Kurt Angle Recalls Telling Vince McMahon He Wanted to Wrestle in WWE In 2017, But Was Made GM Of Raw Instead
Kurt Angle wanted to get back in the ring once he came back to the WWE.
In 2017, Kurt Angle was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, following that huge moment, he wanted to step into the ring, however, the former Chairman of the WWE, Vince McMahon wanted different for Angle and his return to the WWE.
“The thing is, when I came back to WWE, after I left for 11 years, when I came back, I was wrestling really good, but Vince had a different idea. He wanted to induct me into the Hall of Fame first before I wrestled. So I did the Hall of Fame. Then Vince came to me and said, ‘Hey, we wanted to make you the GM of Raw. I said, ‘Vince, I want to wrestle.’ He said, ‘We’ll get to that.’
“So he makes me GM of Raw, and during this time, my knees are arthritic and they’re getting tighter, and I’m less active, and for eight months, I didn’t do anything. Then all of a sudden, he’s like, ‘Kurt, I want you to wrestle.’ That’s gonna be a problem. When I got in there, I looked like crap. I mean, I couldn’t do anything. It made me want to retire earlier than I wanted to. That’s why I retired with Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35. I didn’t want people to look at me and say, ‘Gosh, He used to be great, but now…’ Yeah. I didn’t want that. So I decided, ‘This is it.’” – Angle said on the Six Feet Under with The Undertaker and Michelle McCool.
Angle retired at WrestleMania 35 against Baron Corbin, a match that Angle originally wanted to face John Cena in after bringing in Cena to the WWE at the start of his career.
(h/t to Fightful for the quotes/transcriptions.)
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