The following is a Byte This! interview cap with Kurt Angle written by Steven Fernandes:
Kurt Angle joins the show.
First thing, how’s the neck holding up? His neck is doing fine. It’s better now than it was two years ago, when he injured it. So he is going to be here for a long time. He is thankful that he got through it, because at one time Vince and he were talking about retirement and he wasn’t having it. He feels great right now. He talks to his wife and his doctors and they say he is fine to wrestle. So he will stay in that ring as long as he is able to. Romero says that’s good news for fans, but not his opponents.
Romero then brings up WrestleMania and him wrestling HBK for the first time. Angle says a lot of people have compared him and Shawn in many different ways, as far as being the best wrestlers in WWE as well as some of the best in history. He being technical and entertaining in every aspect, and Shawn having the greatest matches that Angle has ever seen. He says they’ve both had matches which will make people say that no one can match that. He mentions having matches with Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Brock Lesnar. He adds HBK having great matches last year and late 90’s. He is looking forward to the match and says they both know that it is going to be a hell of a fight and could be considered one of the greatest matches of all time. He says they both have conflicting styles, but its going to be a great one.
Loyd brings up that people are expecting a lot from this match, so is there a lot of added pressure or do they know that they are both great wrestlers, and are going to have a tremendous match? He says besides having their issues last week, HBK and he will never touch each other till WM. He says a lot of people are in the ring with each other for years and have great matches, but he and HBK don’t plan on touching each other till WM. He says this could be the first time, where two people are going in one of the main matches, and never having felt each other’s styles before. He says you never know what to expect. He says if they were on the same show, they would have wrestled 15 times by now. He adds that there is pressure because fans are looking at this match much more than the championship matches as far as entertainment aspect goes and as far as a good wrestling match that you can get. He says a lot of people will say that when they both are healthy, they are the best ever. He feels it would be a great match. He would like for it to go down as greatest ever in history.
Romero brings up the “mental gymnastics” they’ve had trying to one-up each other, with HBK disguising himself as a cameraman last week. Angle said he will get back at him the next couple of weeks. He mentions saying on RAW that he is going to match or outdo everything that HBK has ever done, in 4 weeks. He wants to prove to HBK what’s he’s in for at WM. He says when HBK sees what he has in store, and what he can achieve, he’ll have second thoughts about wrestling him at WM.
Loyd brings up the other matches at Wrestlemania. Angle says it’s the best card he has been on so far. Loyd bring up Orton-Undertaker, and Triple H-Batista, adding the latter two haven’t wrestled before either (well, neither have Orton and Undertaker). Angle says on televised events, they haven’t. He isn’t sure about un-televised events. But says they have been on TV together so they have a feel for each other. He brings up Cena vs. JBL, adding that he has beaten Cena 5 times in a row, and he finally got one over on him at No Way Out so he deserves to be in the main event. He says Cena has been red-hot, fans love him. He doesn’t know if Bradshaw will be able to stop him, although he gives credit to him for being able to sneak away with victories every month. He hasn’t seen a champion like that in a long time. He compares his championship run to the first time he himself was champion.
Romero asks if he has a prediction for the WWE title match. Angle says right now, JBL has a lot of pressure on him, and Cena is red-hot. Cena has a lot of momentum and nothing to lose. JBL has everything to lose. If Long tells JBL he cannot have his cabinet at ringside, then he sees Cena winning it, as much as he doesn’t like him. He proved himself at No Way Out. He dominated him so much that he underestimated him. Angle jokes that he was dominating him so much that he could have a coffee break and he would be fine.
Email… if there was another draft lottery, would he want to go to RAW? And what other RAW superstars would he like to face? He says the GMs are smart. He adds that he is a top wrestler on both shows. He says the GMs have to be careful in who they pick. He give an example of himself being injured the last two years, but if you put him in a title match and wins the title, but injures his neck. What are you going to do? That title could stay at his house for 6 months. It wouldn’t be good for business. (Well, Triple H would think differently if it happened to him.) So he says Kurt Angle has to prove that he is healthy enough to be in that run. So would Bischoff want to trade for him? He thinks so, since he has been healthy for eight months and has proven himself. Would he want to be traded? He has been the only wrestler not to have been traded or switch shows since the brand extension started. Does he think it’s time for a change? They have a lot of young wrestlers coming up to Smackdown, so he doesn’t need the change. The point is who needs him more. He is willing to go either way. He is not afraid of anybody on either show. He is willing to go up against Triple H or Batista. If that’s the case, he’s all for it. But he is enjoying wrestling the guys on Smackdown. He still hasn’t wrestled The Undertaker. He might have had a match here and there, but hasn’t had a big strong PPV with him in 4 years. He adds no one’s been able to beat the Undertaker straight up, so he would like to be the first one to do that.
What is Angle’s favorite WrestleMania moment? He says his favorite moment has nothing to do with him. He says the people in wrestling always portray wrestling as the “big guy always wins” His favorite moment was last year, seeing two guys like him, both under 5’10, being world champions. It showed to him that you could put guys against the Undertakers, the Triple Hs, the Stone Colds, Kurt Angles and they could win the world or WWE title. Even though he was jealous about it since he lost, to see Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero in the ring, having worked their butts off after having been told that they were “too small” to make it. That was his greatest WM moment…. Besides his matches obviously.
Kurt Angle leaves the show.
