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Kurt Angle To ECW
June 7, 2006 by Farzin Miller

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Hello everyone! This is my first ever column for OWW. I have read these columns for nearly a year. And I have found an interesting topic to discuss. So enjoy reading.

I want to talk about how Kurt Angle jumped to ECW. When Kurt Angle was drafted by Paul Heyman, I was like "what the hell.."" I was surprised because Paul Heyman is way smarter than that. I mean, I don't know what he means by "new vision." But I think Paul needs a vision re-look between him and Kurt.

October 29th 2001-RAW - Main Event: Street Fight Vince McMahon vs. Shane McMahon

This was the time when it was the WWE vs. the Alliance (WCW/ECW). During the match, a brawl began between the WWE and the Alliance. The Undertaker and The Rock were in the ring battling William Regal and Stone Cold. Kurt Angle, who is a WWE member, ran down to the ring and betrayed the WWE by hitting The Rock with a chair and joining the Alliance that night! During the WWE vs. Alliance battle, Angle and Heyman have been very close friends. November 18th 2001-Survivor Series - WWF vs. Alliance: Winner Take All match

Angle was part of the 5v5 match up as an Alliance member. The final two members of the match were The Rock, representing the WWE, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, representing the Alliance. Kurt Angle ran down the ring and grabbed the title and hit Austin with it! And The Rock finished off the match with a Rock Bottom to win the match. This is one reason Heyman should not have drafted Angle.

May 26th 2005-SmackDown!

Kurt Angle made an anti-ECW promo. He explained how he is against the ECW One Night Stand event. He also began threatening Tazz and the rest of the ECW wrestlers. He also wanted to remind Tazz from what he said ten years ago to Angle. Kurt brought a clip of him making a special appearance to an ECW event. Tazz was making fun of Kurt Angle after Angle won an Olympic medal. This is a reason Kurt Angle SHOULD NOT join ECW, because pretty much, he got disrespected when he made his appearance to ECW.

June 9th 2005- Smackdown!

Before Kurt Angle would square off against Booker T, Angle told Tazz to pick to join forces with the WWE or to go back to ECW.

After Booker T defeated Angle, he was upset with his loss and through Tazz he forced him to make an answer immediately! Tazz just sat there ignoring Angle, so Angle just chose to attack Tazz and beat him up pretty badly. Later that night, Tazz almost got his revenge in an ECW-WWE brawl, but Angle escaped. This is another reason Heyman shouldn't have drafted Kurt Angle. Kurt is one of the top WWE superstars that is against ECW and he is disrespecting ECW wrestlers.

June 12th 2005-ECW One Night Stand

Kurt Angle was part of the WWE vs. ECW brawl in which the WWE lost to the ECW as the ECW wrestlers and former ECW legends celebrate in the ring!

May 29th 2006-RAW

Vince McMahon gave Paul Heyman two draft picks for the return of ECW. One from RAW and one from SmackDown. Paul was talking about how he has a new vision in ECW, and he drafted Kurt Angle because he said that Kurt Angle is the perfect man for his "new vision" of ECW.

This is the story of why Paul Heyman should have NEVER EVER have drafted Kurt Angle. This Monday night on RAW, I do expect an explanation from Paul Heyman. I mean, Mr. Heyman, what the hell were you thinking when you picked Kurt Angle" He was one of your biggest ego's during the ECW One Night Stand and he has betrayed you before and cost your job"! You're pretty lucky you got your job back. But why are you going to draft a man to your business when he made you lose your job" Will Paul Heyman and Kurt Angle become friends again, or will Kurt Angle back stab Paul Heyman" There are so many questions to be answered. All I can say is, Paul Heyman has confused me!

by Farzin Miller ..

Luke wrote:
It is a 'storyline'. A reason Kurt Angle is going to ECW is because ofhis nagging injuries. He wont be on TV as long as WWE. There may be more live events for ECW but he may not wrestle them. This is just a 'storyline' and your acting like it is real life.

Erkka J�rvinen wrote:
This is getting pretty annoying, whats your point in this" That angle has a history with Heyman" So what. I dont understand whats the big deal, you see enemys fight side by side often in wrestling and sometimes they turn up to be pretty good. Besides, Angle has been portraying his new roughing attitude and character for the last half a year. Its just like Kurt said himself, that he is not the "Olympics" kurt Angle. I see this only as a nice surprise but...of course there is a golden law with internet fans. "Thou shall never be happy so you can show everyone just how smart wrestling fan you are"

Jon Rosaler wrote:
Dude, I agree with you that Kurt Angle shouldn't be in ECW, but not because he doesn't belong in it. Kurt Angle would give ECW the best ratings it can give than any other Brand in the WWE. The reason I think Paul made a mistake is that Smackdown! needed Kurt Angle. We already lost Randy Orton back to Raw as well as Tazz and Stevie Richards going to ECW. Kurt Angle belongs in ECW, but not now. Not when Smackdown being dubbed "The Dead Brand". Well, if you like WCW, you better Watch Smackdown!

