Kurt Angle departed from WWE in 2006 and went to TNA Wrestling, which was at a time when he was dealing with drug addiction.
Angle returned to WWE in 2017, where he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and became the Raw General Manager. He later wrestled select matches, but he knew his body was broken down and couldn’t wrestle at the same level as he once did.
Angle lost to Baron Corbin in his farewell match at the WrestleMania 35 pay-per-view event in East Rutherford, NJ, at MetLife Stadium. Angle has publicly talked about wanting John Cena to be his retirement opponent, but Vince McMahon insisted it be Corbin that year due to their storyline.
While speaking on Notsam Wrestling, Kurt reflected on his WWE return and why he thinks he wasn’t appreciated when he returned.
“I love Baron Corbin, but I just felt that my second time in WWE, I wasn’t so much appreciated. I think it has a lot to do with me leaving the company high and dry in 2006 and going straight to TNA. I was supposed to go back to WWE in six months. Vince [McMahon] wanted me to take six months off and come back. So literally, when I left his office and I quit, I called TNA and got a contract that day. I didn’t wait a second. I knew what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go and I think they was like, ‘Okay, well if he comes back we’re going to teach him a little lesson,’ which is fine. I understood….I love my TNA run. I think I came into my own right around 2006 when I was having my best wrestling, and that’s when I moved over to TNA.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Notsam Wrestling with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
