WWE News: The Undertaker And Kurt Angle Officially Pulled From Non-WWE Event

The Undertaker and Kurt Angle may not be official full-time wrestling talent for WWE any longer, but that doesn’t mean they’re appearing anywhere else either. It was already known that both of the legendary superstars were going to appear at Starrcast II next month, but that has since changed. WWE has pulled both Angle and The Undertaker from the event and that has been confirmed by the organizer.

According to Sports Illustrated, Angle and Taker have been officially pulled from the event which is taking place over the May 23-26 weekend in Las Vegas. That just so happens to be the same location and date (May 25) that All Elite Wrestling’s Double or Nothing event is taking place as well.

Starrcast II is not an AEW event, but they are connected in some ways.

After agreeing to appear at the event in May, both Kurt Angle and The Undertaker signed new contracts with WWE. With those deals in place, WWE is taking advantage of their rights to withhold talent from any events that they feel are not in the best interest of the company.

Obviously, that includes an event that is so closely related to All Elite Wrestling and its first-ever event. Along with taking place in the same area and at the same time as Double or Nothing, a number of AEW stars will appear at Starrcast II for signings and such.

Now, The Undertaker and Kurt Angle most definitely are not.

The Undertaker and Kurt Angle Pulled From Starrcast II: https://t.co/kg2H0YJAmw pic.twitter.com/vyGreEFWyq

— Wrestling Resource – The Sportster (@WrestlingSheet) April 23, 2019

It was recently reported by The Inquisitr that The Undertaker had been made a financial offer by WWE that he could not refuse. While that new deal may not include Taker wrestling in any serious capacity, it will keep him from appearing at events that WWE does not want him at.

Conrad Thompson is the creator of the Starrcast events and he ran the first one back in September to go along with the All In event. Thompson revealed that money was put down to secure Taker’s appearance and that was why he made the announcement back in February, but things have changed.

“The announcement went wide and viral. I was told it had gotten WWE’s attention and that Vince McMahon texted The Undertaker about the appearance. Taker’s representation, which is a company called Get Engaged, called to tell me, ‘WWE says he can’t do it.'”

Thompson went on to say that a friend of his spoke with Vince McMahon directly about the situation and that there was no “heat” on him for any of this. Vince simply said that The Undertaker would not be doing personal appearances outside of WWE and not only would damages be covered but a replacement would be sent.

It was suggested that Vince, Triple H or Stephanie McMahon replace The Undertaker and Thompson would donate 100 percent of the proceeds to Connor’s Cure and even match the donation. As of now, Vince has simply said that no “main roster replacements” will be sent.

Upon hearing that, Thompson asked to have Shawn Michaels appear at Starrcast II which was originally a plan, but HBK backed out when AEW announced their event. Thompson now hopes to have Michaels replace The Undertaker, do a photo op for fans, and team the Hall of Famer with Scott Hall for commentary.

There has been no word yet on if the WrestleMania X reunion of the two classic ladder match opponents will happen.

As for Kurt Angle, Thompson said he tried to keep the Olympic gold medalist at Starrcast, but that isn’t working out either.

“I asked to keep Kurt Angle and announce Shawn Michaels as the replacement for The Undertaker. I offered to book everyone ‘through the office.’ I wanted to play by the rules but I felt like I already had, since each of these guys were actively marketing themselves for outside appearances via booking agents or their own social media. I have checked in daily for a week now and nothing is changing.”

With just a month to go until Starrcast II, it is not yet known who from WWE will actually be there who is still under contract with the company. Conrad Thompson hoped that things would work out with The Undertaker and Kurt Angle, but it simply wasn’t meant to be as they’re now out of the event entirely.