2017 WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle has enjoyed being part of the WWE system again, but it might be his meeting with WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon recently that truly made the return to WWE special for him. Kurt Angle had a huge career in WWE, as the company wanted to use him to the best of his abilities as soon as they possibly could. He won just about every title a man could win in WWE when he was with the company for several years.
Being the only Olympic Gold Medalist to work for WWE, they knew Angle had a raw skill that, if harnessed, could make him into something special. When he first came into WWE, he quickly won both the WWE European and Intercontinental Championships, making him one of the first people to hold both at the same time. He would eventually win WWE Tag Team gold and, of course, both the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships.
He had an amazing career in WWE that could rival just about anyone’s in the history of the company. It may not have been as long as others were, but what he did during that time was impressive. However, back in 2006, Kurt Angle needed to take some time away and went to talk with Vince McMahon about doing just that. Angle had been going through a tough time with the schedule. Of course, he was the company’s top guy, and that led to McMahon signing him to a six-year deal.
However, it was shortly after this deal was signed that Angle realized he needed time off. However, McMahon didn’t think he could do that. This was especially true at a time when they were still trying to build up various wrestlers like John Cena, Randy Orton, and Batista, among a slew of others. McMahon would end up giving Kurt Angle his full release from the WWE, which he thought would be fine at the time as there was no competition for him to jump to in 2006.
However, Kurt Angle would eye a jump to TNA Wrestling, which was trying to secure a TV deal with Spike TV at the time. With Angle, they had more than enough firepower to make the push to put TNA on Spike TV. Angle stayed 10 years with the company, and he never really had any contact with McMahon during that time. When Kurt Angle was notified that he would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, he knew he would need to meet up with Vince again.
Angle spoke about his encounter with his former boss during a Reddit AMA recently.
“I love Vince. It was great to see him last week. I finally got to see him after eleven years. It was like we picked up right where we left off before the horrible meeting I had with him back in 2006. Vince was always great to me. He treated me very well. He went above and beyond for me in many ways. He tried to help me in so many ways. He even tried to check me into rehab when I quit in 2006.
“Talking to Vince again, I just had to tell him why I was so angry, why I was lashing out at him and the company back then. It was just, when you’re knee deep in addiction, you always blame others for everything that’s going on. So I apologized to him and he didn’t even let me finish apologizing. He just hugged me.”
Kurt Angle would go on to talk about Vince and certain things that might be overlooked regarding the WWE Chairman.
“Vince is a really loving individual. He always will be. There are a lot of things. I believe he needs to have filters around his life. He’s not gullible because he’s very intelligent, very smart. But, he also likes to please people and make them feel special. You don’t want people to take advantage of him around him all the time because they can take his, like I said he’s not gullible and he’s not dumb, he just, once he’s emotionally invested in you, he’s such a good guy. I really believe he needs people around him to filter out the people that have bad intentions because Vince is a good guy.
“He’ll try to make you happy and give you what you want. He’s not one of those people that play hardball. He just is a guy that will talk at your level, even though he’s more sophisticated, smarter and more intelligent. He doesn’t talk to people like he is above them. He talks at their level. That is why he is always able to communicate with anybody.”
It would certainly be emotional for anyone to meet the man who gave them a shot in wrestling and who would end up letting them go to pursue something else and still allow them to come back home. The fact that Kurt Angle couldn’t get out what he wanted to say to the WWE boss he knew for so long before he hugged him just shows that Vince McMahon does appreciate and care about his talent. He may not show it all the time, but this shows it if nothing else.
It is rumored that the WWE Hall of Fame is not the only thing Kurt Angle will be doing with the company this year. Various reports, most notably out of PWInsider , claim that Angle could be taking over for Mick Foley at the WWE RAW general manager. Foley has to have surgery, so he’ll need to be written off, and Kurt Angle would be an excellent replacement for the hardcore legend. It’ll definitely be interesting to have Angle back in WWE.
[Featured Image by WWE]