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Kurt Angle thinks his run in TNA is underappreciated by fans.
The WWE Hall of Famer is widely known for his work in the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression Eras in the WWE. His matches against the likes of The Rock, Steve Austin and Brock Lesnar have gone down in history, but he had a whole other career after leaving the company in 2006. After that, Kurt Angle joined TNA. He enjoyed a decade of success in the promotion, winning multiple titles and wrestling icons like Sting, AJ Styles and Samoa Joe.
Speaking with Bill Pritchard of WrestleZone, Kurt Angle mentioned that he wishes his TNA run was brought up more in conversation when discussing his career. The Olympic Gold Medalist noted that he spent 11 years with TNA and it was where he truly mastered his craft.
“I always get, ‘Kurt Angle would have been the best of all time if he would have stuck in the WWE and wrestled there for 20 years.’ That may be true but what’s the difference? I wrestled in TNA for 11 of my 20 years. And I think that should be added on. I had a better career in TNA. I was wrestling guys like, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Sting. And I had a lot better career In TNA because I came into my own. When you are a professional wrestler, it takes you about six or seven years to really master your craft. That’s when I left WWE, after six years.
“I went to TNA and I was a man on a mission there. And I just did incredibly well there. And I do not get enough accolades for it. I know a lot of people consider me one of the best of all times now, regardless of my TNA career. But, that career gets a little bit stifled. That really bothers me a little bit. I was really really that good. I had an incredible career. Don’t get me wrong. The WWE career was great too.”
Kurt Angle On His 2017 WWE Return & Retirement
Angle clarified that although he returned to WWE in 2017, he doesn’t truly consider that a second run. He wanted to retire against John Cena on his own terms, but Vince McMahon wouldn’t allow that.
Now, me coming back to WWE in 2017, I don’t even count that because by then, I lost a step, I wasn’t the same person. And the reason why I retired early is because I looked at myself on television and I was like, ‘This just looks like an old man wrestling.’ And I didn’t like what I saw. So, I went to Vince and said, ‘I want to retire this WrestleMania.’ And that was when he gave me Baron Corbin. I asked for John Cena. And Vince said, ‘Well, we will give you him next year.’ And I said, ‘I’m not waiting a year. We got to do it now.’ And he said, ‘Well, you have a storyline with Baron, you got to stick with it.’ I said, ‘Okay. That’s fine,’” Kurt Angle said.
Angle also said he was happy to work with Baron Corbin, but feels like WWE didn’t do enough with Corbin after beating him.
Read More: Baron Corbin Wishes He Could’ve Done More To Make Kurt Angle’s Last Match Worth It To Him
Learn more about Kurt Angle and USA Wrestling’s fundraising efforts here.
