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Kurt Angle Says He Wants To Wrestle Seth Rollins When He Returns To WWE

By Aaron Sass
Published on: 10:26 PST, Dec 19, 2016

For the first time since he asked for his release back 10 years ago, it appears that WWE is interested in bringing back Kurt Angle, who has spent the last decade of his pro wrestling career in TNA/Impact Wrestling.

Over the summer, Kurt Angle told Title Match Wrestling that he had recently spoken to both Paul Levesque — better known as Triple H — and WWE chairman Vince McMahon about a return. He confirmed that he has interest and that WWE has interest, but they don’t exactly know what they want to do with him yet. But, if it were up to Angle, he’ll be in the ring with Seth Rollins when he makes his long-awaited return to the company.

When asked about who his dream WWE opponent is in a recent interview, Angle dropped a few names — Rusev, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, and Daniel Bryan — but he named Seth Rollins as the guy that he wants to get in the ring with the most.

“I wanted [to wrestle] Daniel Bryan, but unfortunately I don’t think he’s able to go anymore. But I’d say, right now, on that roster, Seth Rollins is the guy. I watch how he is, what he does, his style, his ability in the ring… Right now he’s one of the best in the world. There are other wrestlers that I wanna wrestle: Rusev, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns. But right now, I think that Seth Rollins has the bullseye on his chest, and he’s the guy that raises expectations.”

Kurt Angle ended his run with TNA/Impact Wrestling earlier this year, and he’s now a free agent. He’s said that he will sign with a major wrestling organization in 2017, which has caused wrestling fans to speculate that he might show up at the 2017 Royal Rumble on January 29.

Since Angle said that he had spoken with Vince McMahon and Paul Levesque, we haven’t heard any news of further conversations between the two sides. But, that doesn’t mean that they haven’t talked about a possible return at some point next year.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 2K Sports — which is the company that produces the annual WWE video game — is considering making Kurt Angle the pre-order bonus for next year’s game, a la Goldberg, Sting, and The Ultimate Warrior. Of course, all previous pre-order bonus characters have ended up reaching a deal with WWE to come back, or, in Sting’s case, debut. So, if Angle is named as the pre-order bonus, he’ll probably follow in the footsteps of the three aforementioned WWE legends.

If the plan is to make Kurt Angle the pre-order bonus for next year’s game, then his return will probably be delayed until November of next year.

In the past, Vince McMahon has had his qualms with bringing Angle back to the company, mostly because of our Olympic Hero’s well-known substance abuse issues. Essentially, the WWE chairman was afraid that Angle was going to die on his watch, which, in his mind, would greatly damage his brand. But, as Angle detailed on a recent edition of the Steve Austin Show podcast, our Olympic Hero has been completely sober for the better part of the last three years.

WWE has rewarded guys like Jake Roberts and Scott Hall for getting sober by putting them in their Hall of Fame. Will they do the same for Angle? It remains to be seen, but there’s really no good reason not to. Also, unlike with Roberts and Hall, Angle is still physically able to wrestle, so his return will mean a lot more than Hall’s and Roberts’ did.

[Featured Image by WWE]

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