Why WWE Nixed Kurt Angle Program, Chris Jericho Possible COVID Exposure

Kurt Angle is fond of declaring he wrestled with a “broken freakin’ neck”, but wait till you hear why WWE nixed a Kurt Angle program. Also, Chris Jericho may have a possible COVID exposure, after he and his band worked the Sturgis rally last month.

Why WWE Nixed Kurt Angle Program

Kurt Angle is a WWE Hall of Famer, but he doesn’t always get what he wants. WWE nixed a Kurt Angle program, and we can get into the who and the why now.

Specifically, Rusev wanted a program with the Olympian upon his return to WWE. 

On paper, such a feud would be stereotypical Vince McMahon. Rusev would represent big bad Russia, with Kurt Angle of course repping the USA.

Rusev (aka Miro) recently revealed this dream program for him and Angle, via his Twitch stream.

Problem is, as much as Rusev wanted it…WWE top officials shot it down. Why?

As Miro put it, the officials were concerned that the program could be too risky. As in, they were afraid Angle could die.

Now, that might seem like a crazy concern, but consider Angle’s history.

He wrestled in the 1996 Olympics with, as he puts it, “a broken freakin’ neck”. His neck issues led to his initial departure from WWE, with company doctors not willing to clear him for in ring action at that time.

Obviously, things changed and Angle was able to return to WWE and work some special matches. 

A program against the Bulgarian Brute was not one of them, however. Interesting to ponder what could have been.

For now, it’s a moot point anyways. Both Superstars were released from WWE earlier in 2020.

Chris Jericho Possible COVID Exposure

2020 has been dominated by COVID-19 and the pandemic’s wide-ranging impact. While some things try to get back to normal, Chris Jericho risked a possible COVID exposure.

Having Fozzy do a show at the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally raised eyebrows. Jericho defended the move on the basis of how low South Dakota’s numbers were (comparing them to Florida and other states).

Why WWE Nixed Kurt Angle Program, Chris Jericho Possible COVID Exposure

In hindsight, the move looks less good than not.

On the upside, Jericho said his band isolated and were regularly checked and, thus far, neither the AEW star nor any of his band mates have shown any issues.

However, attendees of the rally tell a different tale. One body studying the event has actually declared the rally a superspreader event.

Official rally numbers aren’t always easy to come by, but estimates peg 2020 attendance at nearly 500,000 people over the nearly two week event.

Through contact tracing and reports, the IZA Institute of Labor Economics indicates that over 266,000 cases of COVID-19 have been linked to the August rally.

Or, to make the number even more staggering, basically half the people who attended the rally. One person who attended the event has since died from COVID.

The good news is that Chris Jericho seems fine. But it will be interesting to see if he and Fozzy scale back on performances, or if AEW changes his schedule in response.