TNA News: Kurt Angle says he's contemplating retirement, says TNA could tape Impact weekly, comments on WWE wrestler Jack Swagger playing a similar character

Kurt Angle appeared in studio on the Busted Open radio show on Friday with hosts Dave LaGreca and Doug Mortman. Angle acknowledged that he has one more year remaining on his contract and is considering retirement. "I gotta reevaluate," Angle said. "I'm pretty banged up. I've put a lot of effort into TNA as well.

"When I got there, they really weren't wrestling that much. Right when I got there, it was seemed like they chose... 'Kurt Angle got there, okay, we'll start having more shows.' My schedule became pretty heavy pretty quickly, but the last year or so they kind of backed off a little bit and knew they need to take care of me if they want me in a little bit longer."

Angle also commented on his neck. "Physically, I'm fine. The problem is I'm 41 years-old now. It's lot harder for me to recuperate. I'd say the last year-and-a-half have been the most difficult on me... I'm finding out that my body is not recuperating as fast as it used to. I was able to jump up out of bed and go and work out right away for the last 39 years, and then the last year-and-a-half has been a struggle... That's what TNA has done for me."

Angle also commented on WWE seemingly turning Jack Swagger into another version of him. "More power to him," said Angle. "I can't really pick on the kid. I don't think he's really making the decisions. I think they're trying to say he's the next Kurt Angle. In my opinion, that doesn't help Jack. You don't ever want to copy or portray somebody in a serious manner.

"Jay Lethal obviously is copying Ric Flair, but it's in a joking manner. I think Jack Swagger needs to be Jack Swagger and not Kurt Angle. It's not fortunate, but that's the direction they want to go with him and we'll see how it works out. I don't think anything like that ever pans out in the long run. We'll see. I just hope it works out. I like him. He's a good wrestler."

Angle also said TNA won't be taping four weeks of television in the future. "TNA is not going to be doing that anymore," he said. We're going to be sticking with the guidelines of what we know and what we do. I think eventually here in the near future, we'll probably be going every week. It's just a matter of funding and making sure that this company is strong enough to pay every single week to have the talent come down to Universal Studios down in Florida or if we start doing the show in different cities."

Powell's POV: Angle said it's possible the move to weekly tapings is Dixie Carter's big surprise, but he claimed he didn't know. I haven't heard anything about the company shifting to weekly tapings. It would be a costly move if they headed in that direction.

Other interview topics include Desmond Wolfe, former WWE Tough Enough wrestler Daniel Puder, whether TNA loses momentum by taping four weeks of television at a time, working or Vince McMahon and Dixie Carter, Ric Flair, Vince Russo, and Paul Heyman. You can listen to the full interview in two parts below.