On the mix of talents on the TNA roster:
“Right now we have a great balance. You’re seeing a lot of young guys coming up. Guys like AJ Styles and myself were carrying the company for a good five years, and now you’re seeing a lot of younger talents step up like James Storm and Austin Aries. Other guys have stepped up to the plate and shown that they deserve a shot, Bobby Roode is one of them. So it’s not just the Kurt Angle Show like it used to be. I’m happy and I think it’s a good mix and it gives me new opponents to work with in the near future.”
On his reputation as the go-to guy for making new stars in WWE and TNA:
“I really enjoyed it, I took it as a compliment. At TNA they did the same thing. They’d bring in somebody like the Pope or Mr. Anderson or whoever else that was coming in that was coming from WWE or had somewhat of a name, the first program they’d do would be with me. I’ve always enjoyed that it’s a good challenge and Desmond Wolfe was another one that came from Ring of Honor. So I like that and I know that the company has faith in me. Both WWE and TNA had the faith in me to make the guys look as good as I could.”
On the argument that small wrestlers cannot succeed as world champions:
“I think Austin Aries as champion, I think he deserves it, he’s an awesome talent. Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, unfortunately their tragedies really damaged the ability for smaller guys to step up and become champions. I don’t know why but I think they were just unfortunate. I don’t think it was because of their size, I think they were just terrible tragedies that happened with both those families and it’s gotten a little bit of a bad reputation now, the under 6 foot club. I don’t think it should be that way. I think any size is a good size.”
On his aspirations for a potential MMA career:
“The last time I talked was two and a half years ago with Dana White, I took the UFC physical. We just couldn’t come to terms on a starting time. I wanted it three to six months, Dana needed me in four and a half weeks and I understand he wanted me to be ready and he needed me at that point and it just wasn’t gonna work out. They wanted me to be on Ultimate Fighter but I told them I wouldn’t do it for free. So he came up with a very nice deal, that being I would get paid very well for that, thank God, and a six fight deal. I didn’t want to go in there half prepared. I wanted to go in there full blown. I’m 43 now, I tried out for the Olympics or I was going to and I got injured five different times last year. So my body’s just not holding up the way I want it to so I don’t think it’s going to be a possibility.”
