When Goldberg left WWE in the spring of 2004, he was on such bad terms with Vince McMahon that nobody — including Goldberg himself — thought that he would ever return to the company. But, like everyone else, he eventually returned to the company, although it took 12 years for the two sides to put water under the bridge.
Since 2004, Vince McMahon had been dead-set against using Goldberg again. But, when he saw the WWE fans’ reaction to the ex-WCW megastar’s involvement in the WWE 2K17 video game, he began to reconsider his stance on the once undefeated superstar, and talks of bringing him back to the company began.
Another ex-superstar that Vince McMahon has been dead-set against using since his exit is former multi-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle, who left the company in 2006. Of course, the two situations are vastly different, as Dave Meltzer detailed on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio .
When asked if the success of Goldberg has opened the door for Kurt Angle’s WWE return, Meltzer said that it’s possible, but as far as he knows, Angle has only had one brief conversation with WWE since he left TNA/Impact Wrestling earlier this year, and he hasn’t heard back from them since.
“You know, you never say never. I mean, believe me, they were so dead-set against using Bill Goldberg for God knows how many years, to a degree that was almost amazing. But, times change. So, maybe with Kurt [Angle] times will change. I mean, they were dead-set against Kurt too. I know that Kurt has not heard from them in a while — he did have a conversation with them at one point a couple of months ago. Vince has his qualms about Kurt, they’re very different than Bill — Bill was was personal, Kurt is a fear of something. But, they may get over that too.”
The “fear of something” that Meltzer is referring to is Kurt Angle’s well-known struggles with addiction, which Angle detailed during his appearance on the Steve Austin Show podcast. At one point, Angle said that he was taking 65 extra-strength Vicodin a day, on top of taking the anti-anxiety medication known as Xanax, as well as drinking alcohol. But, he also said that he’s been clean and sober for three years now, and that he doesn’t plan on going back to the pills or alcohol.
WWE had a similar fear with Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Scott “Razor Ramon” Hall. But, when it became clear that both men had turned their lives around — thanks to Diamond Dallas Page — WWE decided to bring them back, and put them in the Hall of Fame. Since then, they haven’t regretted their decision. Sure, both Roberts and Hall have had a few bumps in the road since being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, but it’s quite clear that they’re finished with their old way of living.
Like Goldberg, Angle is almost 50-years old, and he’s been out of WWE for more than a decade. So, if he’s going to have one last run in WWE, now is the time.
Also like Goldberg, there’s a chance that Angle could be the pre-order bonus for next year’s WWE video game, which will presumably lead to his return. Of course, that would mean that we’ll have to wait another year to see Angle in a WWE ring, but it would be worth the wait.
If you’re hoping that he’ll return at some point in the near-future, well then you may be in luck because there’s some speculation that Angle will be a surprise entrant in the 2017 Royal Rumble match. If that happens, he’ll easily be the biggest surprise in the history of the annual 30-man match. He’ll also get a huge reaction from the live crowd. So, bringing Angle back in the Rumble match wouldn’t be the worst idea.
[Featured Image by WWE]