By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

TNA president Dixie Carter said Kurt Angle was allowed to keep the TNA World Title at the Hard Justice PPV one day after being arrested because TNA wanted the let the legal system play out before they made a decision on Angle's TNA future.

"I was briefed on the details of what happened, and I also know that people are innocent until proven guilty," Carter told Kevin Eck of the Baltimore Sun. "And I think just like most sports franchises these days, they let the legal system do what they do best and you await the outcome. And that’s what we did."

Angle was arrested on Saturday, Aug. 15 on several counts, then TNA allowed him to wrestle and keep the World Title as the company's top representative the following day. Angle has denied any wrongdoing and says he is innocent of the charges against him, specifically the violation of the Protection From Abuse filed by his ex-girlfriend, Trenesha Biggers (Rhaka Khan).

In the interview, Carter was asked about Biggers's status with the company. Carter said Biggers is still with the company as a "TNA talent." Biggers said after yesterday's court proceedings related to Angle's PFA violation that she was told by a person in TNA's office that she was forcing the company to choose which one to keep on the roster.

Link: Baltimore Sun interview.

Caldwell's Analysis: I thought it was interesting how Carter answered Kevin Eck's question about keeping the title on Angle. Eck's question was: "Can you talk about the decision to keep the TNA world title on Kurt Angle at the pay-per-view a day after his arrest?" Carter answered about the legal aspect, but did not answer about Kurt Angle's health. He was one day removed from spending several hours in jail without much to eat. He looked sick on camera and "not himself" in the ring during the PPV main event. I would be more concerned about defending the decision to put a "sick and unhealthy" Angle versus a "straight-out-of-jail Angle" in the ring, although the question was obviously leading to an answer about the legal aspect.

Looking at what Carter actually said, she talked about other sports franchises allowing their players to continue playing while a legal process is ongoing. That's true in some cases, but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has built a reputation for swiftly cracking down on negative behavior from players. Almost two weeks later, this is the first time TNA management has addressed the issues outside of a bare bones "No Comment" response. No one came out and defended Angle, Biggers, or said they were allowing the legal process to run its course and were reserving judgment until then. To the public, their "no action" showed they were not taking control of the situation; they were allowing the situation to control them.

Angle and Biggers were left hanging out to dry. As a result, Angle went into business for himself on Bubba the Love Sponge last week, saying he wasn't even supposed to be talking about the issue and probably wouldn't have been cleared to do the interview ahead of time. He claimed TNA wanted the issue to quietly go away. Biggers then told reporters yesterday that a TNA office person told her she was forcing the company to choose between the two of them after she filed the PFA against Angle. She said her feeling is that Angle has been "slandering her in the media." Meanwhile, TNA has sat on the sidelines while both sides have been flinging mud on each other. Angle and Biggs seem to behaving as if they feel they are on their own handling this matter. Privately, TNA might have taken control over the situation. Publicly, TNA has not taken ownership over a very nasty, public dispute involving the company's top representative as company champion.

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