Home Blog Page 3095

Hall Back In Rehab: WWE Has Spent Over $100k On Him

16

During an episode of the Live Audio Wrestling (available here) radio show last week, Kevin Nash revealed that longtime friend Scott Hall has once again entered a rehabilitation program to address his ongoing substance abuse issues.

The ESPN E:60 feature on Scott Hall airs this Wednesday night on ESPN and will chronicle “Hall’s descent from wrestling superstar to a broken man battling alcoholism and drug addiction.”

Stephanie McMahon is among the industry insiders that were interviewed for the piece – and she revealed that WWE has spent “six figures” (over $100,000) sending Hall to rehab multiple times.

“It’s the most amount of money we’ve spent on anyone,” McMahon said. “I just want Scott to get help and to decide for himself that he needs help. It makes me sad. I don’t want anybody to pass away prematurely or otherwise really. Scott was an incredibly talented performer, larger than life, charismatic. He’s a father, he’s a friend. I’m sure he means a lot to a lot of people and it would be a shame for him to pass away.”

Hulk Hogan and Cody Rhodes are also interviewed for the piece. Hogan talks about how different the pro wrestling culture was back in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, while WWE Intercontinental champion Cody Rhodes is used as an example of a superstar from today’s generation.

For more on the E:60 episode that will air tomorrow night (including quotes from Hogan and Rhodes), head over to ESPN.com.

Kurt Angle Talks Retirement, ‘Passing The Torch’ & More

13

TNA Champion Kurt Angle appeared on PW 24/7‘s “Sports Axxess” radio and spoke about a number of topics over Bound for Glory weekend. Here are some highlights of what Angle said about;

Training for the Olympics: “I’ve been training for the last six months. The training has gone phenomenally well. I didn’t realize I was going catch on this quickly, but you know it’s like getting on a bicycle and riding again. That’s not to say it didn’t go without any injuries here and there. I’ve hurt my Achilles tendon and my hamstring but I’ve been hanging on tightly and training very hard. I’m on schedule so thank God, I have a very good chance of making the team. A lot of it has to do with me beating a guy named Jake Barter, who is a world silver and bronze medalist. He hasn’t had quite the success I have had when I was there but when I was there I was very young. I was in my mid-twenties and I didn’t have a game plan. Now I’m a lot older and wiser; I look at my training, I look at my game plan, I look at the way I’m going to wrestle. I know I’ll make a lot less mistakes and I know I’ll train more properly. The thing was that I had over-trained in the past. I was training nine or ten hours a day, and at some point it became counterproductive. I think I could have been a much better wrestler if I had done things the right way.”

His Line Of Food Products: “You know, a lot of people have been counting calories, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, but never count fiber. I’m going to say this now: fiber is the best kept secret in the world. It can really make or break your body. Fiber can help you lose fat, body weight, lower cholesterol, blood pressure and sugar. Basically it is the healthiest product on the market. There are a lot of fiber products that are one or two layer fibers. UltraFiber DX from Angle Foods is and eight layer fiber developed by a doctor in Germany. It was intended to help obese and diabetic patients to get off medication and help improve quality and longevity of life. You can purchase it at anglefoods.com. This is what you should be feeding your kids. The powder works as a cooking agent. You can make it into pancakes, pizza and bread dough, and so many other things.”

The Current Direction of Impact Wrestling and “Passing the Torch”: “God willing, we have more wrestling and less talk. I’ve been pushing for that. Sometimes we have people there on the show that don’t wrestle. They take up a lot of the show with only promos. The young guys need to step up and be the guys cutting the promos. It’s kind of a catch 22. We need to realize who we are and we need to fix the problem. The young talent needs the opportunity to shine. I’m one of the top guys in the company and I don’t want to remain there. I don’t know who it will be but I am more than willing to find somebody in the company to hand to torch over to and say ‘hey, you take the lead and I’ll follow you.’ I’m near the end of my career. I’ve got three more years left with TNA Wrestling and then I’m done. I signed that deal with TNA so I can help the company. I want them to compete with WWE. It will take some time, but it will happen.”

Angle also discusses his thoughts on Bobby Roode and why he considers Randy Orton to be one of the top guys in all of professional wrestling. This interview, along with many others, can be heard in its entirety exclusively on PW 24/7 Radio.

