12 Wrestlers Who Benefited From Their WWE Release
1. Kurt Angle
One of the most complete performers his generation and a shoe-in for the WWE Hall of Fame, Kurt Angle, at this point in his career, is just as much a “TNA Guy” as a “WWE Guy”, if not moreso.
Having wrestled for the company since 1998, Kurt left WWE in 2006. It was a mutual decision. Kurt wanted time-off to heal a series of serious injuries that he’d been working through for years, while reports suggest that Angle’s injuries were so bad that if he chose to keep wrestling, he might die in the ring.
It came as a surprise, then, when Angle signed a TNA contract little over a month later. He is by far the highest profile wrestler to ever jump ship from WWE to TNA, and while his injury concerns have only escalated over the years, Angle is a TNA Hall of Famer, and the most decorated wrestler in the company’s history.
TNA gave Kurt Angle the opportunity to continue as a high-level professional wrestler when it was clear that his WWE career was over. It was a two-way choice: sign with TNA, or find something else to do with his life. Angle chose the former, and became a six-time TNA Champion, an X Division Champion, and a two-time Tag Team Champion.
Today’s Kurt Angle might be a shade of his former self, and he’s unlikely to get the second WWE run he so openly covets, but moving to TNA kept Kurt Angle relevant and allowed him to continue doing the thing he loves most, even at the cost of his long-term health.