Kurt Angle On The Formation Of TNA's Main Event Mafia And The Members' 1 Rule
The Main Event Mafia, much like the nWo, was a collection of all-time greats coming together to run roughshod over a wrestling company. While many have criticized the manner in which the stable was handled by TNA/Impact creative, Kurt Angle — the original leader of the faction — admittedly had a blast working with the who's who of the business.
"It was a really cool faction," Angle said on "The Kurt Angle Show" recently. "Kevin Nash came up with the idea and concept, and I thought it was awesome." Angle then delved into the details of how the faction came about, recalling an episode of "Impact" from May 22, 2008, where Angle helped Booker T defeat AJ Styles in a King of the Mountain qualifier match. "Kevin presented it [the idea] to the writers, the writers spoke to me, and I was game."
"Kevin is great," Angle added. "He's really creative, he comes up with a lot of ideas. I mean, look at what he did in WCW — Kevin Nash is part of the greatest factions of all time, and you know Main Event Mafia wasn't too bad either."
Seeing as the concept of the faction was for WWE and WCW stars to go up against TNA originals, Angle revealed the idea "was not to make us" but to give a rub to up-and-coming talents in the business. "Obviously, we're gonna win everything at the beginning — dominate, and then these guys were gonna come back on us. We were going to make more stars, not just the AJs and Samoa Joes, but everybody. We wanted to elevate everyone."
Main Event Mafia Had Only One Strict Rule
Besides dominating everyone in sight, the members of Main Event Mafia (MEM) looked as dapper as ever — sporting designer suits — every time they appeared on TV. According to Kurt Angle, the dress code was by design and was the "No. 1 internal rule" within the faction.
"That was the rule and I was following it," Angle recalled. "I was buying David Alan suits, I was one of their first customers," added Angle, while revealing that MEM was "trying to mimic" the legendary Four Horsemen with their presentation.
Speaking further on the formation of MEM, Angle gave insight into the backstage conversations he had with Kevin Nash and the other original members, and what led to him being anointed as "The Godfather" of the group.
"We were starting something that we thought could be the nucleus of TNA for good," Angle said. "We wanted to make sure we did it right. We all got along, there was no political bull—t between us. Everybody played their role, they made me The Godfather, which was really cool. And the reason was Kevin knew I was the workhorse of the company. He knew I was the guy. Sting was a part-timer, he only showed up on TV. So, I was the guy working every single night."
While the original incarnation of MEM — comprising Angle, Nash, Sting (later replaced by Samoa Joe), Booker T, Scott Steiner, and Traci Brooks — lasted only a year, TNA attempted to revive the stable with several other members in subsequent years. In fact, Angle himself returned to lead the faction in 2013 alongside Sting, Joe, Magnus, and Rampage Jackson, but the experiment lasted less than six months. The faction was officially disbanded on November 7, 2013.