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Submitted by William Martinez on Friday, September 28, 2001 at 1:56 PM EST
- Last night's episode of WWF Smackdown! garnered a 4.7 rating in the overnight ratings. The final rating should be available later today. LoP's own Turtle2hug sent in the following: Nidia and Maven were the winners of the WWF contracts, which were awarded to the finale of WWF Tough Enough last night on MTV. LoP's own Robert Fallon sent in the following: - Just days after Unforgiven, Gary (from the newsletter) talked with members of Kurt's family about the event. Gary spoke with Karen (Kurt's wife), Jackie (Kurt's mother), and Leanne (Kurt's sister). Gary: Can you tell us what it was like being in the front row in your hometown, and seeing Kurt win the WWF Title? Karen: Well, we were actually also in the front row when he won the WCW Title. I mean obviously we’re all very proud of him, very excited for him. I don’t think there’s anything like him being here in Pittsburgh and winning the Title. Even though it is a show and it is acting, it’s still very exciting. They actually included the family, and let us all be a part of it by running into the ring and celebrating with him. So it was very exciting. Jackie: It was great. I mean I was a little shaky because I don’t really like to be on tv. It was great and the crowd really responded good for him. Leanne: It was really exciting. It almost reminded me of when he won the Gold Medal, having the whole family there and seeing him up there like that. Gary: This is Kurt’s second WWF Heavyweight Title win, and how do you think this win compares with his first win? Karen: I think the first win was obviously a little more exciting, because we were not expecting him to accomplish that so quickly. I think it was more rewarding for him at that time. Not to put this time down, but he had just worked so hard and focused himself for so long. Normally guys are in the business sometimes 5, 6, 7 years before something like that happens. So we were very, very excited and I was very proud of him the first time he was able to win the belt. And it’s always great to be able to get it again. Jackie: They were both exciting, but I guess this was better because it was in Pittsburgh. Leanne: Just to see him so excited about winning it again. It kind of reminded me of that, just seeing him excited about winning another belt. Gary: Can you tell us Kurt’s reaction after the event, and what he was feeling backstage? Karen: He was feeling very beat up actually. I think he was overwhelmed. At the same time it was exciting for him to have everybody back there. He was pretty beat up. We went into the trainer’s room and of course his neck was pretty beat up, pretty sore. His lower back and his knee, he had actually hurt his knee in that match. It was his left knee, he popped his knee. Jackie: I was back there when people were almost leaving. He looked tired, but he looked happy. He was very happy about it. Leanne: Exhausted, happy but exhausted. Gary: Right now our country is going through a difficult time, and a lot of Kurt’s fans have emailed saying this Title win really lifted their spirits. Do you think this may have given Kurt even more of an incentive to want to win on this night? Karen: I think so, and I know for a fact that was definitely something that him and I had talked about working up to this night. He really wanted to be able to win the Title and kind of give all the fans hope. Like that “You know what, USA can overcome this and in the end we will win.” So I definitely think he had the same thing in mind as they did, that the fans did. Leanne: Yes it did, definitely. The fans and the family and everyone just kind of pulled together and started screaming USA. Everybody had like a warm feeling, like we were all close together at that time. Gary: Now that Kurt has the Title we’re looking into the future. What do you think Kurt’s hopes are for this Title reign? Karen: To hold it as long as he possibly can. It seems like obviously Steve’s gonna want it back. So it looks like he’s going to have another match with Steve. We’ll hope there’s no piledrivers involved in it like the past couple of times. He just wants to be able to hold it as long as he can and make all his fans proud of him. Jackie: I guess he’s hoping to keep it for awhile, but he’s done so well. I think he’s done more in his 2 1/2 - 3 years than most of those people did. It took everybody pretty long to get that high, but I think he’s doing great. Leanne: Trying to keep it for as long as he can. - Update on Eric Angle Sept. 17, 2001 Interview Gary: Can you tell us about the injuries you suffered this past Spring, and what has been going on this summer? Eric: This past Spring I had a triceps tendon erosion, which means it’s just a ruptured tendon in my right arm. I had it repaired in the middle of May, and I developed a staff infection along with a secondary infection. This resulted in me having to have seven more surgeries after that in a month’s time. I had to be on antibiotics for like six weeks. So it kind of put me out of the game. For something that was supposed to only take six weeks for me to come back from, it’s gonna probably take 6-8 months to get back to full strength, if I can, if I will at all. Whenever they performed the last surgeries, they had to take the repair out that they performed, so I’m actually back here where I was right after I got hurt. So I’m probably gonna have to have it repaired sometime soon to get back to 100 percent. As of right now, I’m rehabbing right now, trying to get it as strong as I possibly can before I go in to have my repair done. That’s where I’m at right now. Gary: I imagine that must be very discouraging for you, happening so early in your career. Eric: Yes, it’s definitely discouraging. You know I just got there, and I was just starting to get the hang of things, starting to get comfortable, and liking what I was doing also. It was a lot of fun. I was just starting to get comfortable with all the guys, making a lot of new friends, stuff like that. Making some new buddies down there, we got kind of close in such a short period of time. You know, training with those guys day in and day out, and I guess kind of relying on them for your safety, and they’re relying on you. It builds kind of a special bond with those people, just because of everything you’re going through together. It’s definitely like a brotherhood, that’s for sure. Gary: Have your doctors told you what they think about you returning eventually to pro wrestling? Do they think that’s a possibility? Eric: To tell you the truth, the doctors that I’ve dealt with so far, I don’t think really understand what pro wrestling’s all about. What I mean by that is they think it’s what the stereotypical, average Joe would think - that it’s not real. Meanwhile, it’s more real than anything there is. Any sport out there, it’s just as real or more, and they don’t seem to understand that. They wondered why I was so bent out of shape whenever they’re telling me that they have to take the repair out, and leave me with an arm that isn’t repaired - isn’t 100 percent. I have to tell them what it’s all about because they’re not getting it. I know I’m gonna have to have it redone, and I’m going to have to go down to Birmingham, Alabama. There’s a Dr. Andrews down there that takes care of the WWF wrestlers. He just did Triple H’s quadriceps tendon surgery. I think he has the grasp on what we do, what the professional wrestler has to do and what kind of shape the guy has to be in, and how everything has to work and in what manner. These people just think you go in there and jump around, and it’s not like that. Gary: Given all that you’ve been through, how have you been able to remain focused and positive about the future? Eric: To be honest with you, I was losing it there for awhile, still kinda am. Just getting help from people, talking to my brother and other people just saying everything’s gonna be ok. I haven’t been out of commission for this long. The most I’ve even missed a weight workout, or a lifting workout, has been probably 2 days in the past 10-15 years. This has been months, and there’s times when I actually feel like giving up. It’s just been such a long road back and I’ve never been this far down before. But I’m taking it day by day, and slowly but surely it’s coming back. My confidence is building back up, and just relying on people. The confidence that other people have in me is definitely gonna help me through this. Credit: The KurtAngleWWF.com Newsletter History of WrestleView.com!
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