Author Reveals Who Would Have Won Planned Kurt Angle vs. Jason Jordan Match

In an interview with the Smark to Death podcast (via Wrestling Inc), Jon Robinson, the author of Creating the Mania: An Inside Look at How WrestleMania Comes to Life, revealed who would have won a proposed match between Kurt Angle and Jason Jordan for the event, before Jordan suffered a neck injury. Here are highlights:

On having behind-the-scenes access to Wrestlemania: “Ya know, it’s crazy. When WWE came to me and asked if I was interested in writing the book, I was like ‘so wait, you’re gonna give me access to the creative team and the business people and the superstars themselves’ and I was like ‘I don’t believe it.’ Other WWE books maybe they promise a behind the scenes look, but maybe didn’t necessarily get the true story. And I said I was gonna write it unless I could tell the true story. So, I put together a list of 50-75 people and for the most part, I got to talk to the people I wanted to talk to. I got to talk to the head of creative for Raw and Smackdown and they were filling me in on the storylines months in advance of when these matches were announced. It was pretty crazy to know what was going to happen and then actually see it change on TV. And things happen, ya know, someone gets injured or whatever.”

On plans for Kurt Angle vs. Jason Jordan: “They were really gonna do Kurt Angle vs Jason Jordan and this was gonna put Jason Jordan over huge and make him a top star. Then Jason Jordan gets injured, that’s another big change. Then what do you do with Kurt? Then obviously he gets thrown into an even bigger match. It’s crazy to see everything change from what I’m being told, to watching the show, then going back and talking to them again. Having that kind of access was incredible, especially for someone like me who has been a huge fan since I was a little kid.”

On if he feels pressure writing books for wrestling fans: “No not at all. I’m a wrestling fan myself. I try to write it how I want to read about the topic. A lot of the writing process, I forget people are reading this other than myself. I used to write for ESPN, IGN, and some writing for Sports Illustrated. Sometimes you write and you forget other people actually read it. I try to write for what the audience would like and hope for the best.”