During a Q&A on AdFreeShows.com, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle commented on the “unsung heroes” of TNA/Impact Wrestling and brought up Vince Russo:
“The unsung hero that I think? I love Vince Russo. I don’t know how fans think about him or how they feel about him, but Vince was very talented. The success he had in WWE was phenomenal, The Attitude Era. When he went to WCW, the problem was he was writing for the wrestlers and they were like, ‘I’m not doing that. I’m going to do whatever I want’, so his storylines turned into something else because the wrestlers turned it into whatever they wanted and so it got diluted. I think that’s the reason that WCW kind of went downhill. When he was in TNA, he was phenomenal. He wrote for me every week. I didn’t have any problems with him. I know there are some fans that don’t like him, there are some wrestlers that don’t like him, but Vince was very talented.”
Angle also praised the Carter family and Dixie Carter:
“Dixie’s parents were incredibly supportive. They always came up with the money that was needed. If the company wasn’t making the money that they needed to, the Carters were there. They’ve always been there and they did an excellent job at starting this company and making it continue on. Dixie Carter is the best boss I’ve ever had. She is not only stern and strict, but she’s also very caring like a mother, and she takes care of her wrestlers. The stuff that I went through and what I put her through, she should have fired me, but instead, she had me go to rehab. She gave me all the time off I needed. Anytime I wanted to take a break, Dixie would let me do it. I didn’t have to wrestle. As a matter of fact, there was one year I took nine months off because I had knee surgery and she paid me in full for the whole nine months. Dixie was a great asset to TNA, and without her, I don’t think the company would have done as well.”
