The Wrath of Tito - Thoughts on Kurt Angle's WWE release, Jeff Hardy, Umaga/Kane, more
Submitted by Mr. Tito on Saturday, August 26, 2006 at 2:54 PM EST
The column that's always a dish best served cold is back, the Wrath of Tito. Welcome, one and all... Sorry for the delay, again. If it were up to me, I'd write daily again. But time constraints from work, buying a house, Mrs. Tito (though I'll never complain about that!), among other events are shooting my free time down. Plus, preparing for Fantasy Football is eating into my internet time as well...
But I'm back and ready to shoot my mouth off about wrestling. Besides, Saturday and Sunday have been traditionally the most thin days for wrestling news or materials posted on LoP. So why not give the weekend readers something with kick to read?
Before I begin todays LEAD STORY, I must admit bias. I'm a HUGE Kurt Angle fan. If I were to pick a favorite in today's wrestling environment, Angle is that. He's everything that a professional wrestler should be in terms of wrestling ability, mic skills, personality, charisma, etc. So when I read this story yesterday, I was saddened. My favorite wrestler won't be on WWE television for a while, and in fact, he was one of the few reasons to actually watch that piece of crap they call ECW. Just giving you this fair warning before I discuss this release even though this is MY COLUMN and I always say what I want, suckas!
The other day, I get in to catch e-mails of a keeper Fantasy Football league that I'm in and I scroll on over to LordsofPain.net. What do I see? The following newsbyte from WWE.com:
Angle released
Aug. 25, 2006
Due to personal issues, Kurt Angle has been granted an early release from his contract. WWE looks forward to establishing a new relationship with Kurt in the near future.
The only Olympic gold medalist in WWE history, Kurt Angle arrived in 1999 and quickly became one of the most decorated champions in sports-entertainment history. "The Wrestling Machine" is not only a six-time World Champion, but also held the Intercontinental Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship; he also won the 2000 King of the Ring tournament. Recently joining ECW, Angle’s unmatched intensity was rivaled only by his technical and athletic in-ring prowess.
My jaw dropped... My favorite wrestler was just released by the WWE. But for what reason? When reading this release note from WWE.com, you'll notice that the WWE was far more descriptive of his career highlights than other released wrestlers. Additionally, the WWE made note to mention "due to personal issues", Kurt Angle was released early from his contract. This shows that Angle has a few things in his life that he needs to clear up. Plus, the WWE was very clear when they said "WWE looks forward to establishing a new relationship with Kurt in the NEAR future". The NEAR future. Meaning, again, he's apparently taken some sort of leave-of-absence instead of this being an early retirement or to pursue a different entertainment avenue other than wrestling.
What's wrong with Kurt? Well for one, personal issues do NOT include healing from an injury. Outside of guys like Test, the WWE usually keeps wrestlers on their payroll when injured. Hell, the WWE kept Jerry Lynn around when he tore up his knee and cut him when the doctors cleared him. So to suggest that this is an injury-influenced release, given that Angle tore his groin (OUCH!), would be incorrect. This also includes ongoing neck problems, as Kurt Angle foolishly keeps getting the half-assed surgeries instead of the full blown neck surgery that the likes of Lita, Bob Holly, Chris Benoit, Rhyno, and others have had without much complications (barring Steve Austin). Angle should have had his neck fused instead of this ridiculous procedure that works on one vertebrae at a time. Angle has had this procedure done multiple times and it's shown to not be a quick fix for the long run. Getting back to the groin, Angle is in total denial about the injury, so if there's a reason for the release, the "personal issue" would be that Angle doesn't know when to rest a severe injury.
Angle is reportedly going through the process of divorce with his wife who is reportedly carrying their second child. If true, as only one insider news source is reporting it (oddly enough, I can't find it in Pittsburgh news gossip), this is an emotional toll that I don't wish on anyone. WWE life has been reportedly tough on Angle lately, as he keeps pushing himself to remain on television and to be the very best. The long road definitely dissolved their marriage, as wrestlers with successful personal lives is unfortunately not that common. It's hard for a wife to accept that her husband is in a different state for most of the week. Plus, if I remember correctly from Angle's book, his relationship with his wife-to-be was quite rocky leading into the wedding. Therefore, the tolls of the road would definitely shatter an already fragile relationship. It has to be hard, however, divorcing a wife who is carrying your child.
Back when Eddie Guerrero passed away, there were backstage rumors that if another certain pro wrestler didn't slow himself down emotionally, he'll end up with the same fate as Guerrero. Many suggested that it was Kurt Angle, as he was pushing himself hard backstage, he was real emotional towards backstage politics at that time, and he was beginning to have marriage problems (which he actually patched up). Some suggested that it was Angle, although it may have been Ric Flair for the way his life fell apart (divorcing his wife, road rage incident, and reported steroid use!). Either way, the mere fact that Angle was mentioned shows that he could have been living on the edge back then.
Now, there are whispers that Kurt Angle has violated the new WWE "Wellness Program", i.e., the drug policy. Until I see legitimate proof of that instead of speculation, I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT. There's no evidence of Angle has abused any type of substance. I'm tired of message board posters attacking Angle's character over absurd speculation. If there was proof that Angle was taking drugs, I definitely would NOT condone it. You, the readers, know my stance on drugs and know that I do not tolerate wrestlers who abuse drugs. I'll even tackle my favorite wrestler if there was proof to show drug abuse. However, until there is evidence, some of you lowlifes need to shut the hell up. Innocent until proven guilty, remember that?
