5 WWE Dream Matches for Kurt Angle Had He Never Left

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Had Kurt Angle never left WWE, odds are he’d have put on even more spectacular matches against the cream of the crop.

On Monday, January 16^th, it was made official: Kurt Angle will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Class of 2017. This will be yet another well-deserved achievement for arguably the greatest technical wrestler in a generation, and one of the best pure athletes WWE has ever had.

Kurt Angle’s WWE career was relatively short, lasting from 1999 to 2006. But during that period, Angle transitioned from amateur wrestling to professional wrestling more quickly than arguably anyone else before or since. His outstanding grappling abilities were balanced by excellent promo abilities and surprisingly good comedy skills. Angle has this uncanny ability to go from smug Olympic hero to serious ass-kicking machine in the snap of a finger. Because of all this, he was one of the most complete performers WWE ever had.

Sadly, Angle’ tendency to work like a true wrestling machine caught up with him eventually. By 2006, he was working at such an intense level that Vince McMahon had to let him go. Not because he had done anything wrong, but because he was putting such a severe toll on his body that Vince was genuinely concerned Angle would die in the ring.

As a result, Angle left WWE in 2006 and spent the following decade in TNA. While there, he had some truly great matches against many opponents, and became something of a real legend in that promotion. But many people still consider WWE to be Kurt Angle’s true home, which is why his HOF announcement was met with so much joy.

Now, with an announcement of his HOF induction comes discussion on possible opponents for one more match. Some think that Angle should wrestle one last great match and call it a career. They want to see Angle deliver the goods on one final occasion before hanging up his wrestling boots for good. Looking back at his WWE career, one cannot help but wonder how differently it could’ve gone if Angle never left WWE.

If Angle stayed in WWE, there’s a chance that he would’ve had plenty more great matches with many different opponents. By 2006, he had already had stellar matches against the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, just to name a few. But there were others waiting in the wings against whom Angle could’ve had truly memorable matches. Here are the 5 best dream opponents for Kurt Angle had never left WWE…

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