Kurt Angle Talks WWE Crown Jewel, Relationship With Vince McMahon, Current Health
Kurt Angle spoke with Al Arabiya English while in Saudi Arabia for today's WWE Crown Jewel event. Angle spoke about Vince McMahon, his current health, and WWE's two events in Saudi Arabia. Here are some of the highlights:
What differentiates Crown Jewel from Greatest Royal Rumble:
"I don't think much different. From a talent perspective, this is a pay-per-view level tournament. This is a SummerSlam or a Survivor Series level environment. You're going to get the best of the best of all performances. These shows are as important as the pay-per-views. We even do writing on TV that leads up to this. Vince McMahon has made it very clear that these shows are every bit as important as our biggest one. He wants to make that very clear to the talent that when you're over here you're not doing some live event or house show, you're over here performing as you would at WrestleMania."
How he's feeling physically right now:
"I have issues?pain now in my neck, my back, my knees, but nothing that I can't handle. I'm going to be 50 years old in December. My body?I worked it hard, my whole life. Ever since I was 7 years old, I've been doing something that was probably detrimental to it. But I'm feeling pretty good right now for what I put my body through. The secret is staying active. I never stopped wrestling, I never stopped training?I followed through. The moment you stop, you lose it all."
His relationship with Vince McMahon:
"We had a terrible parting. A lot of it was my fault, but we didn't speak for a long time. Coming back was?we both wanted it, but the timing wasn't right until it happened when it did. Vince was always a father figure to me, so I always look to him as a father. He never stopped being that. When I came back, he hugged me, said welcome back, you're part of the family, and let's forget what happened. We had a horrible day on the day that I got released?the day I asked for my release. It was a horrible day. Vince and I didn't talk after that. It's nice to have mended up, to have realized that we're both bigger than that. We can move on. Vince has always been good to me, and he continues to be that to this day."
Angle also discussed who he'd still like to wrestle in WWE. You can check out the full interview by clicking here.