WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently shared his thoughts about Joe Hendry’s flourishing career in professional wrestling and the cross-promotion between WWE and TNA during his podcast, “The Kurt Angle Show.”
In the podcast, highlights included:
Discussing Joe Hendry, Kurt expressed, “I do believe in Joe Hendry. I competed with Joe in the UK…and he’s skilled. He had this unique persona where he’d compose songs about his adversary. He even wrote one about me and I thought, ‘Wow! This guy should be in WWE.’ He was like Elias but ten times better. Every week he was inventing songs, playing the guitar, and portraying enthralling tales about his competitors. On top of this, he was also a superb performer in the ring. I knew this guy was destined for remarkable things. I’m actually astounded that he hasn’t ascended even further in his profession. Yes, he deserves his boost.”
Speaking on the WWE-TNA collaboration, Kurt said, “I appreciate what they’re doing. For years TNA was perceived as a WWE competitor. I’m unsure if that ever really was the case. The Monday Night Wars with WCW and WWF was legitimate opposition, but TNA, during my tenure, never quite measured up to WWE’s ratings. However, we were fairly successful. For a modest company, we managed to secure 2 million viewers weekly which was quite significant. But we weren’t really in competition with WWE.
It’s commendable that they now understand this and are keen to forge partnerships with other firms and particularly with a business like TNA. It’s possibly that Mickie James initiated this when she appeared at the Royal Rumble with the TNA World [Knockouts] Title. It’s astonishing. I never envisaged an NXT wrestler would make it to TNA but it’s a great move. This collaboration could prove beneficial for both organizations.”
When it came to the name change of Tamyra Mensah-Stock to Tyra Mae Steele, Kurt said. “I can’t fathom why they chose to do this. She’s got a name, she’s got a fantastic reputation in amateur wrestling. For them to alter her name didn’t make any sense unless they want to trademark her WWE persona. She can still use her actual name but ideally, you’d want to use your birth name because it makes you more marketable. Why they chose to rename her — I suspect it’s because they wanted ownership of her new alias.”