On the latest edition of his podcast pro-wrestling legend Kurt Angle looked back on his time in TNA, specifically the 2007 Victory Road pay-per-view, where he lost the X-Division championship to rising star at the time, Jay Lethal.
During the podcast Angle reveals that the original plan was for Angle to retain the title on that night, but reveals that he and Lethal called an audible backstage without telling anyone, a move that put heat on Lethal at the time. Highlights can be found below.
Recalls putting Jay Lethal over for the X-Division championship, a move that didn’t sit well with TNA:
Well when I started in TNA, the staple of the company was the X Division. That was the most popular division in the company. I would have loved to have been a part of it, especially with my style. I had a different style than most of the X Division guys. I think I would’ve added to it, I would’ve made it more popular. The crazy thing about that match is Jay Lethal wasn’t supposed to beat me. He got some heat for that match. Now understand at this particular time they wanted me to hold all the titles. So I was TNA World Heavyweight Champion, I was IWGP Champion, I was TNA Tag Team Champion, I was X Division Champion. They wanted all the gold around me. I felt like, ‘You know what, I want to give back to these guys.’ I thought, ‘You know what, why not put Jay Lethal over in the X Division.’ I thought it was a great idea. Of course, we got a little heat for it and Jay Lethal didn’t hold that title very long afterward. He ended up losing, I think, the next match. I didn’t get heat for it but he did and it was unfortunate.
How he decided to put Lethal over backstage prior to the match happening:
Beforehand I pulled him aside and I said, ‘Let’s just not say anything. Don’t tell anyone, let’s just put you over.’ That’s what I did and I wasn’t supposed to.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)