WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle has outlined his concerns over the current state of professional wrestling.
The upcoming April is a big month for wrestling. WrestleMania takes place across two nights for WWE.
Read: WrestleMania 38 Nights 1 and 2: UK start time, how to watch, streams, how much, fight cards
Fans are guaranteed to witness plenty of drama throughout the event. For instance, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin will appear as part of the ‘KO Show’ alongside Kevin Owens. In addition, WWE appear to be waiting until the last minute before announcing whether he will compete in a match for the first time in 19 years.
Read: WWE considering change to Stone Cold plan for WrestleMania 38
Roman Reigns is the longest-serving Universal Champion, and will take on WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a ‘title v title’ match at the event. Undoubtedly, it promises to be a cracker.
AEW is also on the rise, with CM Punk, Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson headlining events.
One concern that fans have is that, although wrestling is filled with incredible athletes, there is a relative lack of storytelling within some matches compared to previous times.
There have, of course, been plenty of success stories in recent times. Randy Orton, for instance, is revered as one of the all-time greats of professional wrestling, partly due to the psychology he employs during matches.
Edge’s recent feud with AJ Styles, meanwhile, has opened up a new side to the ‘Rated R Superstar’. In addition, that will surely make for a captivating WrestleMania match between the two stars.
And Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair‘s pre-WrestleMania rivalry has been notable for the personal angle attached to it and has captivated fans. However, some fans express concern over the fact that isn’t the case for all matches.
Kurt Angle wrestled his final WWE match at WrestleMania 35, losing to Baron Corbin. He was released by the company in April 2020 and is yet to return.
He also is concerned about storytelling and psychology in matches – and has explained why.
Kurt Angle explains his issue with wrestling
Speaking to SHAK Wrestling (quotes via Wrestling Inc), Angle delivered his views: “It’s receded because a lot of these athletes now just do a bunch of spots. Nothing really makes sense. It’s more of a spot fest.
“They go out there and do these impressive things, a couple flips over the top rope onto the floor, you know? Things that don’t tell a story, you know?
“Psychology is the most important thing in wrestling, and you want to have great psychology and a good storyline. A good story is babyface versus heel.”
He then continued: “A lot of these matches now, there’s no babyface and no heel. It’s just two athletes going at it, and I think that’s where we lost a little bit of our psychology.”
Angle is not the first WWE wrestler to make storytelling comments
Angle’s criticisms are not unique. Furthermore, soon-to-be WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker made similar comments in 2020.
In an interview with Corey Graves on the ‘After the Bell‘ podcast, ‘The Phenom’ said: “You have to work smart to make this thing last. You can work hard, and you should work hard every night.
“But you have to work smart. And I think the guys right now are relying too much on athleticism, and not enough on storytelling.”
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