Kurt Angle On Why WWE Doesn't Want Him Back, Vince - Taker, Vince Ribbing Edge Hard Over Hair Stip
As noted, longtime WrestlingINC.com reader Gavin Horne sent us a detailed report from Kurt Angle's recent Q&A in Leicester, which you can read here. During that Q&A, Angle discussed earning The Undertaker's Respect, the reason for his short WWE title reign in 2001, if Triple H resented his rise, wanting a match with Daniel Bryan, Rob Van Dam always hurting him, who would win a shoot fight between Brock Lesnar and Haku, leaving WWE And TNA, MMA, Chad Gable and more.
Wrestling Inc. reader John Stoddart sent us this report from Angle's recent Q&A in Edinburgh:
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Hi, I was the Kurt Angle Q&A at Edinburgh. I saw your other article about Kurt talking about Triple H and his rise and wanted to add some things that Kurt spoke about that may be of interest.
As part of the Q&A segment, Kurt was asked about Edge. Kurt laughed and brought up the hair vs hair match. He recalled Vince calling him into his office the afternoon of the event to discuss the match. Vince told Kurt out right "you're going bald" and told Kurt that his reason was because he was sick of looking at his receding hairline. Kurt told the audience that he accepted this and didn't have any issue with it at all. Vince ordered Kurt not to say anything about it to Edge and that "we're gonna f*** with Edge!" So Edge comes in and Vince tells him Edge is going to do the job that night and go bald. Kurt recalled that Edge's face went chalk white, he said ok and they both left. Outside of the office, Edge in a panic started saying to Kurt how he couldn't go bald because he grew his hair out to hide his ugly face. Kurt said it was hard to keep a straight face, but he told Edge that he has to do the job and if he didn't like it, then tough. Before the event, Kurt was walking backstage and saw that Edge was out front in the stands appearing to be crying. In the end, Edge was told 5 minutes before the match that it was all a rib and that Kurt was losing his hair that night.
Kurt was asked his opinions on Scottish Wrestlers Grado and Drew Galloway. Kurt spoke of how he wanted to kill Grado the first time he met him. Grado earlier in the night told a story about how on the bus from Glasgow to London, he asked Jeremy Borash if it was ok to go up front and ask Kurt a couple of questions. Grado said he went up, sat down and introduced himself and called Kurt the C word in a way which Scottish people would use as a term of endearment. The bus was shocked that Grado had called him that. Kurt said he wanted to punch him, but when it was explained, despite the confusion he sat talking to Grado for a while after. He remarked that Grado is something else. He can't believe he's a man who is an actor, but wants to wrestle. He praised his passion and said he's losing too much weight. On Drew Galloway, Kurt said he could not understand why WWE let him go. He praised his ability in the ring, on the mic and his attitude as a whole towards the business. He compared him to Braveheart and said that he is going to go to the top one day.
There, of course, was talk about a WWE return. Kurt said he knows why they didn't want him back last year and it's because of his DUIs and time out of the ring whilst with TNA. He expressed his thanks to Dixie Carter because she looked after him and got him clean, but he knew WWE didn't want him. That being said, Kurt told the audience he's been clean for 2 and a half years now and said that if he's coming back, then it's Wrestlemania 33 we should all be waiting for. Kurt openly said WM33 a few times in the next 10 minutes after this so it was pretty clear to the audience that he wants back and that's when he sees the next Wrestlemania he will appear at.
Lastly, someone asked Kurt about the Undertaker. Kurt didn't really have any stories other than he said that in the back, Taker was like Vince's second son, not Triple H. He spoke about the streak ending and how it is one of the bad decisions they've made, however there is no way it would have happened unless Taker either said it himself or agreed to it. If anyone was going to do it they certainly picked the right guy, "you can't get any more f***ing legit than Brock!" Kurt said. Kurt did say that Taker did always look after guys like him and Brock and that he was glad that if anyone (other than him, which Kurt said there were never any plans for him to beat the streak despite rumours), Brock was the best man to do it and the way they booked him thereafter was perfect.
Kurt also gave us a rendition of "I'm a sexy Kurt" during the Q&A section, which was one of the highlights. Even with everything Kurt discussed on the night, the man himself is so humble and honest in person. It was an honour to sit in the same room as a real legend.