WWE has pulled Kurt Angle from his scheduled appearance at the WrestleCade convention in Winston-Salem, NC taking place November 29 through December 1, 2019.
According to a report from YES! Weekly, WrestleCade Co-Owner Brian Hawks was told that Angle couldn’t appear because the convention is “associated with AEW. AEW is considered a direct competitor to WWE.”
WrestleCade events creator Tracy Myers told YES! Weekly that with or without Angle the convention is still expected to sell out. Also according to the same report anyone who bought advanced meet and greet tickets to meet Angle have been contacted for refunds.
Myers issued the following statement regarding Kurt Angle being pulled by WWE from the convention:
“In our 8 year history, the announcement of Angles appearance was one of our most popular,” said Tracy Myers. “We were obviously excited and so were the fans. Then out of the blue, we received an email saying that Kurt had to cancel his WrestleCade Weekend appearance because WWE told him it competes directly with them. While I had read that WWE had pulled both Angle and The Undertaker from the Starrcast 2 event being held in Las Vegas May 23-26, I was still shocked. An agreement was in place with Kurt, the requested deposit was paid and the marketing blitz was in full swing. Now the fans are being penalized and it’s heartbreaking.”
We had previously reported that Angle was pulled by WWE from appearing at the Starcast II convention scheduled for Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas despite taking advanced bookings independently and being advertised for appearances at the convention.
Various other media outlets have been reporting that Angle recently signed a new five-year deal with WWE that could include returning to television as a manager and coaching talent, which would be the reason Angle is unable to appear at Starrcast II and WrestleCade.