Kurt Angle Says "There Is No Way" That AEW Catches Up To WWE Despite TV Deal On TNT
The much-talked-about-but-never-confirmed TV deal for AEW was finally confirmed on Wednesday during the WarnerMedia Upfronts. AEW will be headed to TNT later this year and some 18 years after WCW exited Turner Network Television.
Kurt Angle never appeared in WCW, but he did work for one of WWE's rivals in Impact Wrestling. Angle spoke with Wrestling Inc. about AEW landing a TV deal and how they'll compare to WWE.
"I want the fans to be excited about it. I'm gonna tell you this though, and I don't wanna come around in five years and say 'I told you so.' Listen, WWE is the No. 1 brand and will always be No. 1?There's no way in heck anybody's gonna catch up to them. If this company... I'm not daring them, I'm just saying it's not bad to be No. 2. If you're gonna set out to be No. 1, then you're gonna spend a lot of F'n money," said Angle.
He then talked about being with TNA when they tried to go head-to-head with WWE. They brought in big names like Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, moved to Monday nights and also started doing live events. But it didn't go well and they lost a lot of money.
"What I'm saying is that I think AEW can be a good addition to wrestling. I believe that it can be a great No. 2 company. But if they wanna be No. 1, be prepared to spend hundreds of millions of dollars," stated Angle. "If you're gonna catch up to WWE, you're gonna have to do that.
"I welcome AEW to do whatever they want to do to become No. 1. But I'm telling you right now, they're gonna have a great run but WWE is No. 1 and always will be."
Since his in-ring retirement, Angle has transitioned towards acting and is in a new film called Chasing Molly. The movie also features Jim Cashman who is best known from the Progressive commercials.
"When I saw [Cashman] I said, 'Man, you're the Progressive guy.' He started laughing and I couldn't believe it was him. He's a good little actor and has some history with some TV shows and movies. I thought he did a great job with this movie," said Angle.
Angle had some funny skits while with WWE, but he contends he's no Dolph Ziggler when asked if he had the itch to try improv or stand-up.
"Hell no," Angle responded emphatically. "I want you to know this: every funny thing that I did in WWE 15, 20 years ago ? I didn't write any of it [laughs]. Our writer wrote that stuff. So, I didn't come up with the content and just did what I was told to do. I got to do some crazy, funny stuff back then."
Kurt Angle plays drug kingpen Mr Black in the new raunchy, independent comedy "Chasing Molly". It is now available on demand.
Angle's full interview with Wrestling Inc. will be available on Tuesday's episode of The WINCLY podcast on the Wrestling Inc. audio channel. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.