Jim Ross Thinks Team Angle May Have Been Too Vanilla For Vince McMahon

On a recent episode of his podcast, Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed the formation of Team Angle, the trio of Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin, and Charlie Haas. He also gave his thoughts on why the tag team may have been viewed as “too vanilla.” Here are the highlights:

On who came up with the idea: “I think if I was guessing and going by memory, that was [Jim] Cornette’s idea. Cornette had a great eye for talent, still does.”

Jim Ross on why Team Angle was viewed the way it was: “Those guys are good. They’re a good team. I think maybe for Vince’s sake, they might have been too vanilla. I’m not sure, I’m just speculating. I’m not saying I agree with that. But I think maybe the fact that they were red, white, and blue, and All-American boys and all that stuff, that might have affected their growth a little bit. Because it kind of pigeonholed them into one area, a babyface tag team. And that’s what they started out as, and had success for a good while.”

On why the team split up after a year-plus: “I think it was a tag team thing. You know, Vince had almost set parameters or limits on how far or how good a team can go. You know, I had the same philosophy. If I sign a team, there’s one person on that team that I’ve signed that I have my eye on. All men are not created equal. And so these guys just were phenomenal as a group. But then you wonder, ‘How far are they going to go as a single when they don’t have anybody in the corner waiting to tag and so forth?’ So I — that has a play in it? There’s no doubt. And… Hunter is not a big tag team guy. They have some great teams there, but the money is in the singles.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Grilling JR podcast with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.