Earlier this year it was reported that Impact Wrestling, better known as TNA, offered Kurt Angle a contract that wouldn’t require him to wrestle, but it would keep him in the company while he took a year off from professional wrestling.
In a recent interview with ESPN U.K. , Angle said that he’s not planning on retiring from wrestling anytime soon. But he also said that he’s “pretty much done with TNA,” although he didn’t rule out the possibility of a return to the company at some point in the future.
“Wrestling has treated me very well. I had a great time in WWE, I had a great time in TNA. I’m very proud of my accomplishments, but I’m at a point in my life where, right now, family is more important, and it’s time for me to spend more time with them. I’m gonna take a break from [professional] wrestling, I know that for sure, at least a year. So we’ll see how it goes and I’ll go from there.
“I’m not gonna say I’m gonna retire. I am pretty much done with TNA. Not sure, maybe down the road, maybe I might come back, but most likely I probably won’t, because there’s a chance that I might not wrestle again. I just wanna get a feeler this year and see what I wanna do and see where I wanna go.”
Raise your glass! It is @RealKurtAngle Week on https://t.co/Eh067clSsK ! #ThankYouKurt pic.twitter.com/7mYhUieQUa
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) March 2, 2016
Angle has said that he’s planning on pursuing some acting opportunities during his year off. It’s also been rumored that he’s going to have one MMA fight for Bellator MMA, possibly against Ken Shamrock, Royce Gracie, Dan Severn, or Kimbo Slice.
Last year, it looked like Bellator was setting up a fight between Ken Shamrock and Kurt Angle, and that fight may still end up happening. Although, if Shamrock fights again, he may end up having a fourth fight with Royce Gracie, as their last fight had a controversial ending, and Shamrock is currently trying to get his loss overturned to a no-contest.
If Angle does fight, he says that it’ll be against someone from his generation, and not someone in their prime. Which is why, in a recent interview , he named Ken Shamrock, Royce Gracie, Dan Severn, and Kimbo Slice as guys that he would fight.
Angle was also willing to fight Tito Ortiz several years ago, so that’s another possible opponent for the former WWE and TNA World Champion.
Before Shane McMahon returned to WWE, there was some speculation that Angle would end up being The Undertaker’s opponent at WrestleMania 32 . But it appears that, at this point in time, WWE still isn’t interested in bringing Angle back to the company.
Angle has made it clear that he wants to return to WWE before his in-ring career is over. So, there’s a possibility that, after his year off, he’ll try to get in contact with either Vince McMahon or Triple H to discuss a return to the company.
There’s a chance that Angle could end up headlining the WWE Hall of Fame in the coming years, possibly as early as next year in Orlando, which is where WrestleMania 33 is rumored to be taking place. Of course, if Daniel Bryan ends up going into the Hall of Fame that year, then WWE will likely hold off on putting Angle in.
It’s been nearly a decade since Kurt Angle appeared on WWE television, and whenever Angle has become a free agent in the past, WWE has shown no interest in bringing him back to the company. He’s currently a free agent, and at this time, there’s been no indication that WWE has changed their stance on bringing our “Olympic Hero” back to the company. But that could change in one year’s time.
[Featured image via Impact Wrestling]
