Kurt Angle Having Issues With Triple H ?

The Mirror in the UK recently spoke with current TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle, who is set to defend his title against Ethan Carter III at Slammiversary, to promote the upcoming Slammiversary pay-per-view. Below are the highlights of the questions asked regarding him contacting WWE for a contract last year:

Last year you openly discussed your plan to finish your contract with TNA in September and re-sign with WWE to finish out your career. Can you clear up what happened there?

You know what, when it came down to it, I talked to both companies and it was an easy decision. From every perspective, from amount of dates, to the amount of money, to the amount of interest, it wasn’t a hard decision – TNA trumped the WWE. And for whatever reason, maybe the WWE didn’t think I could still go, maybe they just wanted to start grooming younger talent, although they’ve obviously hired Sting, brought in Batista and brought guys back like Jericho… I don’t know the full story, it could be anything, but when it came down to it I had my options open. I never said I was going to leave TNA and I never said I wouldn’t go back to WWE, but when I looked at the best scenario for me, hands down it was TNA. It wasn’t something I had to sit down and think about for hours, the writing was on the wall. It was TNA for one more year.

It’s been reported in some quarters that you didn’t want to work a full-time schedule. It’s also been suggested it was a case of personal differences between you and Triple H, after you approached Vince McMahon rather than him. Is that true?

I don’t think so, I don’t think that Triple H and I have any problems with each other, I’ve always liked him. He’s always treated me with respect and I’ve always treated him the same. No, I don’t think it was that. There was a point when my manager talked to them and I believe they did say ‘he would have to wrestle full-time’. That is not an option for me, not at this point in my career. So, whether that was part of it, honestly I just don’t think they had that much interest in signing Kurt Angle at that point. For whatever reason, it could have been my mishaps in my past, it could have been that they didn’t think I was healthy enough to go – and obviously I am – but we never got a full answer of why they couldn’t give me what I wanted. And it wasn’t just what I wanted, it was a reduced schedule, but there was no option.

Dixie Carter gave me exactly what I wanted and it wasn’t a hard decision. I wasn’t upset, I was excited about signing another year with TNA. I think they did an incredible job this year. They had to refocus, they had to re-group, they had some issues in the past, and I think they’ve done an incredible job of making their way back. Are they back to what they were? No. But they’re on their way and they’re doing so many good things right now that make me excited about being part of the company.

Kevin Nash Wants A Proper Retirement Match

WWE Hall Of Famer Kevin Nash noted on Twitter that he wants to have one more match in WWE & that would be his official retirement match.

Below is what Kevin Nash tweeted:

Would love to do a real retirement match. With a build up on the Network training, like a 24/7 HBO deal. WWE put me out of my misery.

Kevin Nash was last seen on WWE TV at WrestleMania 31 when he along with Scott Hall & Hulk Hogan came out as the nWo to save Sting from DX.

Nash's last WWE match was in 2011 when he faced Triple H in a Sledgehammer Ladder match at TLC 2011 PPV on December 18. 

Cesaro & Tyson Kidd To Get A Push As Singles Wrestlers

The tag team of Tyson Kidd and Cesaro may be splitting up later this year but it could be best for business, literally. Triple H has reportedly been trying to get Vince McMahon to open his mind to the fact that Kidd and Cesaro are so good and over enough that they should be pushed as singles wrestlers by the end of the summer.

This could mean that Kidd is going for a secondary title but it would still be a singles push. Regarding Cesaro, talk for over a year has been that it’s “now or never” with him but he’s still well-liked backstage and it could be the right time to run with a big babyface push for Cesaro.

WWE Officials Working On A Match Between Seth Rollins & Triple H

WWE officials have begun planting seeds for a possible Triple H vs Seth Rollins feud according to The Wrestling Observer. During Monday’s RAW when Triple H and Stephanie McMahon threw a celebratory party for Rollins, Triple H said he sees the reflection of himself in Rollins. With that being said and Rollins adopting the Pedigree as his finisher there is talk of the two Superstars clashing in the future in a high profile bout.

Since this match won't happen anytime soon, it likely won't be for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship as Rollins is scheduled to lose the title this summer. Seth Rollins - Triple H feud would likely happen some time in 2016. As far as Rollins's title defence against Dean Ambrose at Elimination Chamber goes he's expected to retain the title as current plans have Rollins walking into SummerSlam as the WWE World Champion.