Dixie Carter & Bruce Prichard Talk About His New Role In TNA

15

TNA issued a press release on Tuesday formally announcing that Bruce Prichard is the company’s new Senior Vice President of Programming and Talent Relations.

TNA President Dixie Carter said the following about Prichard’s new role in the company:

“TNA is gaining such a wealth of knowledge and insight as we continue to grow our business with the addition of Bruce to our senior management staff.”

“This appointment is another indication to the community that TNA’s Impact Wrestling is gaining ground across all platforms; we are thrilled that Bruce is bringing his knowledge in television production, writing and talent relations to TNA.”

As previously reported, Bruce Prichard took the role of Vince Russo, who now works under Prichard as part of the creative team.

Prichard, best known as “Brother Love” in the WWF and a former high-ranking WWE official and confidant of Vince McMahon,  is also quoted in the press release:

“I am looking forward to working with the exemplary talent both in front of the camera and behind the scenes at TNA. ?There are some exciting new ventures in progress as we speak involving the tremendous roster of current TNA superstars, as well as, development for the TNA superstars of the future.”

“We are expanding our roster and looking for new and adventurous additions to our television product. I welcome the challenge and am invigorated by the endless opportunities this company provides. Our fan base for our brand continues to grow and I am proud to be a part of it.”

To read the full statement from TNA, head on over to IconVision.com.

*Spoiler* Ex-WWE Diva Scheduled For Tonight’s Impact Taping

13

Gail Kim, who recently parted ways with WWE, is scheduled to return to TNA Wrestling at tonight’s Impact Wrestling taping in Orlando.

Kim claimed last week during an interview with SunSport that she expects to return to TNA, but is in no rush.

“Right now I’m on a little hiatus. I told myself I’d take a little break. They didn’t let me quit so I was forced to take a break!

“I’m not retiring from wrestling, I can say that. I always said – I said it in my last interview with TNA on a Knockout’s DVD – that I always felt like I would return there one day. I’d love to finish up my career there.”

Gail Kim has been very outspoken against WWE since deciding to leave the company back August. Gail Kim created a lot of buzz when she eliminated herself during the the divas battle royal on the 8/1 edition of WWE RAW. She later said she tried quitting WWE, but was not immediately granted a release from her contract. Since then, she’s made it clear that she’s done with WWE forever and was open to working for TNA again.

Check Out:

(Source: pwinsider.com)

*Spoiler* Video Of One Of The Sin Caras Unmasked In Mexico

24

Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings featured a Mask vs. Mask match between the two Sin Cara’s.

According to f4wonline.com, after WWE announced the Mask vs. Mask match for Friday’s SmackDown, there was a lot of second guessing as to whether the match should air on television. The match is expected to air – and we’ve got the footage.

Check out this video of Black Sin Cara losing his mask at the tapings:

Kevin Nash Expects To Wrestle Punk, Comments On Promo Duel

20

Chad Dukes of 106.7 The Fan DC’s Lavar Arrington Show with Chad Dukes does a wrestling show (The Chad Dukes Wrestling Show) on Friday nights. Last Friday, Dukes conducted an interview with Kevin Nash; during the interview Nash answered questions on the initial confrontation between himself and Punk, if his health was an obstacle in returning to the WWE and if we would see a reprisal of the Punk/Nash clashes. Here are links to the interview and the entire show. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

On CM Punk/Kevin Nash promo:

Chad Dukes: They had the whole thing with you where they you were being kind of disrespected by him, and they were blurring the lines between what was a shoot and what was a promo…How much…I know you said you didn’t want to work with a script, but did they give you a rough outline of what you to say? Were you okay with everything that was said back to you? Because you’re a guy that did do the things you said; you established a pay scale, you made it so wrestlers could get paid more than they ever had before. You brought that credibility and I felt there was so me disrespect there. How much of that were you okay with and how much of that was actually a shoot?

Nash: Well the thing was I understood what my job was. Going in, my job wasn’t to bury a baby face and come across more witty than he was or anything else. That wasn’t what I was brought in to do. The old Kevin Nash, would at anyone’s cost, would have gotten over. As you get older, and your best friend is very much in charge of the day to day process, and he looks at you and asks you to do something that’s just kind of like ‘Wow, they’ve really got me hog-tied on this one.”

