Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle says that while expects to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame one day, leaving the company “high and dry” in 2006 when he quit and joined TNA may hurt his chances. In an interview with The World According to Wrestling, Angle theorizes that WWE is hesitant to work with him due to his past.

“Well, for one, I don’t want to go back [to WWE] right now. Two, between 2008 and 2013, I got four DUIs,” Angle said. “As a publicly traded company, it doesn’t matter if you’re Kurt Angle, Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Undertaker, when you get involved in that kind of trouble consistently, that’s the last thing they need. So when I did try and go back a year and a half ago, I think they were thinking “Let’s see how he pans out, let’s see if he can stay clean, let’s see if he got his shit together” so I think that’s part of it. I don’t blame them for that. I actually knew ahead of time that they were most likely going to say no. And I knew it was because of my own actions. But being clean now for three years and abiding by what I have to, I know that there will come a time where I will go back.”

Angle says whether WWE does or doesn’t induct him into their Hall of Fame, he’s good with it either way. Earlier this year, Angle was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame for his amateur wrestling accomplishments.

“Honestly? It’s not that important. I mean if they don’t induct me, that’s not going to kill me. To be honest with you, I would find it very hard to believe that they are not going to [laughs] especially with my talent, but it will come,” Angle said. “Either way, I’m good with it. You have to remember that not only did I have those troubles in the past but I left the company high and dry. Now, I did it for my own reasons and I did it for health reasons. And I’m glad I did it because I don’t know where Kurt Angle would be right now if I had’ve stayed. So I did the right thing. And whether they understand that or not is up to them but the thing is I know that a lot of fans want me to go back and finish up where I started. And I think that just about every wrestler has been able to do that. I expect it to happen. For me, I don’t want to do it this year. I’m not even sure if they want to do it this year. But eventually it’s going to happen.”

Looking back at his decision to quit WWE, he cites several reasons including his painkiller issues and being moved to the ECW brand.

“There are a lot of reasons. The main reason was the work schedule. I was probably on the road over 300 days a year. I was getting injured quite a bit. I did have a problem with painkillers. When they brought me into ECW, I felt like it was a demotion. Even though it wasn’t. I don’t think they planned it to be. They didn’t mean to, but they set that company up to fail. And I felt like I was part of it.”

Angle is currently a free agent and is planning to return to pro wrestling next year.

• 5 Incredible Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Kurt Angle

Former WWE and TNA star Kurt Angle appeared on Sunday night’s Live Audio Wrestling over at FightNetwork.com. Here are some highlights:

– Angle said he left TNA because he simply needed a break. “I’ve been under contract for the past 17 years and didn’t have much time to spend with my family.”

– He was happy with his TNA run and felt like he doesn’t have anything left to prove. That said, he’s not retiring and plans to return to wrestling next year.

– Another reason he’s taking a break from wrestling is to focus on his acting career. “I signed with an agency, APA in Hollywood,” he said. “I’ve been doing some reads, just doing my own thing. I like it, it’s good to be off and not have to worry about showing up somewhere every week.”

– Regarding a WWE return, he’s taking a ‘wait and see’ approach. “I heard about [last week’s RAW from] Pittsburgh, I didn’t really watch but I heard they were chanting we want Angle. I saw a lot of tweets going out there, I do believe I started trending that night. I’m sure that was quite a surprise to WWE. I know that the fans wants me back, I understand. I had a great career there, it’s where I started and obviously a lot of people want me to finish there.”

Here’s the audio:

URFight held their first iPPV on Sunday from Phoenix, Arizona. WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross and MMA fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson did commentary while former WWE personality Justin Roberts was the ring announcer. Here are the main card results:

– Both Ken Shamrock and Tank Abbott withdrew from scheduled fights with Dan Severn. Abbott was denied a license to fight by the athletic commission.

– Shannon Ritch defeated Maverick Harvey via submission (rear naked choke) in an MMA fight.

– Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping’s grappling exhibition resulted in a draw.

– Roy Jones Jr defeated Vyron Phillips via second round KO in a boxing match.

– Rey Mysterio defeated Kurt Angle in a Best of 3 Falls wrestling match after rapper Riff Raff distracted Angle in the third fall.

