Kurt Angle was recently interviewed on the In Ring Pop podcast on iTunes. He discussed TNA, his future plans, and how his new autobiography is different from his old one.
Here are some highlights from the In Ring Pop podcast:
On his autobiography:
“Book just signed with a publisher. Did first book but was rushed and now I get to talk about everything. This will be solely my take. In WWE, they protect you on everything you say and if they thought there was a possible lawsuit you had to change the story and the name and it got to the point where I’m reading my book thinking, is any of this true? Not that everything was false but everything was a little changed or twisted so this time I get to do the whole thing and be 100 percent honest.”
TNA Tour:
“Talk about destiny! My contract literally expires on the last day of the U.K. Tour. God did that for a reason. Our biggest and best fans are from the UK and we only come once a year and these happen to be my final matches, it’s my retirement from TNA, it’s a great feeling to know it’s going to be here and in front of thousands of fans instead of hundreds it’s a big deal for me.
It’s nice to be able to leave but I’m gonna miss these guys, been with them for 9 years and they’ve treated me extremely well, I was in WWE for 7 years, had a great run there, unfortunately due to health, I just couldn’t keep up with the 300 days a year. I didn’t have the option of a lesser schedule they wanted me to continue full time. I just couldn’t do it. So I had to ask for release and thank god Vince gave me that option, I came to TNA and I’ve enjoyed my career there just as much as I did WWE. I’ve had some of best matches here, last year against Bobby Lashley, validated for me that I could do as much at 46 as I could at 32 it was a good feeling.”
Manchester:
“The best city is always between Manchester and London, it all depends on how your booked. Like last year my main event wasn’t in Manchester, it was in London but if it were the opposite then Manchester would be the city. Those 2 cities are the best cities, Manchester is every bit as good as London as far as the fans and the excitement we get from the crowd even when I was in WWE, it was the same.
I always remember the arena because we can park our bus in the gates and the catering is the greatest out of any city or country! We always look forward to the catering in Manchester, it’s crazy!”
Manchester spoken word event next week:
“This is new to me, I’m kinda nervous I don’t know what people are gonna ask me. Manchester United asked me to come visit and I said yeah, I get to meet some of the players, they gave me the option and any time I can do that, the success you guys have had in football here is as popular as US football and I always want to meet the guys who make it so successful so it will be fun. They are also welcome on the tour! I would love that, can you tell them?!”
It is a Q and A show, are there any questions he gets bored of?
“It’s not boring but it’s hard, what is my favourite match? It changes and I would have said my first world title against The Rock but then last year I wrestled Bobby Lashley and I validated that I was just as good now and so that became my favourite, so it does change quite a bit. You can’t deny the Wrestlemania moments, knowing that 2 million people are watching worldwide. It’s the most special moments whether it be Shawn Michaels, Brock Lesner, Eddie Guerrero or Chris Benoit.”
Who will he be wrestling on the UK tour?
“I Love Bobby Lashley but what about the uk guys that I haven’t wrestled yet and what if TNA were to bring AJ styles back? There are lots of options and I’d also like a rematch with EC3”
On Wrestlemania:
“The wrestlers spend a week in that city, they go over the match every day, I’ve done that every year except, the year that I wrestled Shawn Michaels. Shawn and I just got to know each other I didn’t even know what kind of match I was going to have with Shawn but he was so damn good we didn’t go over anything except for 1 move. I just wanted to see if I could lift him out of a key lock over my head, we just practised that, the rest of the week we just got to know each other. I didn’t feel pressured and that was my best match ever and rightfully so – it is Shaw Michaels, he’s not called Mr Wrestlemania for no reason.”
India:
“Looking forward to that, never wrestled there, it’s a country that’s starving for wrestling, hopefully we can do shows that will allow them to come for free, I think we owe that to them. I know in the past WWE have gone over there and didn’t draw because it costs money so it would be great for them to get in for free and watch us.”
Retirement plans:
“Have fun, travel, move – go to Cali for a week then Florida for a week seeing how it looks what we wanna do, spending time with wife and kids as not been able to do that for 15 years, this past years been a blessing as been with TNA part time. Just signed with Hollywood and just signed with Bellator to do commentary for them.”
Acting:
“Have a movie scheduled in March called ‘Epidemic’. Ive done 20 reads this past year and didn’t get 1. That’s the way it is, it takes time and practise and I’m very optimistic about it I love acting. Not looking at action as much as comedy or drama, more emotion so hopefully I’ll get to go down that avenue rather than down the ass kicker shooting a machine gun and beating some guys up.”
The former WWE champ also mentioned recently he may take a fight against Ken Shamrock for Bellator MMA in 2016.
Related: Kurt Angle Says There’s A Possibility He’ll Fight Ken Shamrock In 2016