After question on health:

Nash: CM Punk has on the back of his t-shirt “Best in the World.” Ya know? And I said to myself, I said to a bunch of other people ya know, his shirt says best in the world. He’s going to have to prove it if he is going to drag my 52 year old carcass through 14 minutes of a match.

On future of a CM Punk vs. Kevin Nash match:

Chad Dukes: Do you think we’ll get that match with you and Punk? I think a lot of people would still like to see that come to fruition even though he is kind of doing the baby face thing with Hunter right now…You think we’ll ever see that match?

Nash: Absolutely.

TNA Talent Upset With Bobby Roode Not Winning At BFG

29

Fans who were expecting Bobby Roode to have his career-defining moment and win the TNA championship at Bound For Glory were not the only ones dumbfounded and upset after he came up short against Kurt Angle.

As we’ve been reporting this week, original plans called for Roode to win at Bound For Glory. Multiple TNA sources have confirmed to us that Roode was scheduled to win the title as late as Sunday afternoon, when Hulk Hogan reportedly convinced Dixie Carter that Bobby Roode was not ready yet.

As you can imagine, there is said to be a great deal of resentment in the TNA locker room regarding Hulk Hogan squashing Roode’s title win. There is a feeling among several of TNA’s originals that there’s no hope for them to reach their potential in TNA, and they’re wasting their prime years with a company that will never elevate them to the level of the former WWE & WCW stars in the company.

(Partial Source: f4wonelin.com)

Video: Tommy Dreamer New Online Video Show

6

ECW original Tommy Dreamer uveiled the debut episode of his online video show on Monday.

Episode 1 of The Tommy Dreamer TV features a cameo from former WWE star Carlito:

Kurt Angle & Hulk Hogan Talk About The BFG Main Event

19

With Sunday’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view in the books, we’ve got some fallout comments from TNA champion Kurt Angle and Hulk Hogan.

Following his successful TNA title defense against Bobby Roode, Angle tweeted:

“Great Ppv last night.Bobby Roode is one of the Best Wrestlers today! I am Still Going for Olympics. Only taking 1 Week Off 2 heal hamstring!”

Hulk Hogan, who reportedly used his backstage influence to convince Dixie Carter and TNA creative that Bobby Roode wasn’t ready yet to win the TNA world title, got a lot of negative feedback on Twitter regarding the situation. Hogan responded to those comments with –

“cool out it’s just the beginning of something really big brother. HH”

“keep watching you’ll finally figure it out,big plans for the Canadian HH”

“don’t be a mark keep watching you’ll figure it out. HH”

Regarding his own match against Sting, Hulk Hogan wrote:

“For all the ignorant haters that hate that I proved them wrong.bumpin after 8 back surgeries,suck it haters. http://lockerz.com/s/147871221” (That’s a rather graphic picture, so view at your own risk).

Check out this picture

Bret Hart Thinks Survivor Series Matches Are A Waste Of Time

35

Arda Ocal caught up with WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart, who discussed WWE’s upcoming Greatest Rivalries – Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart DVD, his relationship with Earl Hebner following the “Montreal Screwjob,” his time in World Championship Wrestling, and more. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

Where he ranks his time in WCW

“Where would I rank my time in WCW? Right in the toilet. It was a waste of time. There were so few highlights.”

Has Bret made peace with Earl Hebner and thoughts on his “Damn Right I Did” T-shirt referencing the “Montreal Screwjob”

“I don’t have any hard feelings towards Earl, but if I was in his shoes I wouldn’t have done what they did.”

Thoughts on the Survivor Series match format

“In truth I never liked the Survivor Series format, I thought it was a waste of time.”

Hart adds that he prefers the King of the Ring.

The video interview is available here.

Alex Riley Suffers Hip Injury, Bobby Lashley Signs Film Deal

8

— Alex Riley stated on Twitter that he underwent an MRI on his hip today following WWE’s tour of Mexico.

He wrote, “Just got back from Mexico, had MRI on hip today nothin serious will be back at it in a couple of days. In the meantime, Rest, Weight Room, Ice, Stretching, Tape Review, GamePlanning… and Creative Thinking.”

— Former WWE star Bobby Lashley has signed a multi-picture deal with Shawn Cain Films, which includes a role in Josh Turner’s epic reality sequel The Indy Wrestler 2. Shooting begins December 10 in Rosman, North Carolina.

