WWE pitched Kurt Angle the idea of being the Manager of Matt Riddle when Riddle debuted on the main roster in 2020, but Angle turned it down.
On the latest episode of his podcast with Riddle as the special guest, Angle revealed that he turned down the idea due to money:
“The money was not good. They didn’t want to give me that much money and it was like, ‘Okay. I would love to manage Matt, but you gotta give me a little bit more money than that’.”
Also during this episode, Angle asked Riddle if the WWE – UFC merger played a role in his release from WWE.
Riddle said his relationship with UFC CEO Dana White definitely played a role in his release after the merger. However, he noted that his behavior didn’t help things either.
He also noted that TKO was going to make budget cuts and he was getting paid a lot. He was making $750,000 a year and was set to make $1 million a year starting 2024.
Here’s what the former United States Champion said:
“I think that definitely didn’t help things. Me and Dana White don’t have the greatest relationship and I know he’s definitely a big part of that. It definitely played a part. Also, I know that they’re making budget cuts regardless, and I was getting paid quite a pretty penny.
I don’t know if it was right before RK-BRO or right after, (John) Laurinaitis pulled me into the office. I thought I was in trouble. I didn’t get my vaccine yet. I went in there and they were like, ‘Hey, we want to give you a raise’, and they gave me a substantial raise. It increased every year and this year, I was gonna get paid a million a year. I was at 750. I mean, last year I cleared my bucket. I did extremely well. I think that was a big contributing factor.
I was gonna get paid a million dollars starting next year, but I also think, you know, the merger didn’t help, and then also my behavior didn’t help either. You know, I ruffled some feathers with HR in the last couple months I was there. I asked a couple questions, this, that, plus other things.
So I think there’s multiple reasons why they got rid of me, but it is what it is. One door shuts and another one opens and you just learn from your mistakes and stuff.
There’s a lot of things, you know, that I probably would have done a little differently. I probably wouldn’t have talked a lot of sh*t that I talked. I’ll be honest, like, you know, working on the road, traveling that much, and then bad decisions, and that’s just what happens. That’s life.
You have bad people around, you know, unfortunately, when you’re on the road, sometimes it’s out of control. So that’s it, but I have no regrets. You only live once and you learn from your mistakes.”
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