Kurt Angle Says Roman Reigns Got the Short End of the Stick

– Kurt Angle recently spoke with Busted Open Radio to discuss his Hall of Fame induction and more. The audio and highlights are below:

On who he’d like to wrestle in one last match at WrestleMania: “Oh gosh, there are a lot of good wrestlers out there. I’ve been looking and studying them for a long time. I would love to go on the grand stage with AJ one day. Seth Rollins, I like Roman Reigns a lot. I think he was forced a little bit, and that’s why fans are rejecting him, but he’s kind of a kid. I love Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Rusev, there’s a lot of great talent right now. I’d say more right now than there were 10 years ago, around 2007 – 2008.”

On Roman Reigns: “Yeah that poor kid, he got the short end of the stick. When it comes down to it, it’s really not his fault. I’m not discrediting the WWE, I think they’ve done a fabulous job of pushing this kid. But I think the fans like to see going through the ringer. US Title, Intercontinental Title, King Of The Ring, then the WWE Title. I think Roman kind of stepped up there right away and became the main eventer, main evented Wrestlemania literally a year after The Shield broke up. I think it was partly that, but you can’t deny his talent. The kid is great in the ring.”

On Reigns’ in-ring work being better than people give him credit for: “He’s consistently been really good, whether the fans take to him or not he’s gonna be around. He’s gonna be around and continue to be on top of the card. I think eventually the fans will accept him, I feel like it’s almost the same with John Cena when John started. John was a little green but he stepped up and took him bumps and his lumps. When I wrestled him it was his first time, his first match. You see him then, he still had a great match with me, but you see him now and it’s worlds apart. The kid improved every single year, and I can’t believe he’s been able to do this for 14 years. I was on year seven and I was spent. I was done. I just couldn’t hand anymore. And I look at John Cena and I’m like, damn. Whether he’s a real life badass, he’s a badass in my eyes because nobody has done it this long. Not Austin, not Rock — consistently, even Undertaker. Taker had a nice run in the 90’s and 2000’s but then he became part time. Cena has been full time for almost 14 years.”