— Former WCW talent Melissa Bellin (a/k/a Nitro Girl Spice) has been added to WrestleReunion, which takes place January 27-29 at the Los Angeles Airport Westin Hotel in Los Angeles, California. She will also be participating in a bikini photo shoot at the event.

Pictures Of Maryse Posing For Sessions Magazine

18

WWE diva Maryse recently did a photo shoot for Sessions Magazine, check out these smokin’ hot pictures of WWE’s French Canadian diva:

RAW Preview: Cena & JR vs. Del Rio & Cole, Orton, Punk, Miz

20

Tonight’s RAW SuperShow was taped on Saturday night, the first-ever RAW taping from Mexico. Here’s a spoiler-free preview for tonight’s show, followed a by a link to spoiler results:

  • Randy Orton, Sheamus & John Morrison vs. Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes & Christian
  • Eve Torres vs. Natalya
  • CM Punk vs. The Miz
  • Zack Ryder vs. Jack Swagger
  • Dolph Ziggler vs. Mason Ryan
  • John Cena and Jim Ross vs. Alberto Del Rio and Michael Cole

*SPOILERS* for Tonight’s WWE RAW SuperShow

Holly To “Talk About Things No One Has Dared To Talk About”

15

Former WWE star Bob “Hardcore” Holly has announced plans for an autobiography, The Hardcore Truth. He promises to share stories no one else will tell.

“My book will be different because it’s about my life pre-WWE days and my perspective of the wrestling business,” Holly told SLAM! Wrestling. “I will talk about things no one has dared to talk about. It will be written in a very unique style thanks to Ross Williams who I’ve chosen to write my story.

“I believe this book will be an interesting and entertaining read. You will definitely want to read this book not only for what I am going to share but the exceptional brilliant style of writing Ross uses when putting words on paper.”

The Hardcore Truth in expected to be released next spring. It will include stories on Cody Rhodes, Undertaker, Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Lawler, Triple H, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, The Rock and Vince McMahon, among others.

More details on the book are available here.

WWE Planning Legends Reality Series For Upcoming Network

29

WWE is asking fans to help name a program starring the craziest, most colorful Legends for their soon to be launched WWE Network.

WWE.com describes the program as “a reality series featuring many of your favorite WWE Legends, all forced to live under one roof. See what happens when the most colorful and combustive personalities in WWE history shack up, break bread, and bruise egos.”

Poll options include:

  • WWE House of Fame
  • WWE Old Timer Acres
  • WWE Retired and Rowdy Roommates
  • WWE Old School Yard
  • WWE Legends House

You can vote online here.

COMMENT BELOW: Which legends do YOU want to see living in a WWE Legends house?!

Heath Slater Suspended For Welness Violation

48

WWE has suspended Heath Slater for 30 days for violating the Wellness Policy. It was his first violation.

The official statement from the WWE website reads:

“In accordance with its Talent Wellness Program, WWE has suspended Heath Miller (Heath Slater) for 30 days effective immediately for his first violation of the company’s policy.”

Hogan Lobbied To Have Finish Changed To TNA Title Match

91

Sunday at Bound for Glory, Bobby Roode failed in his attempt to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship when he was pinned by Kurt Angle, after the referee failed to notice his arm under the ropes or Angle using the ropes for leverage.

TNA had originally planned for Roode to defeat Angle for the belt. Hulk Hogan, however, lobbied to have the finish changed since he felt that the former Team Canada member wasn’t ready for a run with the title.

Between that and his war of words with AJ Styles in the last few days, there was a lot of resentment towards Hogan among the long time employees. Especially since Hogan was criticizing Styles on Twitter when it was known that he had missed Saturday’s Fan Interaction event due to a death in his family.

source: PWInsider.com

Cena Grants Wishes In Mexico, CMLL Stars Get Tryouts & More

0

– While in Mexico this week, John Cena granted several “wishes” for sick children through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

– Several wrestlers from Mexico’s CMLL promotion (we’ve heard as many as 7) received WWE tryouts over the weekend.

– The never-ending season of WWE NXT: Redemption will finally be coming to an end soon.

– As we covered her in the site earlier this month, David Otunga’s wedding to Hollywood star Jennifer Hudson has been put on hold. The National Enquirer has picked up the story – and says the main reason for the couple taking a step backwards is that Otunga refuses a prenuptial agreement. The Enquirer states that Jennifer Hudson is worth around $15 million – which does explain why she is looking to protect her assets before getting married.