Kurt Angle and Triple H reportedly met last weekend for the first time since 2006. The two multi-time WWE World Champions were both in attendance at the Arnold Sports Festival last weekend in Columbus, Ohio. Angle was there to be inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame, and Triple H was there to film and produce some videos for WWE.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported news of their meeting on Sunday night, but said there’s no word on what they talked about. Angle has previously said that he’s confident WWE will eventually induct him into their Hall of Fame, and has even expressed interest in doing a Team Angle reboot on WWE TV.

• Kurt Angle Tells Untold HHH & McMahon Stories, Says He Entered His Prime In TNA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6xt424ZE3k

This week’s episode of Impact Wrestling averaged 258,000 viewers. This is up from last week’s 210,000 viewers. The show was headlined by Bobby Roode vs. Kurt Angle, from Angle’s “farewell tour” in the UK.

According to Showbuzz Daily, the show ranked at #150 on the Top 150 shows on cable for the night. As noted, last week’s show did not make the Top 150.

• Impact Wrestling Audience Bottoms Out For Lockdown 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6lLR9VKLOo

Yesterday, ESPN UK’s Nicholas Atkin posted an article based on an interview he did with Kurt Angle on January 30th in London, England during TNA’s UK tour. As far as newsworthiness, there are two things to note:

The first addresses something that happened at the tapings: We noted at the time that there was fear that Angle suffered a concussion at TNA’s first taping of the UK tour on January 29th in Manchester, which happened to be the night before the interview. At the time, the reports were that Angle seemed better after about half an hour and was cleared to wrestle the next night inHowever, Atkin wrote that Angle told him that he did indeed suffer a concussion in Manchester, but the doctor still cleared him for London. Angle told Atkin that “I’m healthy, I don’t have any problems. You have injuries, you’re gonna have injuries in wrestling. Everybody does,” but it’s not 100% clear if he was speaking generally or referring to the concussion.

At the time, it was classified as Angle having a “concussion scare” but turning out to be OK. Clearly, that wasn’t actually the case. Obviously, we don’t have the whole story, like who exactly the doctor was and if (s)he was affiliated with TNA, but for a doctor to clear someone the night after suffering a concussion is a terrible look, to say the least. With WWE fighting off lawsuits alleging that they acted improperly with regards to handling concussions, it’s mind-boggling that something like this could happen in TNA, even if you’re someone who has a low opinion of the company. Angle’s TNA farewell matches were indeed the most hyped part of the tour, but in 2016, you would think that the fans would be understanding if he had to bow out after Manchester with a concussion. It also looks even worse with the news coming out a few weeks after Daniel Bryan’s retirement speech, though the actual concussion happened just over a week before Bryan made his retirement announcement.

For what it’s worth, elsewhere in the ESPN article, Angle says that he’s better overall shape than people think, especially when it comes to his oft-injured neck: “A lot of people feel I’m banged up. I had some bad luck with my neck for a couple of years in WWE. Ever since I’ve been pretty healthy as far as my neck. Obviously I’ve had knee injuries, shoulder injuries, we all do. It’s just a matter of the recovery time and when you can come back, and I’ve been very fortunate to come back soon.”

Meanwhile, as for all of the talk of whether or not Angle is retiring, he said that “I’m gonna take a break from [professional] wrestling, I know that for sure, at least a year. So we’ll see how it goes and I’ll go from there.” Angle then clarified thet “I’m not gonna say I’m gonna retire. I am pretty much done with TNA. Not sure, maybe down the road, maybe I might come back, but most likely I probably won’t, because there’s a chance that I might not wrestle again. I just wanna get a feeler this year and see what I wanna do and see where I wanna go.” The TNA UK tour was set to be the site of his last matches for the time being, but it looks like the offer to wrestle Rey Mysterio at the UR Fight card next month must have been too lucrative to pass up. Although if he suffered a concussion on January 29th and it was far from his first, wrestling on March 20th may not be a great idea.

Wrestling legend Kurt Angle appeared at the London Film And Comic Con event on Saturday and took part in a Q&A panel. Here’s a recap of the appearance, courtesy of Reddit user SCFack:

– Angle is still very interested in returning to WWE on a part-time basis. He even expressed interest in a Team Angle reboot, with him leading NXT tag team American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable). He said this would allow him to have a prominent role on WWE television, elevate Jordan & Gable and he would only wrestle occasionally on pay-per-views.

