Brock Lesnar nearly joined TNA in 2007 after calling Kurt Angle about a move.
Kurt Angle revealed the news on his podcast this past week, saying Lesnar (then a free agent) called and asked Angle if he could get him into TNA. Angle said Lesnar asked him what he was making and that if Angle could get Lesnar the same deal, he was in. Angle said he then asked TNA management and was told no, speculating it was a budget issue due to the amount of talent they were already paying high salaries to.
During this time in 2007, Lesnar and Angle wrestled for the IWGP Third Belt Title at IGF Bom-Ba-Ye as Lesnar stepped away from WWE and Kurt Angle was the TNA Champion at that time.
Former TNA President Scott D’Amore confirmed that Lesnar did have talks with TNA in 2007. D’Amore wrote in his D’Amore Drop blog:
“Kurt Angle revealed this week that Brock Lesnar was in talks with TNA back in 2007. This is absolutely true — I was the producer of almost all Kurt’s early matches in TNA and he came to me saying Brock wanted to come over.
Kurt was very excited about this and, obviously, it would have been a huge, maybe trajectory-altering signing for TNA. I passed it on to Dixie Carter, who owned TNA at the time. But, as you already know, it didn’t happen.
It’s a huge what-if, not just for TNA, but for Lesnar. If he came to TNA on a big contract in 2007, would he have still debuted in MMA that year? Would he have felt the need to go fight in the UFC in 2008 and help usher in a legion of new fans for the UFC? I suppose we’ll never know.”
Brock Lesnar is set to return to the squared circle this Saturday against John Cena at WWE Wrestlepalooza.
