someone with neck problems being champion, who could go out with an injury at any moment. So that was how Vince looked at him for a while, but now he has seen that Angle’s body is durable enough and he’s wrestling smart enough to stay healthy as long as he wants to. He plans on wrestling another 3-5 years. Vince has seen that he has stepped it up a notch a bit and is the old Kurt Angle again.
What are his thoughts on Brock Lesnar?
He says he was disappointed. He says Brock was one of his best friends when he was there. He says he worked his tail off too, and considers him one of the “baddest dudes” on the planet. He used to wrestle around with him and never seen a man as strong, fast and quick as him. He would like to have Brock back, but says he made a big mistake. He left them high and dry when Angle got hurt, when Big Show got hurt. He left and Smackdown was in jeopardy. He says thank God that Eddie, JBL, Rey and all of the others got together and pulled together and kept Smackdown going. But it was a crucial time, and someone like that you can’t rely on. He says if he came back looking for a job, Angle would be hesitant to take him back, just like Vince is. He says they can’t really make a deal, but he feels Brock should go to Vince and say “Whatever you want me to do, I will do”. But that’s not happening, so Vince obviously is not hiring him. Angle says he is disappointed in Brock’s behavior. He said if he himself had quit, he would probably go back to Vince and say “I’ll do whatever you want, whatever it takes.” He said when he first got to the WWE, he was an Olympic gold medalist and should have signed a huge deal, but he didn’t. Vince offered him the lowest amount possible. Angle said “give it to me because I am gonna prove that I am the best you are ever gonna have.” He thinks Brock should have that same attitude.
Part 2
What are his thoughts on Daniel Puder and the whole Tough Enough segment situation?
He says he’s not supposed to talk about it, but two years ago, it would have taken him 15 seconds to take Puder out. Since then, he had problems with his neck, has 30% strength in his left arm, about 50% strength in his left arm. He can’t feel his left fingers. He has tingling in his right hand. He has a lot of problems stemming from his neck. (Its funny him saying that since he was saying he’s doing a lot better in the first part). He says here’s an average 23 year old that gets to be in the ring with him, and an old-timer Olympic champion who would probably embarrass the kid in 15 seconds if he didn’t have neck problems. Basically, how he did with Brock Lesnar when he first started out in the ring, he threw Puder around like a rag doll. What happened was Puder got him in a key lock. (?) Angle took him down and counted him out just because he was stupid enough to stay on his back. He says rumor had it that he was going to tap out. He says he never was going to tap out, because he didn’t have it on strong enough. He says he wouldn’t have been able to get it on him if he was healthy enough. He says Vince and he sat down and he asked him if he was okay. He replied that he was asking someone who’s had three neck surgeries to go against a shoot fighter. He said two years ago, he would have no problem and that he would have annihilated him, but he is not that unstoppable human being that he used to be. He went from being inhuman to being human. At one time, he believed he was the “baddest dude on the planet”. But now, he is going to have his good days and his bad days and that day was one of his bad days.
Was it irresponsible of WWE to put him in the ring with a shooter, considering his health and injuries?
