Kurt Angle recently opened up about feeling that WWE punished him during his second stint with the company due to his abrupt departure for TNA in 2006.
Despite his celebrated return in 2017, Angle revealed that his transition back into WWE wasn’t as smooth as he had hoped.
Reflecting on his decision to leave WWE after a highly successful first run from 1998 to 2006, Angle explained that the strain of constant competition and lack of recovery time led him to request a release.
Instead of taking a break, he quickly signed with TNA, which may have caused lingering resentment in WWE upon his return. In 2017, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and was named RAW General Manager before transitioning into retirement after his final match at WrestleMania 35.
During an appearance on Notsam Wrestling, Angle discussed feeling underappreciated in his second WWE run, suspecting it was due to how he left the company for TNA:
“I just felt that my second time in WWE, I wasn’t so much appreciated. I think it has a lot to do with me leaving the company high and dry in 2006 and going straight to TNA. I was supposed to go back to WWE in six months. Vince [McMahon] wanted me to take six months off and come back. So literally, when I left his office and I quit, I called TNA and got a contract that day.”
Angle added that WWE may have wanted to “teach him a lesson” upon his return for not honoring McMahon’s original plan:
“I didn’t wait for a second, I knew what I wanted to do, and where I wanted to go, and I think they were like, ‘Okay if he comes back, we’re going to teach him a little lesson.’”
Despite this, Angle’s legacy remains strong, both in WWE and in TNA, where he continued to dominate as a six-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion.
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