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With Kurt Angle’s new legal troubles, is MMA his only career option left?

By Zach Arnold | August 15, 2009

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We all remember Kurt Angle’s tenacity last year in stating that he would fight in MMA, only for everyone to laugh it off justifiably.

Unfortunately, Angle faces a very bad legal situation and his pro-wrestling doors (mainly WWE and TNA) are closing on him if he ends up in prison. Japan is always an option, but more than likely Kurt Angle will be looking to do something quick for money. The only option left for him to make quick and significant money is an MMA fight.

Angle’s troubles, highlighted on Saturday in various media reports, are really bad. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes that Angle was arrested for violating a protection from abuse order, along with harassment charges and possession of Human Growth Hormone. Angle is currently out on bail.

Topics: Media, MMA, Pro-Wrestling, Zach Arnold | 12 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

12 Responses to “With Kurt Angle’s new legal troubles, is MMA his only career option left?”

  1. Adam Smith says:

    Dear god let us hope not.

    Then again, I’m sure Dana could be convinced to give him a title shot after he takes out Wes Simms or Kimbo…

  2. Mr.Roadblock says:

    If Scott Coker is considering Buentello or Ricco (and I love Ricco) why not Kurt Angle?

    Your hatred of Dana and UFC is embarrassing.

    Taking out Wes Simms or Kimbo, what is that a reference to?

  3. liger05 says:

    I would rather that than see him in New Japan. I dont rate Angle at all.

  4. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    Hm, yeah, I’m with Roadblock, I think we’ve just met the next challenger to Fedor’s crown.

  5. Mark says:

    Actually it’s the total opposite: Pro Wrestling is far more accepting of criminals/performance enhancing drug users than MMA. TNA isn’t going to fire him and I doubt he’d go to prison since this is in his hometown where he’s a God. If anything, Jeff Jarrett got his job saved since they’d look like a hypocrite for firing Jarrett for having an affair with Karen Angle while keeping on a stalking HGH user. But he’s too big of a name to 86 for something he’ll probably get probation for. MMA on the other hand does want respect, so they’d give him the cold shoulder.

    Come on, Zach, you were a source for Ring Of Hell, you should know these things. 🙂

  6. Zach Arnold says:

    Come on, Zach, you were a source for Ring Of Hell, you should know these things. 🙂

    Angle’s deal with TNA is up shortly, reportedly. I’d say this makes things more volatile than you suspect.

  7. Mark says:

    He’s still really their only big star, though. I don’t think they have much of a choice unless he serves prison time (which again I doubt because he’s 2nd only to members of the Steelers as a superstar there) If this was the WWE where they had a ton of names to elevate in his place, maybe. But who is going to be the face of TNA if it’s not Angle? Broken down 40 year olds like Kevin Nash, Mick Foley or Scott Steiner? Try to push AJ Styles, Abyss or Samoa Joe again after burying them as mid-carders for years? Angle is too important to them. They wouldn’t have put the wheels in motion to fire their co-founder and backstage backbone for getting in a relationship with Angle’s ex-wife (the same woman Angle was cheating on with the woman he’s charged with stalking, pro wrestler Rhaka Khan, if he wasn’t bulletproof in TNA.

    Another thing is, the protection order violation charge was in a public place (a Starbucks) so that’s going to be harder to stick on someone than if they came to your house or place of business. The way Meltzer explained it, she saw him without him confronting her at the Starbucks and called the cops to report that he must have been following her. So I say that gets dropped or reduced and unless he has a prescription for the HGH like he claims he’ll get probation for that.

    Interesting note that Rhaka was taken off of television and regulated to house shows when they broke up, more evidence of Angle’s stroke.

  8. Dave2 says:

    Kurt Angle is one of their biggest draws but that isn’t saying much. TNA has remained stagnant for a long time because they rely too much on WWE’s sloppy seconds. They need to build their own talent. Unfortunately they already buried AJ and Samoa Joe before. They gotta stop jobbing prospects to these old washed up second-hand WWE wrestlers in their 40s.

  9. Black Dog says:

    Art is no longer imitating life, in terms of Angle; yeah, my doubts are too that he’ll see the inside of a cell.

    In the sports entertainment world, this is nothing more than an angle (no pun intended) that TNA will use. They’ll make Kurt even more heelish, and so on and on.

    In terms of MMA…Angle certainly has tools, the base as a wrestler, etc. But his back and neck injuries are cause for concern. He might not get an MMA license in some states.

    But yes, there is always Japan…

  10. jr says:

    Kurt will be 41 in December. His reflexes probably aren’t up to MMA standards. I hope he becomes an agent in WWE or can get some acting gigs for the sake of his spinal health

  11. Mark says:

    No commission would ever license Angle because 1) He’s had at least two vertebrae fusion surgeries and 2) He’d never pass a drug test with all of the painkillers he has to take just to walk, his test would make James Irvin’s look like he was just taking the recommended dosage of Aspirin. Maybe in Japan he could get a fight but not anywhere else. He honestly doesn’t want one anyway. He likes the mystique of people wondering what he could do in MMA better than he would like actually competing.

    He surprisingly retained the TNA title last night, leading Meltzer to say: “I can’t imagine many promotions in history not taking the title from Angle given the situation over the weekend. He’d be suspended for sure from WWE, and very possibly fired. In TNA, he’s world champion. Unfortunately this attitude doesn’t guarantee, but does increase the odds of something bad on TNA’s watch because of ignoring even the most blatant warning signs.”

  12. Dave2 says:

    Being almost 41 years old, Kurt Angle should be putting some young guns over. TNA is trying to be like WCW. Seniors World Order. I haven’t watched WWE lately but at least they have a guy in his early 30s (John Cena) as their ace.

    Strikeforce should look to TNA to see what NOT to do. TNA is the promotion of misfit WWE veterans and Strikeforce needs to avoid that reputation of being the promotion of misfit UFC veterans.

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