Kurt Angle On Reports WWE Is Moving Away From Indie Talent: "I Would Tread Lightly"

On a recent episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily, Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman sat down with WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle. A report came out that recently said WWE is moving away from indie talent.

This comes off the heels of reports of NXT making the switch to a more developmental brand where bigger and taller athletes can learn the WWE style. Angle spoke on the reports from the experience of someone that didn't have prior pro wrestling experience when he entered the pro wrestling world.

"I would tread very lightly on that because there are a lot of incredible independent wrestlers," Angle noted. "Wrestlers that never did any real sport but they're very good at their craft, and I would like to see the percentage. Fortunately, for me, I was a real athlete and won a gold medal at the Olympics. These kids that are trained to be pro wrestlers and working at the independent shows, they're doing a lot of the work and they're crafting their skills and their character. I don't know how much character development occurs down at NXT, but I think a lot of character development occurs in independent shows."

WWE held tryouts during the week of SummerSlam and many of those that were signed did not have prior experience in pro wrestling. A wrestler that was also a legitimate athlete and made the jump to pro wrestling is Riddle. Angle gave his thoughts on Riddle, who he had the opportunity to manage but turned down the offer.

"He's doing extremely well, but he came in with a character, the 'Bro' thing. It works so well, and they put him in the right place," Angle said. "They teamed him up with Randy Orton. Randy is more of a miserable guy that doesn't get along with anybody, and here's this kid that kind of makes Randy like him. Which, Randy never likes anybody. His character anyway, but he rubbed off on him, and it's a great story. And those are the kinds of things that Gable Stevenson is going to need to have, along with his ability."

The new Kurt Angle inspired Garrixon sneakers are now exclusively available HERE

Powered by RedCircle