Written by Matt Widdis
There’s an elephant in the room and we’re going to address it. Kurt Angle announced his retirement match to take place at Wrestlemania and the house popped. Kurt had more than earned a retirement and what a stage to take one last time. Then he announced his opponent… and the bitching hasn’t stopped since. Shane McMahon, with whom he had legendary wars with? Attitude Era rival, Triple H? John Cena, whose career he started on Smackdown and would return the favor to send him off? Nope. Baron @#$%ing Corbin. Yes. Kurt deserves better. Yes. The fans deserve better. And, you know what? Baron Corbin deserves better, too.
I immediately had flashbacks to WM33 in Orlando: a legend, hampered by a long career in terms of both years and mileage, wants a proper send off. John Cena makes sense but he has other things going on. In terms of story, the best option happens to be a younger guy with a mountain of smark heat. It’s a thankless task. A no-win situation. This time, it’s different, though. Kurt is stiffer than an icicle on some days but he doesn’t need hip replacement. He still has some mobility and was always more agile than ‘Taker.
Kurt is significantly shorter and lighter than Undertaker and in there with a bigger, stronger dance partner that should be able to move him around as needed. The producers/bookers know that this doesn’t have to be a grueling 23 minutes and not to stretch the competitors with any spots that either one might be questionable on (a la the “sandbag tombstone reversal and second attempt.”)
I can only imagine that this ends with Baron Corbin getting his hand raised. I see Kurt doing the favor, old school, and going out on his back. I think it would be a good push forward for Corbin to further establish his place as a major heel for years to come and replace some of his (deserved or undeserved) “go away” heat with some buzzkill heat.
