5 WWE Dream Matches for Kurt Angle Had He Never Left

Jan 2, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Former WWE star Phil CM Punk Brooks is the featured guest for the UFC 182 Q&A session Friday evening before the start of the weigh-ins at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

5. Kurt Angle vs. CM Punk

When Angle left WWE in 2006, CM Punk was still a rookie making his way up the WWE ladder. He didn’t fit WWE’s desired mold for a wrestler; he was skinny, covered in tattoos, and was adept at technical wrestling. He wasn’t a WWE entertainer by any stretch of the imagination; he was a wrestler, which would’ve made him a perfect opponent for Kurt Angle.

It would’ve been very easy for WWE to book a rivalry between these two men. The patriotic, virtuous and all-American Kurt Angle against the countercultural, contrarian, straight-edge CM Punk. It wouldn’t have mattered who was the good guy and who was the bad guy in this feud. Punk and Angle would’ve torn the house down each night with spectacular promos and out-of-this-world wrestling.

Considering Kurt Angle was drafted to the ECW brand shortly before his 2006 departure, there was actually a possibility he’d be facing Punk on the brand. Had that feud been set in motion, it would’ve brought some much-needed viewers to the fledgling WWECW program at the time.