Kurt Angle left WWE in 2006 after quite the run on their ECW brand at the time and on the main roster before that, and he left in quite the combative fashion. He and Vince McMahon had a falling out of sorts and it led to Angle searching for greener pastures elsewhere.
At the time, TNA had been on the scene for about 4 years and was a company that desperately needed large stars to help promote itself, and when it was announced at the time, that Angle would be joining up with the promotion, it made many wrestling fans tune in.
Essentially Kurt Angle became quite the leader in that promotion and his career there, which has been well-documented, was something he is and should be extremely proud of.
via Impact /YouTube
No, the company didn’t do as well as the years went on, it often passing from hand to hand as far as ownership was concerned, but the promotion, as it stands today, as Impact Wrestling, has its place in the top five promotions in the industry for a reason, and Kurt Angle definitely has a lot to do with that.
He contemplated recently, what kind of runs his former friends and colleagues, both Chris Jericho and the late, great Eddie Guerrero would have had at the promotion had they so chosen to sign on, while speaking during the Q and A portion of the Kurt Angle Show and he had this to say:
“Gosh. Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero. Those guys, they would have carried the company on their backs. They would have done extremely well. They’ve always done well whether they were in WCW or WWE didn’t matter. I mean AEW now look at Chris Jericho. He’s still going as good as he’s ever been. It’s just unbelievable. But I think those two guys would have been really good for TNA.”
Eddie Guerrero is a legend in this sport and there’s no denying that. The contributions he made in the ring in Japan, in Mexico, in ECW, in WCW and in WWE are moments that will never be forgotten by any true blue wrestling fans.
via WWE /YouTube
It was once also said by Chavo Guerrero—Eddie’s nephew—that he wouldn’t have stayed in WWE past the end of the Ruthless Aggression Era in WWE or thereabouts. It was when he himself started in TNA (Chavo-2012-2013) that he made these comments and stated boldly that Eddie would probably have been right there alongside him.
Eddie’s wife, Vickie Guerrero, is in AEW now. In fact she came out of retirement to join up with the company, which is telling, seeing that she worked in WWE for a long while herself after Eddie’s passing in 2005.
Jericho would have certainly torn the house down, so to speak, as he dominates wherever he goes, legend that he is. It certainly would have been tremendous to see either Jericho or Eddie in TNA at the company’s height for sure.