– He named Chris Benoit as the best wrestler he ever worked with.

– Angle very much wanted to wrestle Daniel Bryan in WWE, but he knows Bryan’s doctor and was told Bryan wasn’t healing like he should have.

– He’s a fan of Roman Reigns, but understands why the crowd hasn’t accepted him. Like many, he feels that Reigns would be most successful at this time as a heel.

– During his first run with WWE, Vince wanted him to be a very serious character. He noted that Vince wanted him to shave his head from the very beginning. Angle put over former WWE writer Bryan Gerwitz as the guy who wrote his best comedy material.

.. and here’s a photo of Kurt Angle with Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, just because.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCVTAD2iYHG/

– Godfather WWE Hall of Fame announcement video:

– Kurt Angle reacted to Shane McMahon’s surprise return on RAW the way most people did:

Holy sh#t!!! Shane O Mac is back!!!! This IS Awesome!

— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) February 23, 2016

– Big E and Wade Barrett have been jabbing each other on Twitter. Big E acknowledged the reports Barrett is leaving WWE and threw in a dig at the League of Nations member. Barrett fired back with a clip from 2014 of him delivering bad news to Big E.

.@WWEBigE 2014? That was before @XavierWoodsPhD gave you a personality injection, right? We’ll always have this, E: https://t.co/QyWUdkzGsg

— Stu Bennett (@WadeBarrett) February 23, 2016

– WWEShop.com is now selling AJ Styles replica gloves.

– WWE Diva Paige will be attending Portland Comic Con this Saturday. For more information, visit WizardWorld.com.

– Kurt Angle will be appearing on tonight’s episode of Duck Dynasty on A&E.

– Actor Stephen Amell is selling his Slammy Award to raise money for Elijah Mainville (aka “Drax Shadow”), an 8-year old child battling Stage 4 Neuroblastoma Cancer. Donate $5 (or more!) to this GoFundMe Campaign and you’ll be entered into a raffle to win the Slammy.

Kurt Angle is officially done with TNA Wrestling, but he’s already scheduled to return to the ring next month. Angle will face Rey Mysterio on an iPPV next month presented UR Fight on a card that will feature pro wrestling, boxing, grappling and mixed martial arts contests.

The event takes place on March 20 from Phoenix, Arizona at the Celebrity Theatre. The iPPV event will feature a “quadruple” main event:

• Wrestling: Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
• Boxing: Roy Jones Jr. vs. A fan
• MMA: Ken Shamrock vs. Dan Severn
• Grappling: Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping

For more information, visit Urshow.tv.

Its true, its damn true! Kurt Angle vs @reymysterio on March 20th https://t.co/fINA0jzIvU #URshow #AngleVsMysterio

— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) February 12, 2016

Kurt Angle is scheduled to be inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame next month in Columbus, Ohio. The ceremony takes place during the Arnold Sports Expo, which will also be attended by over 20 NXT talents. Angle will be inducted by the man the festival is named after, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Triple H usually attends the Arnold Expo and Sports Hall of Fame ceremony every year, and is expected to be in the house this year. This could be the first time Triple H and Kurt Angle see each other since Angle’s departure from WWE in 2006.

Related: Kurt Angle Tells Untold HHH & McMahon Stories, Says He Entered His Prime In TNA

Other inductees in the 2016 Hall of Fame class are Royce Gracie and Dolph Lundgren.

The Arnold Sports Expo takes place March 3-6 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, and tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com/Arnold.

Related: Kurt Angle Talks About Returning To WWE, Confident About HOF Induction

The February 2, 2016 edition of Impact Wrestling on Pop TV averaged 295,000 viewers on it’s first run. This is down from the previous week’s 339,000 viewers. The show was headlined by Matt Hardy vs. Kurt Angle.

The replay averaged 112,000 viewers, up from the previous week’s 103,000 for the replay.

Impact was ranked #129 in the top 150 shows on cable for the night. The episode of The Young & The Restless before Impact averaged 445,000 viewers.

Awesome stuff with @TNADixie @RealKurtAngle chants of ‘thank you Angle’ #tna pic.twitter.com/H4fFNaaCtk

— CelebVM (@CelebVM) January 31, 2016

Kurt Angle wrestled his final match for TNA at Sunday night’s Impact Wrestling tapings from Birmingham, England. The Olympic Gold Medalist followed the time-honored tradition of putting over his opponent on his way out and was defeated by longtime rival Bobby Lashley.

