Nation
Guest
The talk has been all about Chris Benoit and steroids.
In the weeks since the former WWE superstar turned murderer#) asphyxiating his wife and son#) before killing himself, wrestling has been under a microscope. And, while so much of the focus has been on steroid use, at least one of the industry#’s top stars #) TNA heavyweight champion Kurt Angle #) thinks it#’s time the companies started listening to their workers.
“Well, I think the one thing WWE and TNA needs to do is step back and take a look and listen to the wrestlers,#†Angle said after appearing at an autograph signing before a CWA show in Columbia Thursday afternoon.
“This is not WWE#’s fault and this is not Vince McMahon#’s fault. Chris Benoit was responsible for his own actions.â€
“Chris chose his own career,#†Angle continued. “He chose to stick with the WWE when I am sure he could have went anywhere else, whether it be in Japan or TNA. But, Chris stuck to go with the grind.â€
Since the Benoit fiasco, former wrestlers have turned up on news programs in droves to discuss the issue. There has been speculation that the industry is riddled with steroid abusers and that reform is imminent.
Angle, who won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics, has had his share of problems. He parted ways with WWE in August of 2006 after a dispute with the company. He claims he left on his own accord, but WWE claimed Angle was violating its “Wellness Policy.#†He has stated he was addicted to Vicodin and could have easily been one of the ever-growing number of wrestlers to die at a young age.
“TNA, it#,s good,†he said. “I chose to quit WWE. Vince McMahon wanted me to go full time, and we were butting heads. I felt I put in enough time and all the effort I could to wrestle 250 or 300 days per year, and I felt like I couldn’t do that any longer. Vince, on the other hand, with the amount of money #(I was the highest paid individual last year) said I should go full-time.#â€
He said McMahon needed him to work more because the company had #-- in his opinion -- made a mistake by choosing to go with five hours of programming -- Monday Night RAW, ECW and Smackdown #-- each week.
“He needed me for all the house shows, TV -- everything,#†Angle said. “I just did not have enough in me to continue to go 300 days per year. I felt it would have gotten to the point where I would have gotten exhausted, and I probably wouldn’t be alive today. I decided to go with TNA, and they monitor me with doctors and keep me in 10 or less matches per month. So, they are keeping me alive and well and wrestling, and I appreciate that.â€
According to Angle, the real issue may be the schedule that some performers keep. In the WWE, he said he had a guaranteed contract, but was paid more for wrestling more.
“In other words,†Angle said. “My guarantee, I doubled it some years because I wrestled 305 days in a year. But, it’s not worth it to me. The money I made isn’t worth what I gave up to see my family and the pounding my body took.â€
“There is no sport more brutal,†he added. “It is a year-round sport, and not even MMA is like that. Heck, those guys fight two or three times per year, and they get their downtime. There is nothing more grueling, and it comes to a point, for me it took six and a half years before I said, ‘Okay, I’m done.#’ I felt like I wanted to be a part of a program where someone actually cared about my health.â€
Angle says that was something he discussed with Benoit.
“I talked to Chris, and he did not want to continue to wrestle 250 days per year,†he said. “He wanted to wrestle a lot less. He was getting beat up, and I think in the end that started to get to him.â€
In the weeks since the former WWE superstar turned murderer#) asphyxiating his wife and son#) before killing himself, wrestling has been under a microscope. And, while so much of the focus has been on steroid use, at least one of the industry#’s top stars #) TNA heavyweight champion Kurt Angle #) thinks it#’s time the companies started listening to their workers.
“Well, I think the one thing WWE and TNA needs to do is step back and take a look and listen to the wrestlers,#†Angle said after appearing at an autograph signing before a CWA show in Columbia Thursday afternoon.
“This is not WWE#’s fault and this is not Vince McMahon#’s fault. Chris Benoit was responsible for his own actions.â€
“Chris chose his own career,#†Angle continued. “He chose to stick with the WWE when I am sure he could have went anywhere else, whether it be in Japan or TNA. But, Chris stuck to go with the grind.â€
Since the Benoit fiasco, former wrestlers have turned up on news programs in droves to discuss the issue. There has been speculation that the industry is riddled with steroid abusers and that reform is imminent.
Angle, who won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics, has had his share of problems. He parted ways with WWE in August of 2006 after a dispute with the company. He claims he left on his own accord, but WWE claimed Angle was violating its “Wellness Policy.#†He has stated he was addicted to Vicodin and could have easily been one of the ever-growing number of wrestlers to die at a young age.
“TNA, it#,s good,†he said. “I chose to quit WWE. Vince McMahon wanted me to go full time, and we were butting heads. I felt I put in enough time and all the effort I could to wrestle 250 or 300 days per year, and I felt like I couldn’t do that any longer. Vince, on the other hand, with the amount of money #(I was the highest paid individual last year) said I should go full-time.#â€
He said McMahon needed him to work more because the company had #-- in his opinion -- made a mistake by choosing to go with five hours of programming -- Monday Night RAW, ECW and Smackdown #-- each week.
“He needed me for all the house shows, TV -- everything,#†Angle said. “I just did not have enough in me to continue to go 300 days per year. I felt it would have gotten to the point where I would have gotten exhausted, and I probably wouldn’t be alive today. I decided to go with TNA, and they monitor me with doctors and keep me in 10 or less matches per month. So, they are keeping me alive and well and wrestling, and I appreciate that.â€
According to Angle, the real issue may be the schedule that some performers keep. In the WWE, he said he had a guaranteed contract, but was paid more for wrestling more.
“In other words,†Angle said. “My guarantee, I doubled it some years because I wrestled 305 days in a year. But, it’s not worth it to me. The money I made isn’t worth what I gave up to see my family and the pounding my body took.â€
“There is no sport more brutal,†he added. “It is a year-round sport, and not even MMA is like that. Heck, those guys fight two or three times per year, and they get their downtime. There is nothing more grueling, and it comes to a point, for me it took six and a half years before I said, ‘Okay, I’m done.#’ I felt like I wanted to be a part of a program where someone actually cared about my health.â€
Angle says that was something he discussed with Benoit.
“I talked to Chris, and he did not want to continue to wrestle 250 days per year,†he said. “He wanted to wrestle a lot less. He was getting beat up, and I think in the end that started to get to him.â€
