WWE News: Former WWE World Champion Kurt Angle To Work With WWE In 2017?
Former WWE World Champion Kurt Angle has been gone from the WWE for about a decade. He left years ago seemingly in the middle of the night, which kind of shocked a lot of people. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had signed Angle to a long-term deal shortly before, but decided to allow Angle out of his contract because the schedule was a bit rough. McMahon’s thought was supposedly that he thought Angle would go home, get some rest, and come back.
Instead Kurt Angle decided to jump ship to TNA Wrestling as it was getting started on Spike TV. Along with former WWE Superstar Christian and WCW Icon Sting, the TNA brand became quite interesting for a while. With a younger AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and others…TNA was a good alternative to the WWE product that people were into for a while. They tried to be different and they were, which made wrestling fans happy as they could get the things WWE was missing with the TNA product.
However, things changed a lot when Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff came in and took things over. Despite all of this, Kurt Angle was their top guy who did all one could really do in the business. However, he did have some problems while in TNA. He went through a nasty public divorce from wife Karen who ended up marrying TNA Founder Jeff Jarrett shortly after the Angle divorce was official. He would also end up having alcohol problems and would even seek rehab due to it.
This led some experts to claim that Kurt Angle could have issues coming back to WWE if he ever tried because the company has a big stance against signing people with noted issues. While the Angle alcohol issue was resolved years ago, there is still some worry it could come up again. The WWE is also in a new era and has been using a lot of younger or lesser known names at the top while they slowly transition the older guys into lesser roles. Even John Cena has taken a backseat the last few years. This led to various reports that Angle would not be hired by the WWE, as they would have no need for him.
The cool thing with Kurt Angle is that he is still in amazing shape, so the worry about ring work being down is not there for the Olympic Gold Medalist. It does appear that there is some good news for Angle returning to the WWE in the future. Ringside News reports that there is already talk for Kurt Angle to be the 2k Sports exclusive for WWE 2K18 next year. Goldberg happens to be the guy this year and has been used in a lot of press for the game. It is also rumored he may go in the WWE Hall of Fame and even have a match next year.
Every person who has been an exclusive to the game has either returned to the WWE or debuted in it as a wrestler or went into the Hall of Fame. Sometimes it was both. From Sting to the Ultimate Warrior. Even Brock Lesnar was used as an exclusive years ago only to see him return. That said, it does make sense to see Kurt return to WWE in some way.
Angle is said to be their top choice for next year, and as of now, there is no one else who makes any sense over him. Kurt Angle is the logical choice, especially due to the demand for the multi-time champion. Fans want to see him back for at least one more match in the WWE before he retires. If Kurt is healthy enough to do it and passes all the tests needed to do so, it does make sense for WWE to give Angle a shot to return and be part of the company in a part-time role of some kind.
While it is kind of sad that fans may have to wait over a year to see him back, it is promising to know that WWE might give Kurt Angle the chance to have one last match with them. Plus, he does deserve the WWE Hall of Fame due to his impressive work with WWE for years. We’ll have to see if 2K Sports does indeed go with Angle, but that is a year away from now at least.
[Image via WWE]
