Kurt Angle: WWE Should Tread Lightly If Moving Away From Independent Wrestlers

Much has been said of WWE’s apparent decision to stop scouting independent wrestling talents and instead focusing on developing athletes and performers from other industries.

You can’t knock WWE’s reasoning for this, as one of their greatest ever successes was Olympic gold medal winning amateur wrestler Kurt Angle. But having gone from amateur to pro in a short amount of time, Angle has expressed caution around WWE’s new policy.

Speaking to Wrestling Inc’s Nick Hausman, Angle said:

“I would tread very lightly on that because there are a lot of incredible independent wrestlers. Wrestlers that never did any real sport but they’re very good at their craft, and I would like to see the percentage. Fortunately, for me, I was a real athlete and won a gold medal at the Olympics. These kids that are trained to be pro wrestlers and working at the independent shows, they’re doing a lot of the work and they’re crafting their skills and their character. I don’t know how much character development occurs down at NXT, but I think a lot of character development occurs in independent shows.”