In an interview with Metro in the United Kingdom, WWE RAW General Manager Kurt Angle commented on the WWE changing since his last run in the company, his dream opponents, whether TNA (IMPACT Wrestling) could have helped him more with his addictions and more.
Highlights of the interview are below:
On how WWE is different compared to his last run: “I can tell you that it is a completely different world today. They cater to the athletes so much, from diet to exercise, including at the buildings. When I was there before we only had one meal between one and three PM, and if you missed it too bad, but now they’re healthy food at the building until the late evening. The athletes get drug tested at least four to 12 times a year to make sure they’re clean, and they have a wellness policy where they have to take physicals every year to make sure they can wrestle. If you bang up your knee and you’re not sure if you’re hurt but you want to go wrestle, you can’t. They’re being more safe than sorry and that’s incredible.”
On his dream opponents: “There are a lot of great athletes in WWE right now so I’m not going to be too choosy. I’d love to go another round with Brock Lesnar or Triple H or even John Cena again, but there is a lot of talent I really enjoy watching. A.J. Styles and Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Sheamus, I love Rusev and I’d love to get my hands on Finn Balor. We’ll see what happens. I don’t know how long Kurt Angle will last, but I’m going to go as long as I can as long as I stay healthy. I’m not here to do a one-off and ride off into the sunset, I’m here to help contribute to the company, whether it be one, two or five years.”
On whether TNA could have helped him more with his addictions: “They didn’t see me high. I took what I had to take during the day to keep me from having withdrawal, so I was very normal then, but the evening was when I would take lots of it and also drink lots of alcohol in my hotel room. My worst came when I got isolated and was in my own little world. The reason I had the DUI’s is because we traveled so much, and I took chances and I drank alcohol while I was driving. It was a terrible decision, but when you’re knee deep in addiction and taking the pills, you end up just thinking you’ll be fine. As far as my job, my wrestling couldn’t have been better. Whether I did or didn’t take the pills, my performance was always five star, because I didn’t get high during the day.”
The interview is available in full at this link.
