Bizarre Reason Kurt Angle Lost The TNA World Heavyweight Title Revealed

Professional wrestling is certainly an odd industry at times, with the inner workings and backstage politics of the business oftentimes stranger than some of the most outlandish storylines that play out on TV.

For IMPACT/TNA there have been many odd occurrences in their history, but former TNA executive Billy Corgan revealed to Chris Van Vliet on Insight a strange call that saw Kurt Angle lose the TNA World Championship:

“I remember being in a TNA and there was some grousing about Kurt Angle being the champion, which seems strange to me because Kurt Angle was one of the all-time greats and always a great person to do business with behind the scenes. Nothing but respect for Kurt. So I was like, ‘why are people complaining?’ Oh, well, you know, somebody pulls you aside, well, we are on Destination America, Destination America told Dixie Carter, you need someone as a champion who represents America,” revealed Corgan.

That’s right, Olympic Gold Medalist and American hero Kurt Angle somehow didn’t represent America enough for Destination America. 

“It wasn’t a wrestling decision based on setting up wrestling characters. It was like the network who’s paying us all this money, told us so we’re going to do what the network said,” continued Corgan.

Kurt Angle reigned as TNA World Heavyweight Champion from March 20 to July 1, 2015 before he dropped the belt to Ethan Carter III.

With so much money pumped into televised wrestling companies by their broadcasters, there is precedent for those in the networks to enact their will on the product.

H/T: Inside the Ropes