On the latest edition of the Kurt Angle show WWE Hall of Famer and former multi-time world champion Kurt Angle spoke about the ECW reboot WWE did back in the mid-2000s, and also calls his “wrestling machine” personal his favorite run in the company. Highlights are below.
His initial thoughts on WWE’s version of ECW on Sci-Fi:
“It was odd. We didn’t correlate the two, we couldn’t understand it. I know the Sci-Fi channel is a quality network, but it just wasn’t the right fit. But the crazy thing was the Sci-Fi channel approached Vince and said they wanted two alien wrestling characters on the show, and Vince said no immediately. He said we’re not doing that, that’s way too tacky. So, I don’t know if that was the push-back from the network and the reason why they were having trouble getting start times for when it would air on Tuesday nights. I’m not sure if that had anything to do with it.”
Questions whether WWE should have brought ECW back:
“The question is, did the company make money from it? If they did, then it was worth it. If they didn’t, then it wasn’t worth it. It’s all a question of whether they made money. They had a fairly good run. They did something right to that extent, but I didn’t think ECW was gonna last forever. I knew that it would be a shooting star, and that star would dim out eventually. But it was a good try, and Vince was excited about starting it. When he’s excited about something, he’s dead-set on doing it.”
Calls the Wrestling Machine his favorite WWE character he played:
“The ‘Wrestling Machine’ was my favorite character. I actually liked it better than my Olympic Hero character where I did a lot of comedy and was kind of corny and an idiot. I really enjoyed doing that stuff, but the Wrestling Machine was more me. That’s who I am, and that’s what I was. I enjoyed doing it and I loved performing in those matches because it was all technical. That was what I was all about. I wanted to portray myself as a wrestler in the ring that was the best wrestler in the world. I think I did a pretty good job with that, and that;s what my ECW character was about.”
On why he thinks the WWE ECW reboot didn’t work: “WWE tried to make it into something that it wasn’t because they couldn’t do certain things. They couldn’t do the risky stuff. They can’t do the most extreme stuff and the adult content that ECW was providing in the 90s. So, they weren’t able to be the original ECW. If you’re not the original ECW, there’s no way you’re gonna work out. That’s my opinion.”
(H/T and transcribed by 411 Mania)