– Tommy Dreamer is set to debut some sort of new show this week. Dreamer tweeted on Sunday:

“Spoke to my producer. The show is finished. Tommorrow it will debut. Let the fun begin.”

(Partial Source: f4wonline.com)

Why Roode Didn’t Win, Hogan & Sting Teaming Up, BFG Crowd

33

– In the days leading up to Sunday’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view, Bobby Roode was scheduled to win the TNA World heavyweight title. Despite Kurt Angle being injured and all the hype that went into this being Bobby Roode’s time – Roode got screwed.

Some people are expecting Bobby Roode to win the TNA title in the coming weeks (at the next PPV or on an episode of Impact) – while others think that the company is eager to Jeff Hardy.

– Sting defeated Hulk Hogan by submission at Bound For Glory – and the rivals joined forces after the match to fend off a beatdown from Bully Ray, Ric Flair, Eric Bischoff and others. With Hogan and Sting working together at Bound For Glory, there has been talk of them teaming up together at a future pay-per-view in a match against Ric Flair and a partner.

– TNA had about 2,500 paid fans at Bound For Glory, which is considered a major disappointment. The was heavily “papered” – with many fans receiving free tickets to the event at the last minute to fill up the crowd.

(Source: f4wonline.com)

Details On CM Punk Turning Down a WWE Movie Role

19

CM Punk recently turned down a WWE Studios movie role, according to an interview he gave in Australia last week. This past summer when Punk was considering leaving WWE and negotiating a new contract, Stephanie McMahon offered him the lead role in the movie “No One Lives.”

Punk stated that Stephanie thought he was perfect for one of the characters, described as a “30-something scumbag with dirtbag good looks and soulless eyes.” Punk said he considered the role, but decided to pass on it because he thought he might be finishing with WWE at the time.

As previously reported, WWE is very high on CM Punk at the moment and has big plans to get behind him later this year. Aside from his character getting a big push on television (and a rumored WWE title run), WWE is looking to introduce lots of new CM Punk merchandise and feature him in a WWE Studios project at some point.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Sound Off 185: Hulk Hogan Wrestled PRIDE Fighters In Japan?

2
solomonster
Solomonster Sounds Off

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST HERE:
Solomonster Sounds Off (Episode 185)

*right-click, “Save As”, or stream it!

Est. Runtime: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Solomonster is back with a 90-minute Sound Off and some additional comments on WWE’s sorry excuse for a TV show last Monday, an amazing job posting, a new creative hire for TNA (it’s not as exciting as you may think), Hulk Hogan buries Bobby Roode and a rant about his love for Jailbird Hardy, an impressive ROH TV debut for Tomasso Ciampa and a review of Paul Bearer’s HITS FROM THE CRYPT from WWE Classics! All that plus a mailbag and really, what more could you ask for?

Want your question on the air? Send feedback to [email protected].

Wanna subscribe to the Sound Off via iTunes? CLICK HERE!

Visit The Solomonster on Twitter @ twitter.com/solomonster

Friend The Solomonster on Facebook @ facebook.com/thesolomonster

Creative Commons License
Solomonster Sounds Off by The Solomonster is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

*Spoilers* Updated Card For WWE Vengeance

31
WWE Vengeance

Following WWE’s RAW and SmackDown tapings from Mexico City over the weekend, there have been several changes made to the card for Vengeance. The previously scheduled tag team title match with Air Boom vs. Ziggler & Swagger has apparently been scrapped, with Dolph Ziggler now set to defend the United States title against Zack Ryder. Teddy Long also announced Sheamus will wrestle Christian.

