By Chris Walters on January 31, 2005 at 1:24 PM EST

A few workers backstage in WWE were surprised as to how short Kurt Angle's stay in the Rumble was. It's no secret that Angle has been working hurt lately, and he was probably booked for such a short period as a precaution. WWE aimed to set up a feud between him and Shawn Michaels, which is scheduled to culminate in a WrestleMania match, and they accomplished that. Despite Angle working hurt, the feeling among a lot of people in the company is still that of surprise, seeing him get tossed from the match so quickly.

According to those within WWE, the general mood of the backstage area was very tense at last night's show, with things just escalating once Vince McMahon hurt his knee. As we previously reported on the news board, the morale wasn't at its peak coming in to the pay-per-view due to the hectic travel schedule the talent face this week. According to further reports, there was 'some comparing of notes" among the workers on the different brands, about things such as pay and morale, that didn't exactly make anyone overly happy.

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[ Source: PWInsider.Com ]