10 Absolute Best Matches WWE Could Present In 2017
2. Kurt Angle Vs. Samoa Joe
Cynical spidey senses tingle when one considers how neatly Kurt Angle's more realistic opponent is simmering in the background.
Angle has been installed as the General Manager of RAW, which effectively guarantees a pseudo-feud with Stephanie McMahon when she returns to television. There's no guarantee of a resolution to said feud - look no further than poor Mick Foley - but Triple H is a convenient proxy, should WWE bother. Triple H has past form in shoehorning himself into the company's hotter rivalries (Brock Lesnar being the most egregious example), so it's not as if he's as concerned with building the future as he lets on.
Triple H will at least offer assurances that Angle doesn't work an intense, high-bumping, and risky match - but there's an equally logical and more exciting opponent awaiting him.
Samoa Joe has transitioned his act very well to the safer WWE environment. He's had to discontinue the Muscle Buster finisher, but his aura hasn't been diminished. His Yuji Nagata-like facials have put the Coquina Clutch over as something even more devastating than it is. Besides which, Angle and Joe are both very versatile workers. They don't need to bludgeon each other as they did in TNA to assemble a gripping match.
This all hinges on whether or not Angle is able to pass WWE's stringent medical testing, but an Angle vs. Joe match could even act as a natural prologue to Angle vs. Triple H at WrestleMania 34.
You can still have your match, Trips!