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Hey all, this is my first column for OWW, and I wanted to talk about a recent event that has been going around in my head as of late. Ever since coming into the WWF in 1999, and beating Sean Stasiak at Survivor Series, Kurt Angle has displayed great levels passion and dedication. From becoming the third Euro-Continental Champion, to the King Of the Ring and finally to winning the WWF Championship at No Mercy, few wrestlers have came close to this iconic rookie year. However, again it is only a few wrestlers who can say that they can wrestle amazingly, and still become Champion. In years where we have seen wrestlers with low levels of wrestling ability hold titles for months, in particular Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Diesel, it was a nice change to see a wrestler who could hold a candle to superstars such as Bret Hart, in some ways surpassing the Hitman's legendary skills. However, we must not forget that Kurt was not the only champion to have brilliant wrestling skills, naming Chris Benoit and The Late Great Eddie Guerrero as good examples. But I do not believe that they competed at the level that Angle did, as he came through injuries, career threatening neck surgery and other obstacles. For a man who believed that his last match would be at WrestleMania 20, against Brock Lesnar, he has certainly come a long way.

Indeed, one must never forget his classic 5 star match with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21, which pushed both men to limits that they never thought they had. It is a great tribute to the wrestling machine to see him still going strong now, and proving his skills even more by carrying talent-less wrestlers such as Mark Henry through decent matches.

However, in the past few weeks, we have learnt that The Wrestling Machine is to be part of the new ECW revival brand, a draft pick that nobody could have seen coming. This shocked me in many ways, the first being that Kurt is one of the bright lights that SmackDown has left. In recent months we have seen the loss of superstars such as John Cena, JBL, the split up of MNM, injuries of Batista and Chris Benoit, and I believe that Angle was what was keeping SmackDown going. Not any more though. Angle is now heading to a place where they recognize hardcore spots over wrestling, and although I'm sure Angle can handle his new style, I'm worried that the fans might lose sight of what he's truly talented at. Sure his new placement will let him wrestle better hours, allowing his body to recover after matches, but will it allow him to shine" Kurt angle is as tough as they come, mentally and physically, and he can back up whatever he says in the ring, although in ECW, a place that has churned out some great technical wrestlers in the past, but does not have them in droves, I believe that he will be carrying a lot more opponents in matches. One just has to look at the ages of the ECW superstars of the past, with Terry Funk being in his sixties, and the Sandman in his late forties, I think that he will be carrying them through some matches, although to give credit to Jim Fullington, from watching classic TNA I can see that he's still got his hardcore style going strong.

However, to give some credit to ECW I can see the idea of flushing it out with new talent, whether it is from the present WWE roster, or recently signed talent, including Sylvester Terkay, who Angle has praised for having good wrestling ability, and is of a large build, something which should please Vince, given his love of big men.

This is the end of my rant, and let me stress that these are my opinions, and as such, are open to discussion or criticism.

Thanks for listening, and stay Online World of Wrestling!!

by Chris Earl ..