Kurt Angle Discusses Chris Benoit, TNA vs. WWE, Lack of Main Event Stars

Current TNA and former WWE Superstar Kurt Angle spoke with F4WOnline.com earlier this week to discuss a multitude of topics regarding the professional wrestling industry. Below are a few of the highlights.

During the interview, Angle was asked who he felt he had the best chemistry with in the ring. Angle noted Chris Benoit as that man.

“Well ya know a lot of people don’t get to see many of them. I wish I could’ve had a little more with Shawn Michaels. We had an amazing chemistry but we only had a few matches.  The one I really, really meshed with very well was Chris Benoit. It’s hard for me to say that but it’s the truth. We were so equally matched with the intensity and the moves that we had and just our abilities, it was a downright war every time we wrestled.  If you watch those matches, especially the match in Boston from Royal Rumble in 2003 there was maybe one punch the whole match. it was wrestling and submission trade off.  That’s how you tell a story.  When you can do that and you’re not running the ropes the whole time and throwing punches and doing high spots and you can wrestle in the middle of the ring and you have the fans in the palm of your hands that is magic. That’s what makes wrestling so great. When you can do that you know you’re one of the best.”

Many will remember Angle for his time in WWE, but in Angle’s mind, that’s not where he has left his legacy.

“What I would label myself? You know you always go back to where you started.  I don’t think you can label Sting as a TNA guy. He’s a WCW guy and even Sting in WWE now will always be remembered as a WCW guy.  So I can’t say I’m a TNA guy obviously. WWE is where I started and Vince McMahon made me who I am and gave me the opportunity but I’ve had a better career in TNA. Now a lot of WWE fans might not believe that or they may have never seen me wrestle in TNA but the matches I’ve had in TNA were actually better than the matches I had in WWE. That’s a hard thing to say, but the matches I’ve had with Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and the different matches with different wrestlers like Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Desmond Wolf, Mr. Anderson, and Bobby Roode. I would say I was probably more consistent in TNA although I was always known to have the best matches and be a very consistent wrestler in WWE. I think it’s because the older I got the more I improved, the more I mastered the craft, the more I was able to let myself do what I do and have more confidence. The reason the second part of my career was better than the first was because of that.”

Angle also said it was a downtime in professional wrestling because there were not enough main eventers in place, but thinks that could change.

“Well ya know I think that we are at a time now where we need to go back. Let’s just say the WWE Attitude Era – what made it so successful? There were so many great wrestlers that were at the top. Stone Cold, the Rock, Undertaker, HHH, Kane, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, nobody was banking on one wrestler. For instance, Hulk Hogan in the late 80’s it was just Hulk Hogan. John Cena for the past 6, 7 years, it was just John Cena, I believe that the reason they had so much success is they didn’t bank on one wrestler. They had so many great wrestlers and they all shared time in the main events.  That’s what we need to do in pro wrestling.  To make it better, to add so more flavor to it, so it’s not the same person all the time.  I think both companies are on the right track, for WWE and TNA I think you are gonna see a lot more improvement in the future.”

The rest of the interview can be found here.

Editor’s Note

Good stuff here from Angle. His Benoit matches are truly on another level. Absolutely amazing stuff.

Follow @JonAlbaSFC