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Angle discuss why he left WWE.

Angle discusses TNA, WWE
BY JIM VARSALLONE
[email protected]

``I wasn't fired.''

Kurt Angle made that statement abundantly clear during a TNA conference call Tuesday, Oct. 17.

''Me being pushed out or fired from WWE is false. WWE had just signed me to a new five-year deal so there was no reason to try and push me out,'' said Angle via phone from his home in Pittsburgh. ``WWE needed me more than ever.

``He [Vince McMahon] didn't want to push out his best wrestler [Angle]. That would be stupid. I decided to leave WWE. I asked for the meeting, and I'm the one who asked for a release.

``Vince McMahon wanted me to stay, but I no longer enjoyed working for him. I wasn't having fun anymore. The company is going in a downward spiral -- and with me not being utilized properly.

``I think I was the best one there. The agents there felt the same. The CEO [McMahon] didn't feel the same. By no means did he want to lose me, but maybe he felt my neck was a liability.

``When I met with him, he asked me if it could be a mutual release, but it was my decision.''

After being granted his release from WWE, Angle shockingly became TNA's newest addition, and the company looks to add up the positive numbers -- higher ratings and increased PPV buys -- from the acquisition of today's top pro wrestler.

''There is pressure,'' said Angle. ``TNA is growing rapidly. With me coming in, you expect higher ratings. I think it would have happened without me, but it will happen quicker with me.

``TNA athletes are five times better than WWE athletes. I watched the TNA show the past year. WWE only has a short list of guys who can main event. I feel I can have a 5-star match with a lot of guys in TNA.

``TNA is moving into primetime in November. I saw a company in TNA with so much room for growth. I wanted to help them grow into the top company in the world. Then I can say I went there and helped TNA become a huge success.

``Vince is trying to compete with himself [Raw, SmackDown, ECW]. He wants to keep it that way. He doesn't want TNA to succeed.

``Vince McMahon has a lot of work cut out for him to stop TNA.''

In August, a disappointed Angle left WWE with thoughts of entering the world of mixed martial arts. TNA threw a curve ball at WWE by luring Angle, and he plans on remaining with TNA for a very long time.

''My wife [Karen] wouldn't let me go back to WWE,'' Angle said. ``I will be with TNA in some way -- as talent, talent relations director, promoter, agent, producer or writer. I plan on being involved with [TNA President] Dixie [Carter] the rest of my life. If I go into movies and have success there, I will still always be in wrestling. I love it.

``Kurt Angle will get better because you have a company who wants to use me in the proper way. I'm not the guy trying to block anybody. I made a lot of athletes in WWE and did what I was asked to do by my boss. In TNA, they are letting me be me. They are letting me do what I want to do.''

Angle received clearance from his doctors to compete in TNA.

''My neck was broken before I got into pro wrestling,'' The Olympic gold medalist said. ``I did the right move not getting the fusion type surgery. That's prehistoric stuff. The operations I had were a huge success.

``Dr. [Hai-Dong] Jho is so innovative. He came up with a minimal evasive surgery which saved my career [in 2003].''

Rather than remove the afflicted discs and fuse his vertebrae together, Jho removed only the spurs and selected portions of the discs. The alternative surgery reduced Angle's rehabilitation time from one year to three months.

''I'm not going to get hit over the head with a chair, and if so, I'm putting my hands up,'' Angle said. ``I tried to tell Vince McMahon and the other wrestlers about the surgery.

``My neck didn't keep going out. My neck was already damaged -- five levels -- before pro wrestling. My neck is better now than before I started in WWE.''

• Kurt Angle will be the special enforcer when Sting faces Jeff Jarrett for the NWA title in the main event of the TNA pay-per-view Bound for Glory on Sunday, Oct. 22.

• TNA iMPACT! will move to primetime from 9-10 p.m. ET Thursdays beginning Nov. 16 on Spike TV.

• Pro wrestling's top talent Kurt Angle had more to say, and the Miami Herald wrestling page will follow-up with more from the conference call in the coming days.