TNA Wrestling Champion Kurt Angle made an impact this weekend when he was arrested for DWI in Virginia. This makes the second time in two weeks a major TNA superstar has been arrested for DWI but the big question here is whether Angle will suffer the same fate as former co-worker Matt Hardy.
The report came in on Sunday night via TMZ. According to TMZ, “Angle’s car was spotted by another driver … swerving between lanes on I-66. Angle was busted by Virginia State Troopers, who responded to the call, and taken to Warren County Jail.” Angle posted a $2000 bond and was released at 3:31 AM.
This is just another in a long line of similar arrests for the former Olympic gold medalist. This makes Angle’s third arrest since 2007. Angle was arrested and charged with DUI in 2007 but later beat all of the charges. Angle was most recently arrested back in May when he was found asleep at the wheel in North Dakota intoxicated.
The arrest also paints a very disturbing public picture of TNA Wrestling. While TNA isn’t very high profile on the radar of non-wrestling fans, they have been featured quite prominently on TMZ.com for two separate cases of DWI. Now you have the TNA champion all over the news for a DWI. I can’t imagine that the folks at Spike TV or Panda Energy are very pleased about the reputation that the company is getting. Dixie Carter may have no choice but to take action in this matter.
The news also caps off a fairly embarrassing week for the TNA champion. In the last week Angle has made some strange claims about a UFC deal and has been whining about his place on the WWE Top 50 list. Angle came in at 34 and has been ranting about it on Twitter all week.
“I have never been More Insulted By Wwe top 50.#34 to Me Is a kick to the balls!Take Me out of ratings.please.U think fans will buy that crap” – @AngleFoods1
He later tweeted about Shawn Michaels spot at #1 – “Shawn Michaels Deserves #1. He has Been Putting On Awesome Matches for Well Over 20something Years. I Will Not Complain. It is What It Is!!!” – @AngleFoods1
Ironically just a few hours before his arrest he appeared to have changed his mind.
“Hulk Hogan should Be #1 on Wwe top 50. Hello?”- @AngleFoods1
Hey listen, all of this confusion about the WWE top 50 is enough to send anyone into a drinking frenzy right?
Is firing Kurt Angle a little too harsh? If this was his first offense maybe, but this is a guy with a pattern here and something has to give. It is irresponsible for TNA to continue to keep this guy on the payroll who continues to put other people at risk due to drinking and driving. Continuing to employ Angle and give him free passes is practically encouraging the behavior. Say what you will about the WWE but he would be fired tomorrow if he was under a WWE contract.
Like the Matt Hardy situation, I am not going to sit here and tell you about how I hope that Angle just gets himself better. I could care less. I’ll save that kind of sympathy and empathy for the friends, family, and loved ones in my life. However, I do hope he does get better. Not for him, but for the dozens of people he has put at risk over the years every time he gets behind the wheel impaired. Those are the biggest victims in this tragedy, not Kurt Angle.
Update: TMZ.com has obtained a copy of Certificate of Blood Alcohol Analysis done at the time of the arrest. Angle’s blood alcohol level was .06, under the .08 legal limit.
Update #2: So much for Kurt’s blood alcohol claim. According to a new report in a Virginia newspaper, Angle was well over the legal limit when he was pulled over.
“Impact Wrestling champion Kurt Angle’s initial test showed a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.091 percent when he was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence early Sunday morning, according to state police.” “I made contact with the driver and detected the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage,” Scally wrote in the police report. “I asked Mr. Angle, whom I identified by his Pa. drivers license, how much he had to drink and he replied he had three beers.”
The report also said that Angle’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy. He also failed six sobriety tests at the scene of the arrest. The report says that the test Angle released to TMZ.com was a second test, not the test that got Angle arrested.
Angle needs to be fired. Not only is this a repeated offense, not only has he shown no remorse, but he is in complete denial to the point of accusing the police department of framing him. This whole thing stinks and the guy deserves to be cut immediately. I am a big fan of Angle in the ring, but out of the ring he has turned into a pretty pathetic individual.
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Eric G.
Eric is the owner and editor-in-chief of the Camel Clutch Blog. Eric has worked in the pro wrestling industry since 1995 as a ring announcer in ECW and a commentator/host on television, PPV, and home video. Eric also hosted Pro Wrestling Radio on terrestrial radio from 1998-2009. Check out some of Eric's work on his IMDB bio and Wikipedia. Eric has an MBA from Temple University's Fox School of Business.
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