It was announced last week that Olympic gold Medalist Kurt Angle will be inducted into the WWE HOF this year and the news feeds are still buzzing. There has always been an abundant amount of people who anticipated his return, but there still seems to be questions as to the direction he and WWE are headed.
Kurt left behind his milk gimmicks and chants of “You Suck” in 2006 to pursue other entities that eventually led to a successful career within the six sided confines of TNA Wrestling. During his time there he graced us with a multitude of must see matches and brought the Mob Underworld into the sports Entertainment Business with the Ascension of the Main Event Mafia. This stable formed in 2008 showed some decent success with an underrated collection of veterans to start a rivalry with younger talent within the company and give the fans an added interest in watching.
Now it is back to the WWE and Fantasy bookers of the Twitter world are putting their minds into overdrive coming up with scenarios to put Kurt Angle back inside the ring. However, what if he will be solely used for novelty purposes only and is trotted out on a triannual basis to promote the WWE Network, brother? We all remember how forced and robotic it made Hulk Hogan look before his vanishing act came about. What if his only in-ring action consists of another Bulgarian interruption of the brute himself, Rusev? This scenario has been played out too many times already. Could he revitalize another stage of his career like Chris Jericho? Or, lastly what if his role consisted of a play on words with Stephanie when he captures the role of GM from Mick Foley?
Many media outlets are speculating that there’s next to no chance Kurt will ever wrestle for WWE on a full-time basis again, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t contribute or lead another storyline that only requires him to wrestle as a part time talent. His versatility is unmatched and at 48, he can still perform in front of a packed house and send his fans home happy. Even though it is a great sight to see him affiliated with the WWE once again, a restriction to video game play and pop up cameos would be purely unacceptable.
There are plenty of options for an in ring return and mostly all would go over well. Whether it be John Cena, The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar or The Rock, Kurt would be a box office hit. Hell, with all of the past TNA talent spread out through NXT, SD Live and Raw maybe a MEM reunion of some sorts could be possible. I personally think is in-ring technicalities could help push along some of younger/newer talent as well. Am I wrong to think an Angle/KO feud could be extremely entertaining?
One scenario that has been played upon with similar context would be Kurt battling Triple H as he comes to the aid of Stephanie. After weeks and weeks of constant manipulation of WWE’s most powerful female, Hunter comes to the defense setting up a match to defend her honor.
Honestly, we could sit here all day and run through the options that exist, but without any insight to the physical condition or the willingness of Kurt to want to wrestle again they will remain merely opinions of the voiceless. Reading between the lines of the announcement is the perception that he has had an illustrious career and one whose chapter is closed. This could easily suggest that Vince isn’t even considering using him for an in-ring role, even if Kurt has plenty to offer as a performer. Some things in this business are unexplainable and leave us in deep discussions to verify legitimacy.
At the end of this ride, whether inside the ring or out, Kurt’s return to the WWE wrestling scene has been years in the making and denying him one last chance to shine would be a major disservice. What do you think WWE should do with Kurt? If he does get back inside the ring, what opponent would most intrigue you?
