Post by CandyKANE on Dec 17, 2002 22:04:55 GMT -5
credit: wwe.com
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Dec. 15, 2002 – Chris Jericho claims to be the “King of the World,” but right now, Kurt Angle might beg to differ.
The Olympic gold medalist and his wife, Karen, welcomed their first child into the world two weeks ago. Then, tonight, Angle defeated the Big Show to become a three-time WWE Champion. Angle was also very pleased with his match against Show, so he was in excellent spirits after the match, even though his right knee has been giving him problems for several weeks now.
“I’ve always said this whenever I’m interviewed,” Angle said. “When you’re a WWE Champion, it’s not about the feeling of winning it, it’s the feeling of, ‘Hey, I’m considered one of the best here, and the company has that much confidence in me, to become champion.’ It makes you feel good that they’re relying on you to carry the title. In this business, when you win the title, you’re considered the best. That’s what makes me feel good.”<br>
Regarding the match tonight, Angle said, “I thought Big Show put on a great performance. I think we accomplished what we wanted to. Big Show’s got a lot of talent, and when you can bring all of his talent out, it feels pretty good. He’s the kind of guy that, if you can get him fired up, he’s as good as anybody, but you’ve got to have him rise to the occasion. He’s so much bigger than everybody else, sometimes he tends to relax and take advantage of his size. But tonight he was on, and I just feel honored and privileged to have as good of a match as we did.”<br>
Big Show was also delighted with the match.
“I’m higher than a kite right now,” Show said afterward. “That’s one of the best matches I’ve ever had. I don’t have a lot of fans as far as my working ability. I’m not a great worker like an Eddie Guerrero or a Chris Benoit, and I never will be. But to go out there with Kurt Angle, tell a good story, have a good match and excite the crowd, it’s good for business, and that’s what’s important right now. We need to keep our fans happy and make them want to come see us work
“I really enjoyed the title run that I had. I thought it was probably the best title run that I’ve ever had in my entire career. I had a lot of good things happen, made a lot of good things happen, and had a lot of good people help me. It was a really, really good time in my life. I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for the opportunity. I hope the fans enjoyed it.
Now I move on to the next step, whether it’s a Triple Threat with Kurt and Brock Lesnar, or Dead Man Walking is going to be back right around the corner, and I’m sure my ass is grass then.”<br>
Angle faces arthroscopic surgery this Thursday, making him probably the only Superstar in history to win the WWE Championship with surgery scheduled in four days. But the “scope” is necessary to take care of torn cartilage in his right knee, which has caused severe arthritis – to the point where his knee locks up on him and he can’t walk -- and forced him to wear a cumbersome knee brace to the ring.
Angle had gone back and forth lately over when to schedule to surgery. At first, he wanted to hold off as long as possible, perhaps toughening it out until late 2003. Angle added that he appreciated the fact that Jim Ross, senior vice president of talent relations, also wanted Angle to delay the surgery because Ross didn’t want Angle laid up for a few weeks with Angle’s baby just being born.
But a recent visit to Dr. James Andrews, who will perform the surgery on Thursday, and talks with WWE officials convinced him to get it done immediately.
“We realized that right now is not a good time to hold off,” he said. “I’ve got a huge storyline with Brock Lesnar, and to be partially through it and then get seriously injured and be out, then we’d be stuck. So we figured, ‘Let’s do it over the holidays. Let’s get back for the Royal Rumble. Let’s be 100 percent healthy.’”
He said the injury will only keep him out two to three weeks and that he will still be able to appear on television in a non-wrestling capacity. Once he’s cleared to return to the ring, he plans to continue to wear the knee brace for six to eight more weeks.
He will, however, be available to wrestle Tuesday night at the SmackDown! taping in Tampa, Fla.
The new champion said the injury was a factor in tonight’s match.
“I played it a little bit on the safe side,” he said. “I did what I could. I’m very hesitant right now because I know that on any moment it could lock up on me, and I didn’t want that to happen in my match. The one thing I took a chance on was the moonsault, which I probably shouldn’t have done, but I figured with a guy like Big Show, I probably need something like that.”<br>
Angle can now take the title home and show it to his baby daughter. Kyra Marie Angle – 7 pounds, 9 ounces -- was born on Dec. 2.
