WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle Discusses Bringing Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff Into TNA

Things changed forever for TNA back in January 2010, when Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff arrived and took charge of the promotion, with the hopes of establishing TNA as a serious competitor for TNA. They did so during a time when Kurt Angle was among the promotion's most recognizable stars, having won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship four times since debuting in 2006, as well as being the figurehead for the popular Main Event Mafia stable.

During the latest episode of "The Kurt Angle Show," Angle revealed he was excited about Bischoff and Hogan coming into TNA, and the opportunity to compete with WWE. Unfortunately, Angle feels Hogan, Bischoff, and TNA as a whole moved too fast in trying to make it happen.

"We learned very quickly that you cannot compete with WWE if you don't have the money available," Angle said. "TNA had money, but they didn't have the money that WWE had. So it was really hard to compete against WWE. And I'll give you an example; Hogan and Bischoff wanted us to rent big venues. So we had to pay those upfront, and those bigger venues, they were for house shows, not even TV. 

"Some of them were TV, some of them were house shows. But they wanted to rent these out, and it's a lot more expensive. So now we're booking all these shows all over the country, and we have to put up the deposit. It's a good bit of money. So I just think that we did everything...really too quickly. I think maybe you start with the Monday night thing, let that build up a little bit, then go and try to expand with your TVs and bigger arenas. But we did it all really quickly, and it was just too much."

Angle also discussed his relationship with Bischoff and Hogan during the time, revealing that he had endorsed the idea of the two coming in when TNA owner Dixie Carter first approached him. However, it didn't take long for Angle to feel like Hogan and Bischoff were putting him on the back burner, even though Angle was arguably TNA's biggest star at the time.

"They were pretty cool at the beginning," Angle said. "I wouldn't say for a very long time, because they kind of started forgetting about me. I know that the idea was to start making the younger talent, and I think they might've done that a little bit too quickly. There was one point where I wasn't on TV for, like, three weeks. I was like 'What the hell is going on? Why is the top guy in the company not going to be on the show?'

"It just didn't make any sense, and I went to Dixie and said 'What's going on?' I said 'Listen, I'm not complaining, but your biggest star is sitting on the bench for the past few weeks. I don't think it's a good idea. If you want me to make people, have me go out there and make people.' For some reason, they just kind of left me behind, and I'm not sure why. But when Dixie talked to them, they started bringing me back into the mix...I had a great relationship with Dixie and Vince Russo. I love those guys dearly, and I got along with them very well."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Kurt Angle Show" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription