Marc the Smark
06-27-2005, 03:02 PM
The Miami Herald recently conducted an interview with Kurt Angle where Angle goes into detail about some very interesting things regarding his trade to RAW, what the guys are like on that brand, why he would rather watch Rey Mysterio instead of Triple H vs. Batista and wanting a new character change.
In regards to his jump to RAW, Angle noted that he wasn't told until the night of the ECW One Night Stand PPV. "Afterward Vince came to me, which meant I had 24 hours to be prepared to go to Raw. He told me I was going to stay there in New York and fly out to a different city. They were going to drive me into Rochester and put me in a hotel room under a different name. He kept it really secret. It was just amazing how secretive he was being about the trade." Angle also talked about how he was spotted by a fan earlier that night in a convenience store. "When I walked in, there was a fan saying, `Hey Angle, what are you doing? You're getting traded.' I said, 'No. I have an appearance up here. Then we're going up to Hershey. We have a show in Hershey tomorrow.' He's like, 'Yeah, right.' I said, `No. I'm serious.' Here is this guy two hours away from the city where we're in. He was going to the show that night, and I finally talked him into believing me. I thought, `Jeez. I better not get out of the limo again."
Angle also went into detail about his jump to RAW that night. "I went into the hotel, and they kept me there until 9:30 at night. They came and got me -- put me in Vince's office till five minutes to 11. None of the wrestlers from Raw knew. I came in with a cape over my head. Finally I was exposed right when I came out." He later discussed how the guys he worked with on SmackDown were more like a family, while the guys on RAW have a "competitive edge" and are "scraping, fighting and clawing their way to the top while they're trying to keep everyone else down." Angle also talks about how RAW was always considered the A show for WWE, while SmackDown was considered the B show with many talent jumping to RAW when they were originally put on SmackDown. "Everybody would call us the B show, and it really ticked us off. We were proving that we weren't the B show by our performance. When you have Rey Mysterio versus Kurt Angle, I'm sorry to say, but I'd rather see that match than Triple H versus Batista. I'm just being honest with you from a fan's perspective. You're going to get a lot more action and a lot more excitement."
Towards the end of the interview, Angle discusses how he considers his jump to RAW a "fresh beginning" and how he is getting a chance to work with new guys and get away from the label he had on SmackDown where he was plagued with neck injuries and never given a "shot at the title" because of it. "Hopefully Vince's plans are for me to carry that [world] title. It gives me an opportunity to prove to Vince that I've been injury free the last year. I no longer have to worry about my neck. Before he did, therefore he wouldn't give me anymore title shots." He said one of his main goals on RAW is to perfect his image and erase his previous persona on SmackDown as a "crazed predator" after Booker T's wife. "I didn't necessarily enjoy what I was doing the last couple of months. I didn't like the perverted things. It didn't work for me," Angle said. "Although a lot of people thought I was very good at it, I didn't really enjoy playing the part. What I really think I need to do is take that next step. It took nine years for Stone Cold Steve Austin to decide what worked for him. I've only been doing it five." In staying with the topic, Angle notes that he wouldn't mind a character change. "What I would like to do now is get rid of the red, white and blue to have a little more edge to me. It's not like I want to be like Stone Cold or Triple H. I just want to be the real me. I enjoy doing the funny stuff. I enjoy doing what Vince McMahon likes me to do, but I also enjoy being the top guy and making money for the company and for myself."
Credit: Joey Styles @ 1wrestling.com
In regards to his jump to RAW, Angle noted that he wasn't told until the night of the ECW One Night Stand PPV. "Afterward Vince came to me, which meant I had 24 hours to be prepared to go to Raw. He told me I was going to stay there in New York and fly out to a different city. They were going to drive me into Rochester and put me in a hotel room under a different name. He kept it really secret. It was just amazing how secretive he was being about the trade." Angle also talked about how he was spotted by a fan earlier that night in a convenience store. "When I walked in, there was a fan saying, `Hey Angle, what are you doing? You're getting traded.' I said, 'No. I have an appearance up here. Then we're going up to Hershey. We have a show in Hershey tomorrow.' He's like, 'Yeah, right.' I said, `No. I'm serious.' Here is this guy two hours away from the city where we're in. He was going to the show that night, and I finally talked him into believing me. I thought, `Jeez. I better not get out of the limo again."
Angle also went into detail about his jump to RAW that night. "I went into the hotel, and they kept me there until 9:30 at night. They came and got me -- put me in Vince's office till five minutes to 11. None of the wrestlers from Raw knew. I came in with a cape over my head. Finally I was exposed right when I came out." He later discussed how the guys he worked with on SmackDown were more like a family, while the guys on RAW have a "competitive edge" and are "scraping, fighting and clawing their way to the top while they're trying to keep everyone else down." Angle also talks about how RAW was always considered the A show for WWE, while SmackDown was considered the B show with many talent jumping to RAW when they were originally put on SmackDown. "Everybody would call us the B show, and it really ticked us off. We were proving that we weren't the B show by our performance. When you have Rey Mysterio versus Kurt Angle, I'm sorry to say, but I'd rather see that match than Triple H versus Batista. I'm just being honest with you from a fan's perspective. You're going to get a lot more action and a lot more excitement."
Towards the end of the interview, Angle discusses how he considers his jump to RAW a "fresh beginning" and how he is getting a chance to work with new guys and get away from the label he had on SmackDown where he was plagued with neck injuries and never given a "shot at the title" because of it. "Hopefully Vince's plans are for me to carry that [world] title. It gives me an opportunity to prove to Vince that I've been injury free the last year. I no longer have to worry about my neck. Before he did, therefore he wouldn't give me anymore title shots." He said one of his main goals on RAW is to perfect his image and erase his previous persona on SmackDown as a "crazed predator" after Booker T's wife. "I didn't necessarily enjoy what I was doing the last couple of months. I didn't like the perverted things. It didn't work for me," Angle said. "Although a lot of people thought I was very good at it, I didn't really enjoy playing the part. What I really think I need to do is take that next step. It took nine years for Stone Cold Steve Austin to decide what worked for him. I've only been doing it five." In staying with the topic, Angle notes that he wouldn't mind a character change. "What I would like to do now is get rid of the red, white and blue to have a little more edge to me. It's not like I want to be like Stone Cold or Triple H. I just want to be the real me. I enjoy doing the funny stuff. I enjoy doing what Vince McMahon likes me to do, but I also enjoy being the top guy and making money for the company and for myself."
Credit: Joey Styles @ 1wrestling.com