Kurt Angle Shoots Down WWE Royal Rumble Rumors, Talks If WWE Should Bring Hulk Hogan Back
As noted, Kurt Angle was pulled from his booking at this Saturday's "5 Star Wrestling" Dominant Wrestling TV show, which is set to air live on Spike TV UK at 8pm ET, hours before Sunday's Royal Rumble pay-per-view. The timing was interesting, however Angle spoke to TMZ Sports, as seen in the video above, and shut down rumors of appearing in the match.
"The Royal Rumble is not going to happen," Angle said. "A lot of people are assuming it, a lot of writers are writing about it. I haven't talked to WWE about anything after the WWE Hall of Fame. I'm sure they're going to want to do something eventually, I'm not sure if it's wrestling- related or not, but I would imagine that I would be attached to WWE most likely for the rest of my life. There aren't any clues or anything that led me to that, I just believe that this is the start our our new relationship and we're only focusing on the Hall of Fame."
Angle admitted that there's the possibility of wrestling down the road, but it hasn't been discussed.
Angle was also asked if he thinks Hulk Hogan will get another chance with WWE after the company suspended him in July of 2015 after a video of Hogan making racist comments was leaked. Angle says that he thinks that Hogan will be back with the company, and that it's only a matter of time. Angle talked about Hogan's importance to the business and how he made pro wrestling mainstream.
"Will he be back in WWE, I don't know. Does he deserve another shot? Yes," Angle said. "Hulk Hogan is a great guy, I have never heard him say one negative thing about anybody. He has relationships with people of all colors, of all races, it's never been an issue with him. Whether he was in a bad place in life when he said those things, I don't know. But I could tell you that Hulk Hogan will be a staple in professional wrestling forever."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit TMZ Sports with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.