If Kurt Angle retired tomorrow, he’d be a lock for a spot in the WWE Hall Of Fame at some point down the line. The problem is, Angle isn’t retiring tomorrow. He plans on sticking around the wrestling business for at least a few more years. TNA, on the other hand, might not even be around for a few more years. Even if they are, is that the legacy Angle wants to leave on the business? How much bigger can TNA realistically get? Remember, I said realistically.
Fans who think a cool angle or one big breakthrough wrestler is going to change the company overnight, it doesn’t work that way. It takes a number of planets aligning all at the same time, and even then, you’re only as big as the wrestling business is in general. Right now, pro wrestling isn’t hot. That’s the bottom line. In the “Attitude Era,” pro wrestling was as hot as it’s ever been. During the 1980s wrestling boom, pro wrestling was on fire. Right now, it isn’t. For TNA to become a big enough company for its’ top stars to seem equal to WWE’s, the wrestling business needs to boom.
Angle has had a 15 year career. The first half of his career, he worked in WWE. He accomplished too many things to list in this space. The second half of his career, that has spanned basically an equal amount of time as his WWE run, he hasn’t accomplished nearly as much. In TNA, there’s only so much you can accomplish. You could be responsible for the company reaching new heights, and no doubt Angle is responsible, or at least played a major role, in TNA reaching levels they never imagined. It doesn’t appear as though another great Angle match, or Angle promo, or whatever the case may be, will result in TNA breaking through to that next level as a wrestling promotion. Basically, it feels like Angle has done about all he can do in TNA. At least on that level. The level of helping the company grow.
Recently, there has been talk of Angle joining the TNA Hall Of Fame. How much does that honor mean 10 years from now if TNA isn’t in business? The answer: not much. The WWE Hall Of Fame, that’s a different story.
From a die-hard wrestling fan perspective, how many matches can Angle have in TNA that we haven’t seen a million times already? Compare that to the amount of fresh matches Angle could have if he returned to WWE. Angle hasn’t even worked with a large majority of the wrestlers in WWE. The guys he did work with weren’t nearly the stars they are today. Picture an Angle vs. Daniel Bryan match. Picture Angle against the main-event-level version of CM Punk. Additionally, what is one of the main things Angle was known for during his WWE run? Helping establish new guys as stars. He gave John Cena an enormous boost early in Cena’s career. He did the same for many others. Imagine now if you would some of the new faces, or guys stuck at a certain position on the card, that Angle could work with. Angle could help Roman Reigns move to the next level. Hell, anyone currently in The Shield. He could help Dolph Ziggler over the hump. He could help Damien Sandow reach that next level. He could do some great stuff with Big E. Langston and Ryback. He could do some cool stuff with his old rival, Brock Lesnar. There’s matches against Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio that could be big for those guys careers. The possibilities are endless.
Kurt Angle gave TNA some much needed excitement when he jumped-ship in 2006. Fans were frothing at the mouth at the thought of Kurt Angle working with the likes of Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and many of TNA’s other home-grown stars. It feels to me that the time is perfect for the same to happen in WWE. We’ve seen a lot of the same main events for years now. The addition of Kurt Angle back into the WWE main event picture shakes things up quite a bit. And as mentioned, he’s great at making guys reach the next level. He could groom many of the guys I just mentioned into future main event players.
Finally, there is the issue of Angle’s legacy. How he will be remembered. Angle could go out on top doing some of the things I just mentioned with guys in WWE. The other option is to remain in TNA. It just doesn’t feel like there’s much left for Angle to accomplish in that company. Angle could be remembered for establishing new stars in WWE. Getting the company ready for the next generation of performers, or he could stick around in TNA, enjoy the light travel schedule and continue working with Bobby Roode and the-like for the few years he’s got left. Personally, it feels like a no-brainer to me. Kurt Angle should end his career in WWE.
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NOTE: The above item is an eWrestlingNews.com opinionated editorial, and should not be confused as a factual news item. Readers can contact the author of the above editorial, Matt Boone, via Twitter @MBoone420 or by posting your immediate feedback in the “Comments” section below.