So expect Rollins to retain the title at Elimination Chamber, Money in the Bank & Battleground pay per view as well. Current plan for this year's SummerSlam main event is for Seth Rollins to defend the WWE Title against Brock Lesnar. There have been talks of adding Roman Reigns to the match as well.

Curtis Axel Responds to Triple H Promo, Big Matches Set for WWE MSG

- Below is the updated card for WWE’s February 27th live event at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Bad News Barrett, The New Day, Goldust, Stardust, The Bella Twins, Paige and others will also be appearing.

* Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night
* The Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho
* Cesaro vs. Dean Ambrose
* Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
* Rusev vs. John Cena
* Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan vs. Kane and Seth Rollins

- WWE’s website has video of Tom Phillips talking about Curtis Axel and the Royal Rumble on the WWE App at this link. The video aired during Thursday’s SmackDown after Triple H’s promo on the Royal Rumble controversy. Axel continues to tweet about being screwed at the Rumble and deserving a title shot at WrestleMania 31:
So @TripleH says there was a "controversy" at the #RoyalRumble? Damn right there was! I won and I want my #WrestleMania match! @WWE

Huge WrestleMania 31 Three-Way with The Underaker?, Reigns’ Title Win, More

We noted earlier that the latest issues between Triple H and Vince McMahon have to do with WrestleMania 31 plans and the creative direction of Triple H’s character when he returns to TV. It was noted that Triple H wants to face Sting at WrestleMania but Vince wants to do Sting vs. The Undertaker.

However, Vince is okay with Triple H vs. Sting if Taker doesn’t return, which is why they began the Triple H – Sting feud at Survivor Series.

With that said, Triple H wants a match at WrestleMania against Sting whether Taker returns or not.


Triple H has floated the idea of doing a three-way with Taker vs. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania 31. A source noted that this might not be a bad idea after all because it would be easier to carry Taker. The outcome that was pitched would see Reigns pin Taker if Lesnar re-signs with WWE or Reigns pin Lesnar if Brock doesn’t re-sign with WWE.

Backstage Update on Sting vs. Triple H and Sting vs. The Undertaker

We noted before that there was still talk during Survivor Series weekend that Sting would be facing The Undertaker in his first match for WWE.

Then after Sting debuted at Survivor Series, word came out last week that Sting may end up wrestling more than one match for WWE but they were apparently building to a match against Triple H.

Rob Feinstein of RF Video, who has broken many scoops in the past, wrote several hours before Sting’s debut that he heard The Undertaker wouldn’t be facing Sting and that a match with Triple H was in the works. Feinstein wrote the following hours before Survivor Series:

“From what I been hearing I think Undertaker is done and the plans are for Sting and HHH at Mania…but anything can change but that is what I have been told”.

Triple H Wants to Kill CM Punk ?

Paul “Triple H” Levesque was among those hit the hardest in Punk’s two-hour long speech as The Straight Edge Superstar addressed his issues with the WWE executive throughout the show. During his meeting with Levesque and McMahon that led to his exit from WWE, Punk went off on Levesque for not putting him over in 2011 in their match at Night of Champions PPV when he was riding high on the momentum from his infamous “pipe bomb” promo in Las Vegas, Nevada. Upon being told by McMahon that he would be wrestling Levesque in a ‘main event’ at WrestleMania 30, Punk recalled turning to Hunter to say, ‘All due respect, I do not need to wrestle you, you need to wrestle me. I do not want to wrestle you. I seriously resent you for not putting me over three years ago when you should have. That would have been best for business but you had to f–king come in and squash it. And then I had to lose to f–king Truth and Miz. It didn’t make any business sense then, it doesn’t make any business sense now, and I am in a position now where I can tell you that I don’t have to nor do I want to wrestle you at WrestleMania. I don’t care if I was supposed to win.’”

Punk then noted, “Which I was. I didn’t care. I didn’t want to give him the f–king privilege. I said a lot of s–t in there. I told them again and Hunter, he was gritting his teeth and I knew… he never liked me. It’s one of those situations where you always hear those stories in the dirt sheets about ‘Hunter says this about Punk’ and all this negative stuff but me and him in a room together? Never any good vibes. Always negative, the way he would always look sideways at me, the way he always treated me.”

Levesque is furious with Punk over his remarks. Bryan Alvarez from F4WOnline said he received a text message from a person in WWE reading ‘Triple H wants to kill Punk.’

Triple H Knocks CM Punk

It was noted at last night’s RAW that there was no footage of CM Punk vs. The Undertaker in the video package that Paul Heyman presented, showing Taker’s recent WrestleMania matches against people Brock Lesnar has dominated. It was also said that Triple H’s line to Daniel Bryan about “not taking your ball and going home” was a shot at Punk.