Related: Kurt Angle Might Have Suffered A Concussion During TNA’s UK Tour

Afterwards, Lashley beat down Angle. Both Drew Galloway and Eddie Edwards ran out to make the save, but were unable to chase off Lashley until EC3 ran down and helped Angle clear the ring. Angle then addressed the crowd with an emotional speech, thanking them for supporting him throughout his 15+ year career.

Angle’s TNA contract was reportedly set to expire at the end of January, effectively making him a free agent as of this writing.

Ive only been in #TNA for a month, but in that short time it was an unbelievable honor to share a locker room w @RealKurtAngle #ThankYouKurt

— Mike Bennett (@RealMikeBennett) February 1, 2016

https://twitter.com/rockstarspud/status/694063405758582784

.@RealKurtAngle & I in the ring tonight. ??Very emotional night for me. So grateful to this man. https://t.co/SsfxVyRUSM

— Dixie Carter (@TNADixie) February 1, 2016

https://twitter.com/giovannaangle/status/694008554714365952

TNA taped Impact Wrestling TV taping on Sunday in Birmingham, GB at the Birmingham Barclaycard Arena. They taped content for multiple weeks worth of Impact, including Kurt Angle’s final match under TNA contract. Here’s what happened at the taping:

– Joker’s Wild: Drew Galloway and Mike Bennett defeated Jimmy Havoc and Big Damo.

– There was a promo segment between Gail Kim and Maria Kanellis. Gail wanted to fight Maria, but Maria refused because she was a lady. This led to Gail going after Maria, but she was taken out by Jade before she could get to Maria.

– EC3 defeated Rockstar Spud in a street fight.

– TNA President Dixie Carter walked out for Kurt Angle’s retirement ceremony. She thanked him for everything he has done for TNA. Angle cut a promo about his time in TNA.

– King of the Mountain: Eric Young © defeated Bram, Will Ospreay, Jimmy Havoc and Big Damo.

– Gail Kim defeated Jade.

– Beer Money defeated The Wolves to capture the TNA tag team titles.

– Grado cut a promo about his firing from TNA and how it was fishy. Eli Drake cut him off with a promo.

– Lashley defeated Kurt Angle. Post-match, Lashley continued beating on Angle until Drew Galloway, Eddie Edwards and EC3 made the save.

– Drew Galloway won the Joker’s Wild Battle Royal.

– Kurt Angle’s TNA farewell tour almost ended prematurely on the first night of the tour. Angle appeared to be in bad shape after his match with Drew Galloway, and there was a fear that he had suffered a concussion while in the ring with Galloway. Angle began feeling better about 35 minutes after the match, and he was officially cleared by a doctor before wrestling Bobby Roode on Saturday.

Angle is scheduled to have the final match on his TNA contract at the Impact Wrestling tapings tonight against Bobby Lashley in Birmingham. We will have a spoiler report from the taping later tonight.

Related: Kurt Angle Says He Won’t Fight Someone In Their Prime, But Would Consider Fighting MMA Legend

– Mark Andrews was also banged up yesterday after he took a stiff shot to the heads during his tag match. There was fear he may have been seriously hurt, but like Angle, Andrews recovered and has been cleared by a doctor to compete again.

– Rafael Morfi, who was a WWE executive on the live touring side, served as the tour manager for TNA’s events in the UK.

Related: 5 Incredible Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Kurt Angle

TNA taped Impact Wrestling on Saturday, January 30th in London at The SSE Arena Wembley. The taping was for the March 1st, 2016 episode of Impact Wrestling. Here’s what happened at the taping:

– The Wolves © defeated Mandrews and Will Ospreay.

Post-match, the medical team, came rushing out for Mandrews. The Wolves checked on him as well and helped Mandrews to the back.

– Monster’s Ball: Abyss (Crazzy Steve, Goth Girl) beat Jimmy Havoc. The finish happened when Abyss hit a Black Hole Slam on Havoc through the barbed wire board.

– Mike Bennett (w/Maria) defeated Drew Galloway with a roll up.

– Eric Young issued an open challenge for his King of the Mountain Title.