James Watts wrote:
In the words of BG James: "Now hold on just a minute!" Kurt Angle going to the NEW ECW is a great move on Paul Heyman's part. Angle is (presumably) a former Hardcore Champion. He can brawl and he can wrestle. You're bringing up events from the OLD ECW. This is the NEW ECW. That means new beginnings. That means starting all over again and wiping the slate clean. Heyman has obviously forgiven Kurt for what he did at the last One Night Stand, and Angle really seems to enjoy being a part of ECW. Finally, just think of the possibilities. We could see Kurt Angle v Rob Van Dam (ECW style), we could see Kurt Angle v The Sandman, we could even see Kurt Angle v Sabu! Heyman made a heck of a good choice bringing Kurt Angle to his new vision of ECW

Ryan Cassano wrote:
I've read that Heyman and Angle have good chemistry and Angle is needing to take a load off to heal.

I highly doubt Angle will be there for a long time, as he was quoated as calling himself a "team player" when asked about the jump. In other words, McMahon asked him to do it and he agreed.

There's always underlying, true reasons for things happening and it's usually related to anything but logic in terms of the fans. Angle needs time off, ECW needs a couple of headliners to turn the heads of WWE fans to springboard the promotion, etc. Meanwhile, from the perspective of fans, it doesn't add up and we're basically asked to forget the past and just roll with it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Too soon to tell on this one, but I'm hoping it works out for ECW, regardless of Angle or the Big Show's involvement.

Jonathan wrote:
I actually like that Paul drafted Kurt Angle onto ECW. I know Kurt had some storylines in the past where he dogged out ECW, but I think Kurt is a good fit for the brand. I'm sure anybody who watches the WWE has noticed over the past year or 2 the personality change of Kurt Angle. He went from being kind of corny to very aggressive and aggressive is the ECW way. It was mentioned earlier in the column that you didn't know what Paul's "new vision" for ECW was. Well I think in the past ECW was more focused on the Hardcore side of things. Of course, back in the prime of ECW, you had great wrestlers like Chris Benoit and Tazz, but it was still hardcore primarily. I think Paul's new vision is more of a 50/50 split of wrestling and hardcore action and Kurt Angle, being the exceptional wrestler that he is, fits that profile. It should be very interesting to see how Kurt blends into the ECW brand.

Tom ROper wrote:
It's obvious you're talking in kayfabe terms here, and in that respect you're absolutely right. Kurt Angle has no storyline link which would make him personable to the idea of going to ECW. There are a couple of reasons (kayfabe or otherwise) the character could be seen as a logical choice and/or willing to go though:

1. Angle's character, while diluted by humour and comedy over the years, has a massive mean streak and legitimate background. I wasn't surprised to see him come out as the SD! draft pick, as he's still basically the same character with less charisma & personality and more intensity. The ability to exist in an environment where he can let loose completely with shoot-fighting techniques and use all the tricks in the book without restrictions" A huge upside.

2. Angle's been in babyface mode for a few months now. The initial ECW revival angle would have to obviously portray ECW as the 'face' of sorts or otherwise the whole thing would get shot down. All Mick Foley has done is thrown his support behind the WWE against ECW, and he's a major heel. As Heyman said, (Angle) represents the opposite of what Foley described of ECW and represents all the finer parts of ECW wrestling- great in-ring skills, a justifiable ability to portray a bad-ass and promo skills to boot.

3. Cmon. If Heyman had the 'pick of the entire Smackdown roster' (barring the champs, I'd assume), who better to pick" Angle's a big enough name that he'll draw by association, has some of the best in-ring skills on Smackdown and a personality.

I don't think the issue for me is why Heyman picked Angle/why Angle's so willing to go, but considering the whole 'open season- anyone who wants to come can do so', why the hell did Heyman pick Rob Van Dam from Raw" Surely he'd be the most willing to go by default! I think this took away from the whole angle personally as it could have been used so many better ways- an unwilling draftee (perhaps even Foley himself) or a current champion for example.

Angle is a logical pick from my point of view, but not RVD due to the reason above. Either way, I'm excited at the prospects of Angle in the ECW environment.

wrote:

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