Kurt Angle on Roman Reigns Push, Current WWE Stars, WWF Debut, More

Kurt Angle recently had an interview with the Washington Post discussing his thoughts on Roman Reigns push, current WWE stars, debut in the WWE, and more.

When asked about his opinion of Roman Reigns, Angle felt his star development was rushed too fast by the WWE and the main reason why he has struggled to become their next mega star. Said the WWE should have been more gradual with his big pushes or at least turn him heel if their plans were not working.

“I love him. The issue with Roman is he was utilized and pushed way too fast. When you skip the U.S. Title, Intercontinental Title, the King of the Ring and go right to the top, fans don’t like that. … Half the fans love him; half the fans hate him. Same with [John] Cena. When Cena came in, Vince pushed the hell out of him and fans were like, ‘Gosh, dang. This guy’s invincible. I hate him!’ … If Vince waits it out a bit, fans will start to accept [Roman Reigns], and if they don’t, then turn him heel.”

After being asked who in the WWE he currently likes, Angle revealed Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and Chad Gable as among those who he sees as great talents.

“Seeing the talent in Cesaro and Kevin Owens, I love the kid. I’m a huge fan of him. What he can do for a guy his size [and] how he’s able to move around the way he does, he defies the laws of gravity. … There are a lot of talents that I’d love to wrestle: Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins. But as far as reminding me of myself, that [Chad] Gable kid, he’s a little bit undersized, but damn he can go!”

Angle later revealed during the interview about not wanting to be a heel for his WWF debut and trying to convince Vince to change it. Angle felt crowds would love him because of his Olympic career while Vince felt it was a great basis for an arrogant heel character instead.

“I disagreed with him. I told him, ‘It’s not gonna work, I won a gold medal [with] a broken freakin’ neck! People are gonna love me!’ He said, ‘No, they’re gonna hate your guts.’ He was right.”

Other highlights from the interview included Angle having a lot of fun during his WWE Hall of Fame induction, his comedy segments with Vince and Austin being completely improvised, and his favorite opponents to wrestle were Steve Austin and Chris Benoit.