He doesn’t blame Vince or the WWE. What happened is it all backfired. Vince asked him if he wanted to do it and he said “why not? Let’s have some fun.” What was supposed to happen was seven guys were going to get so tired that they couldn’t stand. He says these guys were in bad shape, that when they had them do exercises before the show, they died in 11 minutes. So they said “okay, don’t let them do anymore.” Then they had an hour’s rest and ate as much as they could. He says basically, it was a rib on the Tough Enough guys. They were going to wrestle an Olympic champion that they were going to be overly tired, their stomachs were going to be full, they weren’t gonna be able to do anything. It was going to be a big joke. He wasn’t going to hurt these kids, just throw them around, and teach them a lesson. It backfired. All of them got tired; they fell on their backs in 11 minutes. He said when he was wrestling, he didn’t get tired for 3 hours. So they didn’t make them do anything else. So when he got to the ring later, they made them do some competition. He calls it the “jump-squat things”. Whoever won, he would go with him first and that person was tired. He pinned him within three minutes and in that time, Puder recovered and wanted to go. He says it wasn’t like here was this kid who was tired and eaten too much. He does say that Puder wouldn’t eat so he jokes that he cheated. He says that he hasn’t done an interview before covering this subject, but everyone has been talking about how Puder is one tough kid. Angle doesn’t think he is. He went against a guy who just came back from neck surgery, who would have kicked his ass. He says he didn’t say a word to Puder, but he talked to him afterward. He says he didn’t talk about this before, but in the match with the first kid, he got him in a choke hold and ran him forward on his back, and when he did that, Angle landed on his head, and so both his arms went numb. So he got up and he was now in trouble. Vince had wanted him to go through all seven guys. But after that had happened, Angle thought let the shooter go second and let’s get it over with. So they both got in there, and Angle couldn’t do anything because his arms were dead. So he got him in that lock. Angle says he would have taken him down and out, but Ultimate fighters like to use the cage to their advantage. When Angle jacked him in the air and lifted him up, Puder got himself to the ropes, and had his back against the ropes, and when Angle relaxed, that’s when he got the key lock on him. He calls it a cheap move, but that it worked. From there, Angle lifted him up and rammed him to the mat, and Puder had the key lock on. Angle had his knees in place so that he couldn’t crank it further than he already had it. Angle waited and when the time was right, he tilted him up, and the ref counted Puder out. He says he then heard that he was broken down, and Puder was a tough guy. He read people calling him a cry-baby and he can’t stand that Puder made him tap, which he didn’t. He says that cracks him up. He says with the way Puder’s behaving, it’s going to be a long road for him in the WWE. If he did quote all those things, he is going to find out really quick that he isn’t really tough. He says there are guys in the locker room that don’t appreciate that behaviour. He says what Puder should have done was in interviews to show him some respect because Angle believes that he is one of the tough guys in the company and that he could have won any shoot competition. He says he is very effective and can still work. He says you saw what happened at the Royal Rumble, they beat him up and threw him over the top rope. He believes that they did it to teach him a lesson, not to be so arrogant.
Credit: pwinsider.com
Part 1
How is his health these days?
He says he’s felt better now than he has in two years. He says the fans and Vince McMahon had lot some faith in him, but with the way he’s been lately, as well as wrestling lately, both are starting to get behind him again. He says whether he’s been a good guy or a bad guy, he has a reputation of putting on good matches and that’s what going to happen at Wrestlemania. That’s what happened at No Way Out. He had one of his greatest matches of his career.
When Vince McMahon lost faith in him, was it because he thought his body was shutting down on him in that sense?
It was one of those things where he won’t put him in a position to win the title. He said he won’t be put in many title matches, because Vince doesn’t want to have a champion who will be liable to get injured. Kurt understood that as he feels you don’t want to have someone with neck problems being champion, who could go out with an injury at any moment. So that was how Vince looked at him for a while, but now he has seen that Angle’s body is durable enough and he’s wrestling smart enough to stay healthy as long as he wants to. He plans on wrestling another 3-5 years. Vince has seen that he has stepped it up a notch a bit and is the old Kurt Angle again.
What are his thoughts on Brock Lesnar?
He says he was disappointed. He says Brock was one of his best friends when he was there. He says he worked his tail off too, and considers him one of the “baddest dudes” on the planet. He used to wrestle around with him and never seen a man as strong, fast and quick as him. He would like to have Brock back, but says he made a big mistake. He left them high and dry when Angle got hurt, when Big Show got hurt. He left and Smackdown was in jeopardy. He says thank God that Eddie, JBL, Rey and all of the others got together and pulled together and kept Smackdown going. But it was a crucial time, and someone like that you can’t rely on. He says if he came back looking for a job, Angle would be hesitant to take him back, just like Vince is. He says they can’t really make a deal, but he feels Brock should go to Vince and say “Whatever you want me to do, I will do”. But that’s not happening, so Vince obviously is not hiring him. Angle says he is disappointed in Brock’s behavior. He said if he himself had quit, he would probably go back to Vince and say “I’ll do whatever you want, whatever it takes.” He said when he first got to the WWE, he was an Olympic gold medalist and should have signed a huge deal, but he didn’t. Vince offered him the lowest amount possible. Angle said “give it to me because I am gonna prove that I am the best you are ever gonna have.” He thinks Brock should have that same attitude.
Part 2
What are his thoughts on Daniel Puder and the whole Tough Enough segment situation?
