WWE News: Kurt Angle Talks Roman Reigns Being Pushed Too Fast, And A Possible Heel Debut

Kurt Angle recently returned to the WWE after spending a decade with TNA Wrestling and now he is in the WWE Hall of Fame, but he is not going to just play dumb. He has laid out how he feels about Roman Reigns and even a plan Vince McMahon had in his debut. Kurt Angle spoke with WWE after he won his Olympic gold in Atlanta. A contract did not come in his first meeting with Vince McMahon, as the two could not come to an agreement.

Quickly, Angle saw the potential he could have as a pro-wrestler and decided to give it another shot. He eventually debuted for the WWE in 1998 after having very little training in the world of pro-wrestling. Angle picked things up quick, most likely due to his amateur wrestling experience. When you’re a gold medalist in the sport, it makes it easier to jump to a place where you’re sort of faking a lot of things.

Angle recently took part in an interview with Washington’s Top News where he discussed a variety of things. He spoke about his debut and what Vince McMahon had in mind for him when he first came to the promotion. McMahon wanted to debut Angle as a heel, which seemed odd to many at the time, including Kurt Angle himself.

“I disagreed with him. I told him, ‘It’s not gonna work, I won a gold medal [with] a broken freakin’ neck! People are gonna love me!’ He said, ‘No, they’re gonna hate your guts.’ He was right.”

Kurt Angle was a pretty big name for a while in the sports world and took part in several interviews when he won the Olympic gold in Atlanta in wrestling. The story behind it all was huge. Who can say they won a gold medal at the Olympics with a broken neck? There are few who could, especially wrestlers, as they rely a lot on not hurting this part of the body. That said, the fact that he did win made him a media darling for a while.

However, people are quick to forget the accomplishments of others. This is especially true years after you do something. This means that despite what Kurt Angle had done, WWE fans let you start fresh with them. WWE is about characters playing parts, who all perform stories through matches to entertain. Angle was new to the product and clearly Vince McMahon knew what he was doing then. Today, however, people question this.

He has pushed Roman Reigns to the moon and WWE fans have not enjoyed seeing it happen. Some love Roman Reigns and think he is great, while a larger portion of fans disagree and feel he was used too much, too quick. Kurt Angle spoke on this in his interview as well, where he said this about Reigns.

“I love him. The issue with Roman is he was utilized and pushed way too fast. When you skip the U.S. Title, Intercontinental Title, the King of the Ring and go right to the top, fans don’t like that. … Half the fans love him; half the fans hate him. Same with [John] Cena. When Cena came in, Vince pushed the hell out of him and fans were like, ‘Gosh, dang. This guy’s invincible. I hate him!’ … If Vince waits it out a bit, fans will start to accept [Roman Reigns], and if they don’t, then turn him heel.”

Angle is mostly right. While about 70 to 80 percent of WWE fans boo him these days, not half, he raised a good point. WWE hit the fast-forward button on Roman Reigns’ career and made him “The Guy” before he had accomplished anything or had fans on his side. At least with John Cena, fans picked him and WWE felt they should use him as much as possible. Meanwhile, that overuse and the Superman theatrics they did with him ended up killing the love he was getting from many.

Meanwhile, no one really picked Roman. The fans picked The Shield, who was primarily led by Dean Ambrose. WWE pushed Roman forward toward the end because he was “WWE’s guy,” not the fan’s. That is why he remains in the position he is in, as the WWE picked him to be there and that is why they refuse to change him despite backlash from most every WWE fan, even fans of Reigns. Angle was right; when you push a guy like that, fans will not like it and they have clearly shown that the last few years. TV Ratings should reflect that for the WWE.

[Featured Image By WWE]