With those matches set, here’s the updated card for WWE Vengeance on Sunday, October 23rd:

Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Title
John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio

World Heavyweight Title Match
Big Show vs. Mark Henry

CM Punk and Triple H vs. The Miz and R-Truth

WWE United States Title Match
Zack Ryder vs. Dolph Ziggler

WWE Divas Title Match
Eve Torres vs. Beth Phoenix

Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton

Sheamus vs. Christian

Picture Of The Small Crowd At Bound For Glory

60

TNA held its biggest show of the year on Sunday night from Philadelphia, Bound For Glory. For the fans who saw the show on pay-per-view, it appeared TNA did a pretty good job filling up the Liacouras Center on the grounds of Temple University, which seats around 10,000 fans at full capacity. Chalk it up to TNA positioning the fans who bought tickets on the “hard camera” side of the arena – because we received word from several in attendance that the arena was mostly empty. This image has surfaced online, which gives you a better idea about how TNA did selling out Bound for Glory 2011:

Christina Von Eerie’s Name Revealed, Sarita Has Mask Removed

5

During Sunday’s Bound for Glory pre-show, the female (Christina Von Eerie) who aided Ink Inc. in their skirmish against Mexican America on Thursday’s episode of IMPACT Wrestling was referred by the announcers as Toxine.

She accompanied Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore, where they unsuccessfully challenged Mexican America for the TNA World Tag Team Championship.

Near the bout’s conclusion, the alternative Knockout came to grips with Sarita after she attempted to interfere on Mexican America’s behalf and ripped her protective mask off. The Canadian native appeared the same as before her recent health scare.

Sarita resumed competing without the protective mask over a month ago in Mexico after announcing on July 8 that she had been stricken with facial paralysis. TNA’s storyline explanation for the Mexican America star suddenly donning a protective mask on the July 14 episode of IMPACT Wrestling was that she had broken her orbital bone and jaw during a parking lot brawl with Miss Tessmacher and Tara.

Kurt Angle Reveals When He Will Retire From Wrestling

9

“Sports Axxess” on PW 24/7
Hosts: Jerry Sorrentino, James Jefferson, and Joey Image
Full episode available at http://www.pw247radio.com/

Kurt Angle on his return to collegiate Olympic wrestling:
“I’ve been training for the last six months. The training has gone phenomenally well. I didn’t realize I was going catch on this quickly, but you know it’s like getting on a bicycle and riding again. That’s not to say it didn’t go without any injuries here and there. I’ve hurt my Achilles tendon and my hamstring but I’ve been hanging on tightly and training very hard. I’m on schedule so thank God, I have a very good chance of making the team. A lot of it has to do with me beating a guy named Jake Barter, who is a world silver and bronze medalist. He hasn’t had quite the success I have had when I was there but when I was there I was very young. I was in my mid-twenties and I didn’t have a game plan. Now I’m a lot older and wiser; I look at my training, I look at my game plan, I look at the way I’m going to wrestle. I know I’ll make a lot less mistakes and I know I’ll train more properly. The thing was that I had over-trained in the past. I was training nine or ten hours a day, and at some point it became counterproductive. I think I could have been a much better wrestler if I had done things the right way.”

On his line of food products:
“You know, a lot of people have been counting calories, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, but never count fiber. I’m going to say this now: fiber is the best kept secret in the world. It can really make or break your body. Fiber can help you lose fat, body weight, lower cholesterol, blood pressure and sugar. Basically it is the healthiest product on the market. There are a lot of fiber products that are one or two layer fibers. UltraFiber DX from Angle Foods is and eight layer fiber developed by a doctor in Germany. It was intended to help obese and diabetic patients to get off medication and help improve quality and longevity of life. You can purchase it at anglefoods.com. This is what you should be feeding your kids. The powder works as a cooking agent. You can make it into pancakes, pizza and bread dough, and so many other things.”

On the current direction of Impact Wrestling and “passing the torch”:
“God willing, we have more wrestling and less talk. I’ve been pushing for that. Sometimes we have people there on the show that don’t wrestle. They take up a lot of the show with only promos. The young guys need to step up and be the guys cutting the promos. It’s kind of a catch 22. We need to realize who we are and we need to fix the problem. The young talent needs the opportunity to shine. I’m one of the top guys in the company and I don’t want to remain there. I don’t know who it will be but I am more than willing to find somebody in the company to hand to torch over to and say ‘hey, you take the lead and I’ll follow you.’

“I’m near the end of my career. I’ve got three more years left with TNA Wrestling and then I’m done. I signed that deal with TNA so I can help the company. I want them to compete with WWE. It will take some time, but it will happen.”

In the remainder of this 20 minute interview, Kurt Angle also discusses his thoughts on Bobby Roode and why he considers Randy Orton to be one of the top guys in all of professional wrestling. This interview, along with many others, can be heard in its entirety exclusively on PW 24/7 Radio.