• Kurt Angle Explains Why He Loved Working WWE’s Saudi Arabia PPVs
Kurt Angle wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment during the Attitude Era and the Ruthless Aggression Era, from 1999 until he left in 2006 and joined Dixie Carter’s Total Nonstop Action! (TNA), where he wrestled until 2016.
The 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist then returned to WWE in 2017, got inducted into the Hall of Fame and wrestled for them till he officially retired in 2019.
On a recent episode of his weekly podcast, our Olympic Hero spoke about his two matches in Saudi Arabia on the WWE premium live events ‘Greatest Royal Rumble 2018’ and ‘Crown Jewel 2018’.
Here’s what Kurt had to say:
“I love that and the main reason is money, money, money. You know, when you go to these places, they spend a lot of money. These were bought shows. Saudi Arabia bought them from WWE and I believe it was like, like a billion dollars for 5 years where they did two shows a year.
So you’re talking $200 million for two shows a year. That’s incredible. You know what? The fans didn’t have to pay for it. The government paid for them. Everything was paid for, for the wrestlers, the WWE, and all the fans. The country, actually the government, paid for everything so the fans could enjoy themselves. There were 75,000 fans, it was incredible.
I will say this. They didn’t put me in great spots. You know, I think I did a Royal Rumble. I was an entrant of a Battle Royal. I also did like a 7-minute match with Dolph Ziggler.
The match wasn’t, you know, Dolph was great. Don’t get me wrong. But me at this point in time, I wasn’t so great because I kind of lost a step at this particular time in my career, but it wasn’t where I wanted to be.
I was hoping more main event status, but still, the money was still really good. It was like I main evented a pay-per-view. That’s the equivalency.”
Also Read: RUMOR: WWE Has Been Sold To Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund
WATCH: Trish Stratus Pulls Her Pants Down:
• Old School Wrestling Legend Celebrates His Birthday
Old School Wrestling Legend “The Madman from the Sudan” Abdullah the Butcher (Real name: Lawrence Shreve) celebrates his 82nd birthday today.
Abdullah had a pretty long career in professional wrestling from 1958 until 2010, including working for various promotions such as World Wrestling Council, Jim Crockett Promotions & World Championship Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, Championship Wrestling From Florida, and World Class Championship Wrestling.
In 2011, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by fellow Old School Wrestling Legend Terry Funk.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER!
