Kurt Angle recently reflected on his decision to leave the WWE for Impact Wrestling (then known as TNA) back in 2006 on his podcast, The Kurt Angle Show. The former Olympic Gold Medalist was already a former world champion and WrestleMania main eventer by the time he made the jump and was the biggest name on a long list of former WWE stars to do so in the mid-to-late-2000s. And while Angle’s arrival and main event tenure in TNA helped establish it as the No. 2 pro wrestling promotion in the United States for a time, he thinks the wrestling world could’ve been completely reshaped if John Cena joined him in the promotion’s early years.
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By the time Angle arrived in Impact, Cena was already on his third run as WWE Champion — the only one of his 16 world championship reigns to last longer than a full year — and had just won his first WrestleMania main event earlier that year. As the ultimate company man, the idea of Cena ever wrestling for another company seemed impossible throughout his run as its top star.
Kurt Angle Believes John Cena Could Have Changed Wrestling in TNA
“John Cena, I believe, would have made just as much of an impact as I did in TNA,” Angle said (h/t Fightful). “If we both would have came there, that would have changed the face of wrestling. I really believe that. I honestly believe, John Cena coming to TNA would have probably changed the face. He was such a big name that he’d have a huge impact, immediately, like I did. I don’t know if he would have more of an impact, maybe, maybe not. John Cena is really talented and what he’s done in WWE is unparalleled.
“Having him come to TNA, first of all, if WWE released him or if Cena’s contract expired, WWE has no right to say, ‘You’re not allowed to do that.’ If Cena wanted to go to TNA, he would have gone to TNA. The question is, would John Cena do that? John would have changed the game,” he added.
Given TNA’s struggles in the early 2010s in its attempts to directly compete with WWE, would John Cena have been able to turn the tide if he was working in the Impact Zone? Would he have eventually wound up back in WWE anyway? Tell us your thoughts on this “What If?” scenario in the comments!
WWE SummerSlam 2023 Card
- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)
- World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair
- Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre
- Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
- Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler (MMA Rules)
- Ricochet vs. Logan Paul
- SummerSlam Battle Royal
