Potential Kurt Angle Opponents

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Written by: Michael Hauff (GiancarloH57)

The rumor of Kurt Angle heading back to the WWE was a rumor that would never die. No matter how little substance it had, people always mentioned it as an eventuality. Through the long and winding road of speculation and hopes we have finally reached the desired destination. Kurt Angle will be heading into the WWE Hall of Fame the night before WrestleMania. The WWE universe rejoiced at the announcement but like most things with the fans, that wasn't enough. Folks in the know in regards to the wrestling business as a whole know that Angle still has matches left in him. So one would have to wonder who would be wrestling the former olympic gold medalist and where would that potential match take place. Let’s discuss! 

Recent rumors as of late have said that Kurt Angle could end up becoming the general manager of Raw. That rumor gains momentum with the firing of Mick Foley. For the sake of this article, we will work off of that rumor. Him becoming the Raw general manager is the most logical way to give him ample televison time to support the build up to a match. Angle returning to the ring will obviously be a big deal so it won’t be on a random Raw in May or June. In ring returns such as this are usually set for one of the bigger pay per views. Look no further than Goldberg’s dominating return when he defeated Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. So if you're looking at a calendar with the understanding that WrestleMania is off the table, it makes sense for Kurt Angle’s in ring return to take place in Brooklyn this August at Summer Slam.

So we’ve predicted the time and the place for Kurt Angle’s return. The only question now is just whom the olympic gold medalist will square off against. Whomever he ends up wrestling it will not be someone that has to dumb down a match for Angle. The soon to be hall of fame wrestler can still wrestle with the best of them. Here are a couple of wrestlers that Angle has a history with that could oppose him in his return match.

Triple H

If there is something that has become a trend with Raw general managers, it’s the struggle with upper management. It is never matter of if a general manager and his boss will have a falling out it’s when. It is that sort of mindset that gives Triple H a pretty good shot to coax Angle away from his General Manager duties and into the ring. The king of kings and Angle have squared off a couple of times in the past. One of their battles came at Unforgiven back in 2000 when ironically enough the special guest referee was recently fired Mick Foley. Stephanie played a part in that match as well as their feud so there is already plenty of ground work laid out for a program. This may irritate the portion of the WWE universe that believes Triple H needs to have a hand in everything (I'm not one of them) but his presence is legitimate and the match would have the buzz that a SummerSlam deserves.

Samoa Joe

Much like Triple H, Angle has had a history with Samoa Joe as well. It could just be the debut head of steam but it appears to this writer that Samoa Joe isn't going to fade into locker room obscurity. He is just too damn good to be left in the dark. You could see a situation in which Triple H has his issues with Angle and ends up having Joe do his dirty work for him. It could also just be a situation in which Joe doesn't like to follow the rules. Either way, it is very easy to see a match like this coming to fruition. If Samoa Joe isn't in the Universal Championship picture by August, this could serve as a way to keep him relevant as one of the top chips on Raw. Seeing as that they wrestled in TNA, their long history may not be referred to much on WWE programing but their familiarity with one another would only help turn their potential encounter into a five star match.

Brock Lesnar

Suplex city has become an intimidating piece of Lesnar’s repertoire but if there is anyone that is close to executing a suplex like Lesnar it is Angle. He may as well have a timeshare in Suplex city. This is another match that literally writes itself. Lesnar has always been hard to control so, you could imagine the problem that could potentially present to a Raw general manager. I could definitely envision a scenario where Brock wins the title at Mania and drops the it sometime in June or July. From there it is that typical scenario in which Brock is on the warpath and Angle refuses to give into Lesnar's demands. Next thing you know, Lesnar attacks Angle and we have ourselves a match. Seems redundant to mention but Angle and Lesnar also have an obvious history as well as they had an epic championship match at WrestleMania XIX.

One of those three competitors makes the most sense for a return match. Angle will more than likely be the face in a potential SummerSlam feud so names like Rollins, Reigns, or Balor would be illogical opponents. This writer's sense is that AJ Styles will be a top face on Raw or Smackdown by the summer time so he also wouldn't make much sense. At the end of the day, Kurt Angle will wrestle someone. If the WWE can lure old timers like Sting and Goldberg to go into the ring then there is really zero reason to assume that Angle wouldn't follow suit.