Is Kurt Angle Ready For A WWE In-Ring Return? WWE Signs Big Japanese TV Deal

Kurt Angle might have returned to WWE television as General Manager of Monday Night Raw, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be back in the ring. As it turns out, Kurt Angle is suffering from some lasting nerve damage due to his lingering injuries.

Kurt Angle recently appeared on the Talk Is Jericho podcast where he revealed that he doesn’t have nearly the upper body strength he used to. Angle told Chris Jericho that he can now only bench press 185 pounds which is a fraction of what he could normally lift. It is also a minimal amount of weight for someone his size.

Kurt Angle also revealed he actually considered an MMA run, but at this point in his career it wouldn’t be a wise venture. Angle said he wouldn’t have been able to adequately defend himself given his current situation. But those are the long-term effects after suffering as many neck injuries as a guy like Kurt Angle has had to endure.

WWE has inked a deal with DAZN which is an international live sports streaming service. DAZN also happens to be owned by the same parent company as Sporting News. Under this new deal, WWE programming will be made available for live consumption to Japan. Therefore, if you live in the Land Of The Rising Sun, it is now possible to watch Raw and SmackDown Live at the same time it airs for fans in the US.

This is a big deal for WWE as they are featuring a huge name in Japanese wrestling with Shinsuke Nakamura. But of course to see Raw or SmackDown in Japan as it happens, you’ll need to be watching at 9am.

It is still great headway in capturing the interest of the Japanese fanbase because the shows will also air with live Japanese commentary too. This is the first time that WWE’s weekly television shows will be made available for live viewing with Japan’s native language as the only other previous way to watch Raw or SmackDown in Japan was with English commentary.