– King of the Mountain: Eric Young © defeated Damo O’Connor. Young won via piledriver…

– Kurt Angle beat Bobby Roode with the ankle lock.

Post-match, Roode cut a promo about Angle and how good he is. James Storm came out and said that Angle is a TNA legend. Beer Money opened beers and Kurt said no, so they pulled some milk out. Angle drank it and they celebrated. The Wolves came out to celebrate as well to end the taping.

Related: Spoilers for the February 2nd, 2016 Impact Wrestling

If winning an Olympic gold medal with a broken freakin’ neck didn’t impress you, these 5 facts about Kurt Angle just might. Here are some of the most interesting, little-known facts about the former WWE and TNA champion in no particular order.

1. Kurt Angle’s sister died unexpectedly the night before his Iron Man match with Brock Lesnar (2003)

What fans do know is that Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle had one of the best matches in SmackDown history on September 18, 2003, when they went 60 minutes in an iron man match. What fans probably don’t know, is that Kurt Angle’s sister passed away of a heroin overdose the night before the match. Angle knew his match with Lesnar would be big, and waited until after the SmackDown taping to take time off.

Angle recently sat down with SportsIllustrated.com to discuss his farewell matches in TNA and his future. Angle’s TNA contract expires this month, and the company is trying to keep him signed in a non-wrestling capacity.

“TNA has been really great to me, and they just offered me another contract to come back and be the face of the company and do something to teach the guys,” said Angle. “I’m taking that under consideration because they’ve always been loyal to me.”

Although he’ll be a free agent, Angle feels that now isn’t the time for him to enter contract negotiations with WWE. While he doesn’t wrestle as often, the Olympic gold medalist says when he does, “it’s a pretty damn good match.” It sounds like Angle has every intention of stepping back in the ring after his year off from competition and WWE may not be interested in that.

“As far as WWE, I’m not going to talk to them,” said Angle. “But I know my ability is just as good as it ever was. If WWE thinks I’m too old, or my body isn’t durable or that I have a problem with medication–which I obviously don’t, I’ve been clean and sober for two years and nine months–but the issue has nothing to do with my talent. […] I don’t wrestle that often, but every time I do, it’s pretty damn good match. I have a pretty good reputation of having good matches. I’m humble about it, but I know how good I am, and I know I still have it now. I’m going to wrestle Bobby Roode and Bobby Lashley in the UK, but I need a break. It’s been a rough fifteen years, and that’s why I’m going to take a year off.

Angle acknowledges his personal problems got in the way of his relationship with WWE in the past, but doesn’t count out returning to his old stomping grounds one day in the future.

“There is a reason they passed on me last time,” Angle explained, “you’ve got to remember WWE is a publicly traded company, and they have people to answer to, and you have a person who was pretty reckless from 2008 to 2013. I got hit with four DUIs. That’s pretty irresponsible. You have to look at a company that is publicly traded, like WWE, and the reputation they have to uphold, so you really have to be careful who you hire. And TNA is the reason why I’m clean and sober, so I have to give them credit, too. They allowed me time off to go to rehab and get my life together. So it’s one of those things where I’m not going to expect anything. Is it possible I go back to WWE somewhere along the lines? Of course. I think I’ll end up in the Hall of Fame, but I just don’t know if WWE will ever want me to wrestle again. It’s up to them, and it’s up to me. I don’t know what I’m going to do. But if I do decide to do it, it would be nice. A lot of people would like to see it, so we’ll see what happens.”

Report: TNA Offer Of Non-Wrestling Contract For Kurt Angle Is A Long Time Coming

With Kurt Angle’s TNA contract expiring soon and him pushing his bouts on the upcoming United Kingdom tour as his retirement matches, you would think that this is the end of him in TNA. As noted earlier, that’s not the case: TNA has offered a new, non-wrestler contract that would keep him around as their in-house legend, a promotional ambassador, and road agent. He hasn’t signed as of yet, and has said that he wants to take a break from the pro wrestling scene after the UK tour. Still, if the story about the offer and the nature thereof is true, it’s a nice gesture and well-earned.

