When WWE announced that a WWE Draft would be coming, splitting the WWE RAW and SmackDown brands, many were excited. There were some who believe the brand split will fail and that the original was never good. In reality, however, this was actually a very good part of WWE for about a decade. It was also great because it allowed top stars to have more opportunities and gave younger talent more chances to succeed with the split.
John Cena, Jeff Hardy, Edge, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, Batista, and so many others benefited from the brand split. Meanwhile, the young top stars also had a bigger chance to shine on their respective brands. The Rock was starting to work a part-time schedule due to his Hollywood commitments and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin nearing retirement. This led to a bigger opportunity for the likes of Triple H and, of course, Kurt Angle.
Angle became one of, if not the top star in the WWE by 2005. He would sign a long-term deal that locked him up for about another six years. This was obviously huge for WWE, however, Angle had a change of heart and truly needed a break. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon trusted his top star and allowed him out of his contract, thinking the break would do him good so that he would come back better than ever.
Kurt Angle would then spit in the face of the WWE boss’ gesture and would join TNA Wrestling, where he would work far less but make a huge impact on the wrestling world. While Vince McMahon gets over things because of business, he nor anyone would like it if Angle did the same to them. Now, he wants to come back and has been talking about recent conversations with Triple H on doing so.
He would then claim he was not returning at this time, yet more rumors still came about, which he didn’t deny. Now, more rumors place Kurt Angle in the same position, and there were claims he already signed a deal.
This is disputed by the Wrestling Observer , who claim that this “is not the case just yet.” This means a couple of things. First, it does hurt the rumor that Kurt Angle has already signed a new contract with the WWE. However, the wordage means that there are talks taking place and Angle could indeed be returning to the WWE. Clearly, Angle does still serve a purpose for the company, as he can be of help to younger talent.
He can still work at a high level in the ring, so there is no concern regarding his body of work. The main issue is that he would have to be a part-time worker because there is no way his body could take the toll of a full-time schedule. If he didn’t wrestle and simply managed, being on the road wouldn’t be as bad. It is simply the bumps that are the biggest issue for Kurt Angle at the moment, which makes sense for someone at his age who has spent so much time in the ring.
While Angle has not had to work the tough full-time WWE schedule for about a decade now, he has worked at a high level with TNA. Therefore, he certainly has miles on him. Interestingly, Angle said he would be open to one last year-long return. If he goes to WWE, he may take up that tough schedule to ultimately end it at WrestleMania and ride off into the sunset. Whether or not this happens is yet to be determined, however.
As far as the timetable on when Kurt Angle could return to WWE, if he is signing back on, one would imagine they would want him back sooner rather than later. WWE SummerSlam could use another top name, especially WWE SmackDown . If he did return, the perfect time either would be right before, the night of, or right after SummerSlam . We’ll have to wait and see what happens with him. The way talks are rumored, it does seem like a deal is possible.
[Image via WWE]