He says he’s not supposed to talk about it, but two years ago, it would have taken him 15 seconds to take Puder out. Since then, he had problems with his neck, has 30% strength in his left arm, about 50% strength in his left arm. He can’t feel his left fingers. He has tingling in his right hand. He has a lot of problems stemming from his neck. (Its funny him saying that since he was saying he’s doing a lot better in the first part). He says here’s an average 23 year old that gets to be in the ring with him, and an old-timer Olympic champion who would probably embarrass the kid in 15 seconds if he didn’t have neck problems. Basically, how he did with Brock Lesnar when he first started out in the ring, he threw Puder around like a rag doll. What happened was Puder got him in a key lock. (?) Angle took him down and counted him out just because he was stupid enough to stay on his back. He says rumor had it that he was going to tap out. He says he never was going to tap out, because he didn’t have it on strong enough. He says he wouldn’t have been able to get it on him if he was healthy enough. He says Vince and he sat down and he asked him if he was okay. He replied that he was asking someone who’s had three neck surgeries to go against a shoot fighter. He said two years ago, he would have no problem and that he would have annihilated him, but he is not that unstoppable human being that he used to be. He went from being inhuman to being human. At one time, he believed he was the “baddest dude on the planet”. But now, he is going to have his good days and his bad days and that day was one of his bad days.
Was it irresponsible of WWE to put him in the ring with a shooter, considering his health and injuries?
He doesn’t blame Vince or the WWE. What happened is it all backfired. Vince asked him if he wanted to do it and he said “why not? Let’s have some fun.” What was supposed to happen was seven guys were going to get so tired that they couldn’t stand. He says these guys were in bad shape, that when they had them do exercises before the show, they died in 11 minutes. So they said “okay, don’t let them do anymore.” Then they had an hour’s rest and ate as much as they could. He says basically, it was a rib on the Tough Enough guys. They were going to wrestle an Olympic champion that they were going to be overly tired, their stomachs were going to be full, they weren’t gonna be able to do anything. It was going to be a big joke. He wasn’t going to hurt these kids, just throw them around, and teach them a lesson. It backfired. All of them got tired; they fell on their backs in 11 minutes. He said when he was wrestling, he didn’t get tired for 3 hours. So they didn’t make them do anything else. So when he got to the ring later, they made them do some competition. He calls it the “jump-squat things”. Whoever won, he would go with him first and that person was tired. He pinned him within three minutes and in that time, Puder recovered and wanted to go. He says it wasn’t like here was this kid who was tired and eaten too much. He does say that Puder wouldn’t eat so he jokes that he cheated. He says that he hasn’t done an interview before covering this subject, but everyone has been talking about how Puder is one tough kid. Angle doesn’t think he is. He went against a guy who just came back from neck surgery, who would have kicked his ass. He says he didn’t say a word to Puder, but he talked to him afterward. He says he didn’t talk about this before, but in the match with the first kid, he got him in a choke hold and ran him forward on his back, and when he did that, Angle landed on his head, and so both his arms went numb. So he got up and he was now in trouble. Vince had wanted him to go through all seven guys. But after that had happened, Angle thought let the shooter go second and let’s get it over with. So they both got in there, and Angle couldn’t do anything because his arms were dead. So he got him in that lock. Angle says he would have taken him down and out, but Ultimate fighters like to use the cage to their advantage. When Angle jacked him in the air and lifted him up, Puder got himself to the ropes, and had his back against the ropes, and when Angle relaxed, that’s when he got the key lock on him. He calls it a cheap move, but that it worked. From there, Angle lifted him up and rammed him to the mat, and Puder had the key lock on. Angle had his knees in place so that he couldn’t crank it further than he already had it. Angle waited and when the time was right, he tilted him up, and the ref counted Puder out. He says he then heard that he was broken down, and Puder was a tough guy. He read people calling him a cry-baby and he can’t stand that Puder made him tap, which he didn’t. He says that cracks him up. He says with the way Puder’s behaving, it’s going to be a long road for him in the WWE. If he did quote all those things, he is going to find out really quick that he isn’t really tough. He says there are guys in the locker room that don’t appreciate that behaviour. He says what Puder should have done was in interviews to show him some respect because Angle believes that he is one of the tough guys in the company and that he could have won any shoot competition. He says he is very effective and can still work. He says you saw what happened at the Royal Rumble, they beat him up and threw him over the top rope. He believes that they did it to teach him a lesson, not to be so arrogant.
Credit: pwinsider.com