Angle is well known for his parade of neck injuries and ailments over the years, including a benign spinal tumor that he had removed last year, keeping him out of action for several months. It all goes back to to the Olympic trials in 1996, where he stuck his head out to avoid back exposure and broke his neck. He found a doctor willing inject some kind of numbing agent (like lidocaine or novocaine) into his neck and won the trials en route to capturing the gold medal at heavyweight in freestyle wrestling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ-osvJEbOk

After Angle had that injury repaired, he didn’t have any major neck problems until 2003, when his arms started to atrophy from nerve damage. A plan was put into place where he’d be removed from his WrestleMania main event title defense against Brock Lesnar and Chris Benoit would be inserted into the mix in an “emergency” storyline, but Angle had second thoughts and pledged to work through the pay-per-view. As shown in WWE’s “The Mania of WrestleMania” documentary, he went into shock right after the match and had to be hospitalized. Originally scheduled to have spinal fusion surgery, he opted to have a minimally invasive “cleanup” procedure done instead…which was promptly undone by one chair shot to the head. He’s since had a number of similar surgeries done by the same doctor.

Angle was simultaneously dealing with an addiction to painkillers and alcohol throughout much of the same period. While he didn’t admit it at the time, refusing treatment was what reportedly cost him his job with WWE in 2006. He was noticeably slurring his words during his first TNA interview, but didn’t go to rehab until 2013. At that point, he had already been arrested on multiple charges of driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated, one of which saw the arresting officer claim that Angle had pills in his mouth while he spoke. It seems like going to rehab for the first time after so many years of problems stuck with him, and he’s been in noticeably much better spirits since, with a new sense of clarity that he’s talked about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4VH7tPOEnI

As his TNA career comes to an end, Kurt Angle says he preferred to work as a heel over being a babyface during his time in the company. In an interview with Digital Spy to promote TNA’s European tour, he explained why.

“I was very comfortable being a heel and I knew my role. There are a lot of guys out there who want to be cool, they want to be liked as a heel, and that’s not the way it is,” Angle said.

“You have to play that role and you have to want people to hate you. It’s hard these days because everyone wants to be accepted. Everybody wants to say, ‘You know what, he’s a heel but he’s a cool heel and I like him’. That’s not how it is. You’ve gotta be hated.”

With his own TNA retirement on his horizon, the Olympic gold medalist was also asked about the possible retirement of another wrestler: The Undertaker. Here’s what he had to say:

“It’s sad, because what he’s brought to the table since the early ’90s, gosh, he’s done so much for the business, I don’t want to see him go,” Angle said. “I’d love to see him go another five WrestleManias. Whether he can do it or not, that’s really up to him.

“The crazy thing is, I don’t think he should have been beaten at WrestleMania. His legend is all about the Streak and it would have been nice to see him go out undefeated. But, if you’re going to going to get beat, it might as well be against Brock Lesnar, who’s the most legit athlete who’s ever gone in the business besides myself.”

Related: Kurt Angle Talks About Returning To WWE, Confident About HOF Induction

Do you agree with Angle? Sound off with your opinions in the comments below.

– Ethan Carter III is the new TNA World Champion after defeating Matt Hardy in the finals of TNA’s World Title Series tournament. The original plan was for Bobby Lashley to defeat Matt Hardy in the finals, according to PWINsider.com.

– TNA will be taping more television tonight from Bethlehem, PA at the Sands Casino Arena. Kurt Angle vs. Drew Galloway will headline next week’s show.

– The following matches are scheduled for Friday night’s TNA One Night Only PPV taping from Bethlehem:

• Beer Money vs. Eric Young & Bram.
• Kurt Angle & Drew Galloway vs. The Wolves vs. Eli Drake & Jesse Godderz.

(H/T: PWInsider.com)

– As seen above, Tyrus recently appeared on “The Greg Gutfeld Show” on FOX News and referred to the “Black Lives Matter” movement as the 2015 story of the year, arguing that the real issue is more about “compliance and resistance” than the race of the person involved.

– As noted, Kurt Angle will be appearing on “Duck Dynasty” this season. The former Olympic gold medalist is actually scheduled to appear on the season premiere of the show, which airs next Wednesday, January 13th on A&E.

– Ahead of their live two-hour Impact Wrestling premiere on POP TV on Tuesday night, TNA has updated the look and feel of their official website. You can check out the new-and-improved official TNA website at ImpactWrestling.com.

