Kemo
11-02-2016, 04:20 PM
Kurt Angle is Steve Austin’s guest on “The Steve Austin Show” this week, and he had some particularly interesting things to say about the current iteration of the WWE in-ring style. The comments stemmed from a discussion of Cody Rhodes, and if maybe he had issues getting over because the current WWE style and pace may not be for him. Here’s what Angle had to say:
Well, I have always believed in his talent. I think I understand why he left. I don’t think he’s going to be gone from there forever. I think that he will eventually go back there. I just think he wanted a break, and wanted to do something where he could just find himself. I think that in WWE, he was doing what they wanted him to do, and I know he wanted to elaborate more on the Stardust character. It seemed that watching, he was on TV every week so I give WWE credit for that, but I just didn’t see him progressing in the ranks, I just saw him continue to be where he was. I don’t think they saw him where he thought he should be, and there will be a lot of people that agree with Cody on that, but at the same time, I look at WWE and there are a lot of good talent right now.
From there, Angle pivoted to the pace/speed of the WWE style in general:
Their style have picked up the pace more, they need to pull that back a bit. They need to go back to being a little more old school. I think their pace is going really fast, and I think the one thing that they are not doing is selling as much as they should. I think that down the road, if they continue to do that and pick up the pace it could eventually kill the business. You know wrestling works in cycles. There was a time when I was in WWE, I remember were I started 50 straight matches without tying up; it started with punches, but then it slowed down, then came to technical wrestling. I think it’ll come around again, I just think right now they are giving wrestlers less time on TV, so there’s no time to tell that story and show their wrestling ability.
[…]
I think a lot of these guys believe they have to have a beginning of a match. If their time is being cut from a 10 minute match to a 6, then they have to start with the heat, it’s not a bad thing to start off a match doing that. I think these guys want to tell an entire story so they don’t have time to do it, so they speed it up and just try to get it all in. It doesn’t appear good on TV. As a fan, you see them going around 150 miles per hour, no one sold anything. I think that if they don’t have the time, just start with the heat. It’s probably the best thing you can do.
On a similar note, Angle addressed how he prefers to use the creative control that working independently gives him:
They give me creative control. I can do what I want to do. Most matches I have been in this year, I have lost. I don’t see winning these matches on the indy scene being important to me. It’s more about having a great match with the guys. The fact that they are younger, it gives them a great rub with one of the best wrestlers ever. To me, the winning and losing part is not important, it’s just about getting my reps in. Next year I plan on going back somewhere. I don’t know where yet, but I wanted to keep myself mentally sharp. I booked my matches this year; one against Rey Mysterio, with Cody Rhodes. I have another one coming up with Alberto Del Rio, and Joe Coffey. I had a match with Zack Sabre Jr, who is in the Cruiserweight tournament. He’s a very talented kid. These guys I pretty much picked, knowing I would be able to wrestle these talented kids, before I attempt to most likely come back to WWE.
Well, I have always believed in his talent. I think I understand why he left. I don’t think he’s going to be gone from there forever. I think that he will eventually go back there. I just think he wanted a break, and wanted to do something where he could just find himself. I think that in WWE, he was doing what they wanted him to do, and I know he wanted to elaborate more on the Stardust character. It seemed that watching, he was on TV every week so I give WWE credit for that, but I just didn’t see him progressing in the ranks, I just saw him continue to be where he was. I don’t think they saw him where he thought he should be, and there will be a lot of people that agree with Cody on that, but at the same time, I look at WWE and there are a lot of good talent right now.
From there, Angle pivoted to the pace/speed of the WWE style in general:
Their style have picked up the pace more, they need to pull that back a bit. They need to go back to being a little more old school. I think their pace is going really fast, and I think the one thing that they are not doing is selling as much as they should. I think that down the road, if they continue to do that and pick up the pace it could eventually kill the business. You know wrestling works in cycles. There was a time when I was in WWE, I remember were I started 50 straight matches without tying up; it started with punches, but then it slowed down, then came to technical wrestling. I think it’ll come around again, I just think right now they are giving wrestlers less time on TV, so there’s no time to tell that story and show their wrestling ability.
[…]
I think a lot of these guys believe they have to have a beginning of a match. If their time is being cut from a 10 minute match to a 6, then they have to start with the heat, it’s not a bad thing to start off a match doing that. I think these guys want to tell an entire story so they don’t have time to do it, so they speed it up and just try to get it all in. It doesn’t appear good on TV. As a fan, you see them going around 150 miles per hour, no one sold anything. I think that if they don’t have the time, just start with the heat. It’s probably the best thing you can do.
On a similar note, Angle addressed how he prefers to use the creative control that working independently gives him:
They give me creative control. I can do what I want to do. Most matches I have been in this year, I have lost. I don’t see winning these matches on the indy scene being important to me. It’s more about having a great match with the guys. The fact that they are younger, it gives them a great rub with one of the best wrestlers ever. To me, the winning and losing part is not important, it’s just about getting my reps in. Next year I plan on going back somewhere. I don’t know where yet, but I wanted to keep myself mentally sharp. I booked my matches this year; one against Rey Mysterio, with Cody Rhodes. I have another one coming up with Alberto Del Rio, and Joe Coffey. I had a match with Zack Sabre Jr, who is in the Cruiserweight tournament. He’s a very talented kid. These guys I pretty much picked, knowing I would be able to wrestle these talented kids, before I attempt to most likely come back to WWE.