WWE superstars from the past and present have weighed in on the news that wrestling will be dropped from the 2020 Olympics. They include at least a few who participated in the sport at the amateur, college or Olympic athlete level, although many have clear cut respect for the sport which led to their current form of sports entertainment.
A report from ESPN.com on Feb. 12 discusses the IOC leaders' decision to drop the sport from the Olympic program. Wrestling is currently one of the oldest sports in the history of the games, but will not be a part of them in the year 2020. With the elimination of wrestling from the schedule, that allows one new sport to enter the mix.
Due to the decision, various WWE stars have been commenting about the news about it on sites such as Twitter. Bleacher Report gives a report on several of those who have commented including the only Olympic gold medalist in WWE history, Kurt Angle, and current WWE World Heavyweight champ, Alberto Del Rio.
Angle, who is a former four time WWF/WWE champion, also won an Olympic gold medal in 1996 for the heavyweight division of freestyle wrestling. He tweeted on Tuesday about the decision, saying:
"#saveolympicwrestling. Show Your Love for the Sport. IOC Must Reverse Decision. Trend It Worldwide."
WWE superstar Alberto Del Rio tweeted:
"Wrestling is been part of the Olympic Games since the beginning. It's a beautiful sport! But I guess shooting a gun or forcing a horse to jump over hedges is more of a sport than wrestling to the committee. This is not right!"
Another guy who weighed in on the topic was Big E. Langston, a current bodyguard who accompanies Dolph Ziggler to the ring for matches. HE said of the decision:
"baffling. I learned life lessons on the mat that I'll never forget."
Other wrestlers who were part of WWE after they participated in amateur, college or "real wrestling," have included Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, Brock Lesnar and Dan Severn. Just like Big E. said there's been plenty learned in terms of fundamentals of the real sport that are used when it comes to fighting inside the ring for sports entertainment purposes.
Will the WWE and TNA wrestlers be able to lobby enough fans to protest the IOC decision to eliminate wrestling from the 2020 Olympics though?
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