Who Should Kurt Angle Face In His Farewell Tour?

One last "you suck" for the road.

Source: WWE

This past week has been packed full of retirement plans, first Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger and now the Olympic Gold Medalist, Kurt Angle. Angle’s final wrestling match, or at least those within WWE, is to take place at Wrestlemania 35. Surprisingly, this historic announcement was underplayed in the news, after Angle defeated Apollo Crews in a fairly decent match, it almost seemed like just another Raw segment that will be forgotten after a day or two.

However, we don’t like the thought of Kurt Angle’s career coming to such a meagre end, so we’ve compiled a list of five superstars that Kurt needs to tangle with before he leaves us next month.

 

1. Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan

The Planet’s Champion has been one of the dream opponents often mentioned when thinking of Kurt Angle. Despite currently working on opposite brands, it would be a huge treat for fans of technical wrestling to see these two meet for the first time.

Prior to Angle’s WWE comeback, he occasionally teased the idea of him and Bryan having a match together. Both men share a very similar grounded style that is quite rare to find in WWE especially. Now that Bryan is working at the top of his game as a heel champion on SmackDown Live, it would be a great time for a retiring hero to come in to make him tap.

Naturally these two would probably end up trying to wear down whatever’s left of their necks, in an absolute marathon of graps. If anyone should be first in line for one of Angle’s final matches, then there’s no question that it should be Daniel Bryan.

 

2. Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins

A confrontation between Seth and Kurt has been theorised since the release of WWE 2K18, which marketed itself around Angle’s return to the ring and meeting with the standard bearer of the modern era. Seth is arguably the best performer on the roster today, someone that would certainly warrant a chance to step into the ring with a legend still able to put a match together.

Angle has a fantastic history of working with, and putting over, younger talent. Seth doesn’t necessarily need that big victory over Angle, but I don’t think a single fan would turn away a match between the two on Raw.

Rollins is currently feuding with the Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar, a former rival of Kurt Angle. Considering their history, perhaps Seth could learn a thing or two from Angle on how to take a German suplex.

Although if this does happen, maybe avoid the buckle bomb spot.

 

3. Chad Gable

Gable vs. Jey Uso
Source: WWE

Parallels between the two were made the second Gable landed on NXT TV. Gable’s olympic background makes him a pretty natural pick for Angle’s final few opponents, the match between them would be off the chain. Fans of the Greco-Roman style would be having a ball watching these two, if given the chance and the time.

It honestly shocks me still that Angle’s ‘son’ happened to be the other half of American Alpha and not Chad. Imagine these two being granted a 20 minute segment to hash out their daddy issues in Kurt’s retirement match. Oh, what could have been.

Silly booking decisions aside, Chad Gable instantly comes to mind when considering who Kurt should bow out with. Gable needs that little extra push to be considered a top-tier prospect for the future of Raw, a big victory, or even just appearing in a big singles match would be a step in the right direction.

 

4. Baron Corbin

baron corbin
Source: WWE

Big Banter Corbin has meandered about since losing his job as Constable, although during his reign of tyranny, Angle was on the receiving end of a lot of grief. Nothing seems to have been resolved since Kurt returned though, despite both being involved in various tag matches. Perhaps they should finally conclude their disputes over a good old fashioned spot of wrestling.

Whether you’re a fan of the waistcoated wolf or not, I think everyone would like to see him get his comeuppance at the hands of the machine. Corbin is the ideal guy to take the fall for Angle’s last dance with the company, he can not only take the loss but make it a nice feel good moment to go out on.

 

5. Drew McIntyre

drew
Source: WWE

During the whole Constable Corbin lark, Angle was pitted against the Scottish Psychopath in a main event match to be remembered. A few people referred to this match as Drew’s equivalent to Brock Lesnar murdering Hulk Hogan in 2002, making him a star overnight. Unfortunately, momentum didn’t quite carry McIntyre through like it did Lesnar, but there’s still buckets of potential waiting to be taken advantage of.

Ideally, they could repeat this process without Kurt looking like a total jobber. A competitive match between the two at Wrestlemania would help put Drew on the map for good, and live up to the adage of putting over the young guys on your way out the door. If given the time, these two could have a cracker of a match, so we’ll see if Kurt remembers what happened to him prior to his hiatus last year.

Who else would you like to see Angle have a match with during his farewell tour with WWE? Should he jump ship to SmackDown Live or NXT for his remaining weeks? Or take it easy on Raw and work his way up to a title match at WrestleMania? Let us know in the comments section below.

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