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Dec. 15, 2002 – Chris Jericho claims to be the “King of the World,” but right now, Kurt Angle might beg to differ.
The Olympic gold medalist and his wife, Karen, welcomed their first child into the world two weeks ago. Then, tonight, Angle defeated the Big Show to become a three-time WWE Champion. Angle was also very pleased with his match against Show, so he was in excellent spirits after the match, even though his right knee has been giving him problems for several weeks now.
“I’ve always said this whenever I’m interviewed,” Angle said. “When you’re a WWE Champion, it’s not about the feeling of winning it, it’s the feeling of, ‘Hey, I’m considered one of the best here, and the company has that much confidence in me, to become champion.’ It makes you feel good that they’re relying on you to carry the title. In this business, when you win the title, you’re considered the best. That’s what makes me feel good.”<br>
Regarding the match tonight, Angle said, “I thought Big Show put on a great performance. I think we accomplished what we wanted to. Big Show’s got a lot of talent, and when you can bring all of his talent out, it feels pretty good. He’s the kind of guy that, if you can get him fired up, he’s as good as anybody, but you’ve got to have him rise to the occasion. He’s so much bigger than everybody else, sometimes he tends to relax and take advantage of his size. But tonight he was on, and I just feel honored and privileged to have as good of a match as we did.”<br>
Big Show was also delighted with the match.
“I’m higher than a kite right now,” Show said afterward. “That’s one of the best matches I’ve ever had. I don’t have a lot of fans as far as my working ability. I’m not a great worker like an Eddie Guerrero or a Chris Benoit, and I never will be. But to go out there with Kurt Angle, tell a good story, have a good match and excite the crowd, it’s good for business, and that’s what’s important right now. We need to keep our fans happy and make them want to come see us work
“I really enjoyed the title run that I had. I thought it was probably the best title run that I’ve ever had in my entire career. I had a lot of good things happen, made a lot of good things happen, and had a lot of good people help me. It was a really, really good time in my life. I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for the opportunity. I hope the fans enjoyed it.
Now I move on to the next step, whether it’s a Triple Threat with Kurt and Brock Lesnar, or Dead Man Walking is going to be back right around the corner, and I’m sure my ass is grass then.”<br>
Angle faces arthroscopic surgery this Thursday, making him probably the only Superstar in history to win the WWE Championship with surgery scheduled in four days. But the “scope” is necessary to take care of torn cartilage in his right knee, which has caused severe arthritis – to the point where his knee locks up on him and he can’t walk -- and forced him to wear a cumbersome knee brace to the ring.
Angle had gone back and forth lately over when to schedule to surgery. At first, he wanted to hold off as long as possible, perhaps toughening it out until late 2003. Angle added that he appreciated the fact that Jim Ross, senior vice president of talent relations, also wanted Angle to delay the surgery because Ross didn’t want Angle laid up for a few weeks with Angle’s baby just being born.
But a recent visit to Dr. James Andrews, who will perform the surgery on Thursday, and talks with WWE officials convinced him to get it done immediately.
“We realized that right now is not a good time to hold off,” he said. “I’ve got a huge storyline with Brock Lesnar, and to be partially through it and then get seriously injured and be out, then we’d be stuck. So we figured, ‘Let’s do it over the holidays. Let’s get back for the Royal Rumble. Let’s be 100 percent healthy.’”
He said the injury will only keep him out two to three weeks and that he will still be able to appear on television in a non-wrestling capacity. Once he’s cleared to return to the ring, he plans to continue to wear the knee brace for six to eight more weeks.
He will, however, be available to wrestle Tuesday night at the SmackDown! taping in Tampa, Fla.
The new champion said the injury was a factor in tonight’s match.
“I played it a little bit on the safe side,” he said. “I did what I could. I’m very hesitant right now because I know that on any moment it could lock up on me, and I didn’t want that to happen in my match. The one thing I took a chance on was the moonsault, which I probably shouldn’t have done, but I figured with a guy like Big Show, I probably need something like that.”<br>
Angle can now take the title home and show it to his baby daughter. Kyra Marie Angle – 7 pounds, 9 ounces -- was born on Dec. 2.