Im "Figure Four Weekly"-Newsletter gibt es diese Woche eine große Story zum Kurt Angle-Deal, dabei kommen einige Details zum Vorschein:
Angle wird Special Enforcer in Jarrett-Sting Match bei BFG sein...
In seinen letzten Wochen bei WWE war Angle komplett am durchdrehen...Er hatte Paranoia, schrieb dem Creative-Team täglich Dutzende Text Messages, hatte starke Stimmungsschwankungen, an einem Punkt hatte WWE Leute engagiert um Angle in die Halle zu bringen, weil er es allein nicht schaffte...Er verletzte RVD fast sehr schwer bei einem ECW Houseshow-Match, als er ihn einfach auf seinen Kopf fallen ließ, er bewegte sich an Flughäfen mit Rollstuhl fort...
TNAs Backstagebereich ist vergleichbar mit ECW 1998 was Drogenmissbrauch angeht...zwischen PPVs und Impact Tapings haben die Wrestler 38-62 Std nix zu tun, Drogen sind unter den Jungs dann weit verbreitet, selbst Jarrett kifft bekanntlich...
Interne WWE-Quellen besagen, Angle ist durch die Schmerzmittelabhängigkeit mental geschädigt worden und weiß daher nicht mehr richtig was er tut...
Hier die Meldungen im Original:
Angle was not at the TNA tapings on Monday night in Orlando, but they did announce that he’d be the special enforcer for the Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting Title vs. Retirement Match at Bound For Glory next month in Detroit.
World Wrestling Entertainment fired Kurt Angle because he had drug issues. I don’t think some people understand the gravity of that statement. This was not WWE seeing that Angle was in pretty bad shape and refusing go to rehab. This was a situation where he was not going to handle the problems and they were afraid that he was going to die, perhaps very soon, under their watch. As I wrote several weeks back when he was first fired, a number of people in WWE stated the exact same thing, that he was the worst anyone had ever seen, worse than Shawn Michaels at his peak and worse than Brian Pillman (who died due to his issues). Angle’s behavior in the final weeks prior to his firing was said to be incredibly worrisome, from dozens and dozens of text messages sent to creative every day to major paranoia to massive mood swings backstage. WWE at one point had to hire handlers to get him to buildings since he was unable to do so on his own. There were people who looked the other way for awhile since as bad as he was outside the ring he was fine once the bell rang. But then, during an ECW show, he dropped RVD on his head and nearly hurt him seriously. There were times when he had to be taken through airports in a wheelchair. And two separate WWE sources stated very explicitly that their belief was that he had serious mental health issues. Everything finally came to a head in that Friday afternoon meeting four weeks ago, and WWE fired him.
Yes, in TNA he won’t have real fights. But if anyone thinks he’s going to go out there and do 1-minute squash matches two times a month and one slightly longer but fairly low-impact match on a PPV, you know nothing about this Kurt Angle. The one I kept hearing was that Angle has a bad neck and could be killed in an MMA match. The problem with this argument is that WWE didn’t fire Angle because of concern that he would die in a ring due to his physical injuries (after all, he’s had serious physical injuries since 1996, and while they are worse now, it’s hard get significantly worse than two cracked vertebrae, two herniated discs and four pulled neck muscles). The fear was that he would die DUE TO DRUG ISSUES, and he’s going from a company with a decently-enforced drug policy to a company with no policy whatsoever and a reputation for being the worst drug haven since ECW in its heyday. And the reality is that from a physical punishment standpoint, yes, TNA is better with three dates per month, but for a person with drug problems, the schedule is arguably WORSE than in WWE. During PPV weekends in TNA, the guys are flown to Orlando on Saturday or Sunday and stay there until Tuesday. It’s two to three days in the same city with the same guys, all of whom have a much later call time than in WWE (in WWE you have to be at the building at noon or 1:00 PM; in TNA it’s much later). Aside from the ten hours or so at the Impact Zone, the guys have nothing to do for the remaining 38 to 62 hours (more on PPV weekends, less on regular TV taping weekends), and that’s one of the main reasons the company has built up the drug reputation it has.
People can say that everyone is responsible for their own behavior, and I largely agree with that, but Kurt Angle is a different sort of human being with a very unique sort of drive and dedication, and, if you believe the WWE sources, perhaps an inability due to mental issues to do what is best for himself. To me, sometimes you have to do your part. I realize that in this business things like this will never happen (and, quite frankly, the TNA signing of Kurt still surprised and saddened me), but this is a situation where I believe the right thing to do would have been for nobody to give Kurt Angle a job. Instead, nearly everyone you can imagine was clamoring for him within hours and in some cases minutes of WWE.com announcing that he was gone. That’s the wrestling business.