Kurt Angle compares wrestling and mma

Photo courtesy of tnawrestling.com

Ever since Kurt Angle (pictured above) joined Total Nonstop Action (TNA) wrestling, he has done interview after interview that makes him sound like he is either a few French-fries short of a happy meal or needs to be institutionalized.

However, Angle's most recent interview where he compared the difference between pro-wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts actually made sense. I don't know if Angle took a nap before the interview or what but this is the second interview in a row where Angle has not sounded like someone who needed to be institutionalized for his own well-being.

In his interview with "Slam Wrestling," Angle had the following to say:

"In wrestling, there’s a story in every match. In MMA, you cannot tell that story. ..There is not story in a 'shoot' fight -- you either get knocked out, choked out, tapped out, or you make it and the referee decides who wins by decision. It becomes very difficult to tell a story in a worked shoot...I believe pro wrestling will always be around....People like to lose that touch of reality for a couple of hours and watch the show and have fun. Going out there, and cutting a promo, or heeling in a match and the crowd are booing you, and they’re becoming emotionally involved -- that's what makes it fun. Wrestling's a beautiful art. I’m a big MMA fan, and I think wrestling's way better."

I know most MMA fans will disagree with what Angle said and say that MMA is better because its real but, what Angle said made a lot of sense and was a perfect description of the difference. I am a fan of both pro wrestling and MMA and find a lot of MMA matches boring. I am sick and tired of seeing fights, such as the recent Clay Guida fight, where the two fighters just roll around on top of each other for 10 minutes doing nothing!

I have watched plenty of MMA events the last couple years, including several pay-per-views and I have felt ripped-off with the pay-per-views because the main-fights didn't even last two-minutes.

Let's say I order an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) PPV for about $25-$30 and every fight on the card ends quickly. I am suppose to be happy that I spent my money on six-seven fights that lasted a total of five minutes, if that? Heck no! I just wasted my cash and would have rather just watched the event on youtube before the Zuffa Nazi's had the event taken down.

In contrast, the fans in wrestling can dictate how good the match is because its worked and designed to have the fans become emotionally involved. Also, the fans know they won't be ripped off as one match at a wrestling event will last longer than an entire card of MMA fights put together.