WrestleCade founder Tracy Myers issued the following statement regarding Kurt Angle being pulled from the convention by WWE: 

“In our 8 year history, the announcement of Angle’s appearance was one of our most popular. 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. 

Last year, more than 7,000 fans from around the world were in attendance and we expect even more this year. We have already announced a rare appearance both in and out of the ring by the legendary The Great Muta. We’ve also announced A Night With Dustin Rhodes, a WCCW Reunion panel and we’ll have at least 125 wrestling stars from several eras represented. Our fans are the greatest and it’s going to be an amazing weekend.”