Stipulation for WrestleMania Main-Event Changed

It was announced on Raw that the WWE World Heavyweight Title will be defended in a definitive Triple Threat Match because now the winner of the Triple H-Daniel Bryan match will advance to the Title match.

WWE Gives The "Middle Finger" To CM Punk

When CM Punk first walked out on WWE and the idea of Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H at WrestleMania XXX began being discussed, people in every aspect of the company did not believe that Bryan would get pushed. Something changed over the past few weeks and that was CM Punk deciding not to come back to the company. 

A number of people in WWE have gone from being silent and patient when Punk first walked out to having attitudes like, "how dare he not come back and be a part of WrestleMania." 

It's suggested within WWE that the "Yes Movement" angle with Daniel Bryan on Monday's RAW and some of the verbiage used was meant to be a "middle finger" to Punk and an underlying message that "this could have been you but now it won't be." 

Will WWE change their WrestleMania finish ?

This week on Raw, Triple H agreed to face Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania but a stipulation was put forward by Bryan which Triple H accepted. The Stipulation is "If Daniel Bryan beats Triple H at WrestleMania, he gets added to the WWE World Heavyweight Title match in the Main Event of WrestleMania XXX". 

But before this stipulation, Batista was scheduled to win the Title at WrestleMania & go on to hold the title till SummerSlam where he was scheduled to face John Cena or Daniel Bryan. But now if Bryan is scheduled to win the title at WrestleMania, then Batista gets completely out of the title picture & if he's out of the title picture, his return is a complete waste. 

So we can't count out the original finish of the match where Batista was scheduled to win.

List Of Wrestlers Who Have Appeared On Most PPVs

Chris Harrington recently compiled a list of the 20 wrestlers who have appeared in the most WWE, WCW and ECW pay-per-view matches in history. That list looks as follows:

1. Undertaker 161
2. HHH 158
3. Big Show 156
4. Kane 155
5. Chris Jericho 149
6. Rey Mysterio 129
7. John Cena 124
8. Edge 123
9. Booker T 119
10. Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels 114
12. Chris Benoit 113
13. Ric Flair 105
14. Christian and Steve Austin 90
16. Dustin Rhodes aka Goldust 90
17. Sting 83 and Lex Luger 83
19. Hulk Hogan and C.M. Punk 82

Old School Stars to feature on NXT

A WWE source notes that it will be interesting to see how things develop with WWE’s developmental territory NXT. WWE views the show differently now that there are more people watching it on the WWE Network. The primary focus with NXT will always be to develop future stars for the main roster but it’s not the sole focus now that NXT has essentially turned into its own brand.

Word is that Triple H has been talking about bringing back a few acts from WWE’s past to have them work as NXT regulars. He was pleased with Too Cool’s performance at NXT Arrival and is looking for more acts from the past that can be mixed in with the NXT rookies.

Ken Shamrock takes a dig at CM Punk & Triple H

Former WWE Superstar and UFC Hall Of Famer Ken Shamrock recently appeared as a guest on the “Asked with Riv & Landin” show. During the interview, Shamrock spoke about a number of WWE and MMA related topics, including the recent controversy surrounding CM Punk.

When asked for his thoughts on Punk possibly entering MMA, Shamrock noted that he would have no chance if he were to start off at the UFC level, and that he should start at the bottom due to the fact that he has no experience as a professional fighter.

Shamrock also spoke about Punk’s current situation with WWE, going as far as to call him a “spoiled brat” for walking out on the company when he didn’t get what he wanted, and claimed that he is suffering from “spoiled brat syndrome.”

“The World’s Most Dangerous Man” also spoke about Triple H, noting that Hunter dislikes him because he had to put him over several times during Attitude Era. Shamrock claimed that “The Game” strongly dislikes putting other people over.

Possible Situation at WrestleMania XXX

According to me, Triple H & Daniel Bryan will have a grueling match but as we all know, Triple H will be defeated & Bryan advances to the Main Event Title match. Triple H gets pissed by this & attacks Bryan after the match & assaults him with a Sledgehammer.

Then throughout the night Michael Cole will discuss with the announce team "Guys how in the world is Daniel Bryan gonna be able to compete after that vicious attack by HHH?". But in the end Bryan will over come the odds and win the Triple Threat title match at WrestleMania & send the fans home happy.
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