Kurt Angle Wants A Match With Daniel Bryan Before He Retires
At nearly 47 years-old, with a long history of neck issues, among other injuries, Kurt Angle is nearing the end of his professional wrestling career. Angle is well-aware that he has more years behind him than in front of him in the wrestling business, as he is, and has been, planning a life after wrestling for the last couple of years.
Of course, Angle would love nothing more than to finish his career in WWE, and with the future of Impact Wrestling very much in doubt, WWE may be the only place where Angle can have one last match.
If WWE were to take Angle back at some point in the near future, there would a whole lot of interesting opponents for the Olympic gold medalist, including Cesaro, Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar, and Dean Ambrose. But, in an interview with Josh Modaberi from Cult of Whatever, Angle revealed the one guy in WWE that he wants to wrestle before he hangs up his singlet for good.
“Oh gosh, if I had to pick one guy to wrestle to end my career with it would be Daniel Bryan. I think Daniel is an amazing wrestler and I know him and I would be able to have an incredible match similar to what Shawn Michaels and I did at WrestleMania 21. He is an extraordinary talent especially in the ring, they don’t get much better than him – he is the one I would like to get my hands on somewhere, sometime I would love that match.”
Back in August, during a fan Q&A, Daniel Bryan was asked if he would like to wrestle Kurt Angle at some point in the future if Angle ever found his way back to WWE. Bryan answered by simply saying “I would love to.” So, the feeling is mutual between Bryan and Angle.
Since his WWE exit in the mid-2000’s, Angle hasn’t exactly been held in high regard by some of WWE’s top officials, which has prevented his return to the company.
Last fall, Angle did everything within his power to get back in the good graces of WWE. He even setup a meeting with the company, which they cancelled at the last minute without explanation. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Angle talked about setting up a meeting with WWE, and how he was somewhat offended when they cancelled it with no explanation, saying he felt like they were treating him like a complete nobody.
Since then, WWE has softened its stance on bringing in ex-TNA stars, as they’ve signed guys like Sting, Samoa Joe, James Storm, Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley, and there have been reports that WWE is interested in signing more ex-TNA guys, including Bobby Roode and EC3.
With that said, WWE may not be looking to sign Angle due to his long history with injuries and substance abuse issues. In July of last year, during his appearance on the Ross Report podcast with WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross, Angle stated that he had been completely clean for several months, and that he would be willing to be regularly drug tested by WWE if the company brought him back.
Kurt Angle’s TNA contract will in January, and after that, he’s planning on taking an extended break from wrestling. Angle said that he doesn’t know if he’ll wrestle in the future, but he’s leaving the door open, and he’s also willing to re-sign with TNA if they’re still in business when he’s ready to return to the ring.
“After the tour in January I’m going to take a break from wrestling and I’m not sure what I’ll do after that, I’m leaving the door open. I’ve talked to TNA and they’ve offered me something and asked me to think about it which I will do but I’m really looking forward to spending some quality time with my family and then see where it goes from there.”
[Image via Impact Wrestling]
