With the recent news that Kurt Angle is truly retired from in ring competition, he also spoke on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast about his return and final run in the WWE.
It’s a run many fans have differing opinions on as Angle finished off his wrestling career with a whimper rather than a blaze of glory.
It’s not so much about his final match as it’s standard practice for those leaving to put over another talent, but his overall run was underwhelming at best for many of us.
And given how great he was, most of us feel he deserved better.
Not getting a hero’s return
Of course, there are certain circumstances that played into how Angle was treated when he came back, and he touched on that during the above mentioned interview.
“No, not at all. I went back to WWE. It wasn’t a big welcome home. It was more of a, ‘we’re going to show you what you did when you left us.’ I didn’t have any hard feelings about it, but Vince McMahon just didn’t have any plans for me.
“I was doing more jobs than I was winning. I don’t blame him for that. I left the company high and dry in 2006, and coming back, I think he felt that I was a little bit of a liability because of my broken necks.
“I had four broken necks in WWE back in the 2000s. I also had a painkiller problem that I got myself out of, but I think that he thought I was a little bit of a liability so he didn’t want to utilize me the way he should have.”
Missed opportunity
Like most athletes, Angle didn’t agree with Vince McMahon’s attempt to protect him instead of letting him do his thing and wrestle.
Angle also talked about this on Talk is Jericho, and he mentioned how he hoped to have one more title run with the company, but it didn’t materialize. Instead, his title reign in TNA in 2015 is the last one of his career.
We can understand both sides of this, and it’s possible for Angle to have had another title run and protect him by sitting down and working out what he could or couldn’t do.
But it is what is it, and we can definitely understand the WWE’s stance on this. Given the circumstances, this may have been McMahon’s way of punishing him for leaving.
Though we would’ve loved seeing him go out on top, it doesn’t tarnish Angle’s legacy in the slightest. He’s still one of the best to ever perform, and it was a great ride.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get The Overtimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