• Former TNA Knockout Suffers BRUTAL 1st Round KO In MMA Debut! (FULL VIDEO)

WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross updated his official blog at JRsBarBQ.com with his thoughts on a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights.

On Kurt Angle in the WWE Hall Of Fame:

I’d think that Kurt Angle going into the WWE Hall of Fame is a lead pipe cinch but when its the only question that I have. I’d love to see Kurt in a WWE retirement match and then be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame if and when WWE has the time and desire to make this matter a priority. I’d assume WWE inducts Kurt into the Hall likely before he wrestles for them in a high profile match at Wrestlemania. Simply speculating that WWE is leery of Kurt’s lingering neck issues but that’s merely my speculation.

“I have no speculation that Kurt Angle isn’t a deserving WWE Hall of Famer in the future. How can that be debatable?”

On talking to The Rock through email recently:

“Exchanged emails with The Rock while in Miami as he’s busy with a new baby girl and HBO’s ‘Ballers.’ I know of no one who seeming stays as busy as the Rock in the world of show biz. He’s a one man conglomerate who will be appearing at Wrestlemania Texas in April but I’m doubtful that he will be in a match but I hope that I’m wrong.”

On the early WWE Royal Rumble betting odds:

“There is an early betting line on the ’16 Royal Rumble. I’m being serious. Where were all these betting lines on WWE events when I was in administration there? Probably a good thing it wasn’t around at least that I’m aware or I might have been guilty of ‘insider betting.’ BTW the favorites to win are entrant #1, go figure, and entrant #30. I’d lean toward Brock Lesnar as my favorite to win it all if he’s in it.”

• Former TNA Knockout Suffers BRUTAL 1st Round KO In MMA Debut! (FULL VIDEO)

Kurt Angle continues to do the media rounds to promote TNA’s Maximum Impact UK tour next month. During an interview with Digital Spy, the Olympic gold medalist commented on the possibility of returning to WWE one day.

“We’ll see. Would it be a possibility? Yeah. I’m not ruling out anything. I know that next year I will take off and then we’ll see where it goes. I have spoken to TNA about possibly coming back someday. That’s still on the table. The way TNA has treated me the last 9 years, I can’t throw them away.”

Angle noted that he doesn’t need WWE or TNA to continue wrestling. He said that he has a match scheduled against Rey Mysterio in March. He didn’t elaborate which company they’d be wrestling for, but said, “It’ll be kind of nice just to promote myself and wrestle guys like Rey.”

He also spoke about a potential WWE Hall of Fame induction. Angle confidently stated that it will happen, he just doesn’t know when.

“I’ll believe the hype when I decide to talk to WWE. I haven’t. We were going to have some type of meeting last year. Unfortunately, it got cancelled. We really haven’t spoken. I don’t expect them to speak to me until my contract’s up and I haven’t really gone after them to talk to them.”

“Somewhere along the line it’ll happen, I just don’t know when. Would it be an honour to be in the WWE Hall of Fame? Yeah, it’s an incredible honour. Would it kill me if I wasn’t? No, it wouldn’t. The most important thing to me is being in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, which is Olympic wrestling. That’s where my legacy truly is.”

Comment on this article and tell us if you want to see Kurt Angle wrestle at least one more time in WWE before he retires for good.

https://youtu.be/WVle4-VPy8g

WrestleTalk TV recently released another clip from their sit-down interview with Kurt Angle, where Angle spoke about his decision to leave WWE and being excited about some of the talent he was going to get to work with in TNA. Below are some highlights.

On the WWE full-time schedule being what ultimately led to him leaving to join TNA:

“At that point, TNA was making some noise. It felt good to be a part of a smaller company that was getting more popular, more viewers. I felt very good about it. I didn’t have a choice. Vince McMahon wanted me to continue to go full time, and I couldn’t do the full time anymore. I look at John Cena now, and I don’t know how he’s done it for 11 years. I did it for six and a half.”

On being excited to work with fresh faces in TNA:

“I was on the road all the time. To go to a company where I’d be able to set my own schedule, that was great. To be able to generate interest from fans by wrestling Samoa Joe and AJ Styles and Sting, it felt good.”

Angle went on to say that AJ Styles was as good as Shawn Michaels as far as he is concerned, and he jumped at the opportunity to work with someone like him. You can watch a clip from Angle’s WrestleTalk TV interview above.

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