I would suggest that Angle's "personal issues" are definitely leaning towards his divorce and the emotional wreck he's definitely become. I think that professional wrestling is his way to vent his frustrations and by being in denial about his groin injury, he's trying to keep that avenue to vent frustrations. I seriously worry that without wrestling, he might become an even bigger emotional wreck because he no longer has that outlet to vent frustrations. However, this time off could be good for Angle. He could readjust his personal life and figure out how he see his children, readjust his personal life to suit his road life, and heel up multiple nagging injuries. Money shouldn't be an issue for Kurt Angle, as he's been paid well for the past 7 years (though the wife will now get half or more).
I do wish Angle the best and hope that none of these personal issues drive him over the edge to become the latest wrestling casualty. And that's the word...
~Apple Dumplings~
For any new readers, I'm asked... "why do you call this section Apple Dumplings?" For the longest time, I used to use the phrase "how do you like them apples", which was from the Oscar winning film, Good Will Hunting. It was also used by Terrance and Phillip on South Park... I used the phrase often, so hence the carry-over to this section in 2006. Got it?
-How about Jeff Hardy on Monday Night RAW? I thought he looked pretty good. He seemed to put on a little bit of pounds since we last saw him... but that is good! He was looking borderline anorexic the last time he was in the WWE. Plus, he had a good look to him. Absent was the stupid paint and other goofy stuff that Hardy used to wear, and present was a more grown up look. Sure, he had the multi-colored hair, but it looked a lot more serious than the odd colors he had it before. Fans welcomed him back and thought he had a chance to defeat Edge. Part of it was that Hardy wrestled great... he seems to have knocked his style down a few notches on the speed dial, which is good, as he was a bit too fast before. Slowing the style down has enabled Hardy to sell better and to set-up each move. You can't just wrestle spot after spot... you need to make fans believe in you and fight back from adversity. I really enjoyed Jeff Hardy's return and I'm serious when I say he still can be that breakout star that he was projected to be in 2001 until he was destroyed in the rematch over the Intercontinental title against Triple H. After that, he stopped caring... The WWE must slowly bring Hardy along and give him confidence to achieve that potential.
-I love when the WWE uses my ideas...
Wrath of Tito on July 17th, 2006: "Tonight as announced for RAW, John Cena will take on Umaga. This is crazy... If Umaga is the big main event project that the WWE is working on for the future, they're crazy. The same problem happened back in 2002 when Steve Austin arrived for work on a Monday Night and found out that he had to fight Brock Lesnar in a shortly hyped match-up. Cena should be the last part of the ladder that Umaga should be wrestling right now. When I say better opponents than Indy wrestlers, I mean that by defeating, for example, guys like Val Venis and slightly above. If I were the WWE, I'd slowly build him towards Kane. Have Umaga run up a winning streak, push the "Samoan Bulldozer" gimmick hard, and have Kane say "try to bulldoze through hellfire and brimstone!". There you go... With Kane reportedly retiring soon, Kane could give back HUGE to the business with a big win for Umaga. There, Umaga would be officially set for the main event. To rush things, especially in the absence of competition, would be ludicrous. Speaking of more WCW history, remember when WCW gave Goldberg vs. Hogan WAY TOO EARLY on free television due to the pressures of competition? By giving away that match too early, Goldberg was officially on the downslide because he defeated the biggest fish in the pond way too early."
What happened at SummerSlam? Kane was talked into attacking Umaga by DX, and that was followed up by Umaga attacking Kane on RAW. See, I've been printing great ideas for almost 8 years now and could you just imagine if the WWE would be wise enough to use more of them and without delay?
-Speaking of SummerSlam, I enjoyed the show, outside of Orton vs. Hulk Hogan, which was horrible, as expected. Orton can't carry his own gym bag to the arena, let alone a match with an old-timer who has creative control over his matches/character. John Cena vs. Edge was quite good and was pleased that turned out well. McMahons vs. DX was entertaining and I loved the idea of the McMahons ordering a bunch of heels to the ring to attack DX. That's good booking. I thought Booker T vs. Batista was decent, but it had a rough time following Foley vs. Flair, which was crazy violent. Someone get Vicky Guerrero off television... It's time to end this "use Eddie's death as a storyline" saga, for the love of Christ! Good show that gets an A in my book.
I gotta say, though... Bradshaw was pretty good as color commentator on SummerSlam. He reminded me of Jesse "the Body" Ventura on playing a heel while doing color and never giving an ounce of credit to the faces. Keep up the good work, JBL.
-ECW on Sci-Fi remains strong with a 2.3 rating. Things may get interesting for this show and Sci-Fi Channel, however. The Sci-Fi channel may cease to exist soon, or at least significantly change their formatting. They will become "Surge TV" later this year, I believe, and they will be moving away from being just a Science Fiction channel. That's fine and dandy, but remember what happened to TNN when they changed to Spike TV? Low ratings, severely low ratings. If you abandon your core audience, it will take years to repair a channel. Spike took years to rebuild itself from programming viewership other than the WWE. I suspect the same will happen to the Sci-Fi who probably has less viewers than TNN once did.
-And finally... will Chris Kanyon just shut-up already? Hearing about how he's going to "bring evidence" to a radio show about why the WWE fired him makes me sick. IF the WWE fired you based on your sexual preference, then sue! The ACLU will gladly take up your case in order to attack another corporation based on discrimination. I have no problems with Kanyon admitting his homosexuality... but if you're going to accuse the WWE of discrimination and potentially ruining actually making a strong living from professional wrestling, then sue! Don't just talk smack on a radio show or bitch about it on your webpage like a coward would. What's wrong, Kanyon, don't have a legit case against the WWE? It sure sounds like it from the way that you're a total chicken to challenge the WWE in court of law.
Enjoy your weekend/week.... and just chill till the next episode.
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