10 Ways To Book Kurt Angle's WWE Return
9. NXT's True Veteran Presence
NXT is already stuffed to the gills with older wrestlers. Shinsuke Nakamura, the current Champion, is 37 next month, and his next opponent (Bobby Roode) is 39. Elsewhere, the likes of Eric Young, Austin Aries, and Samoa Joe all sit on the wrong side of 30, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for younger stars to break through at Full Sail University.
Adding another veteran talent would only increase the logjam, but the bulk of NXT’s older wrestlers aren’t expected to stick around much longer. Aries will surely enter the Cruiserweight division when his eye injury heals, Joe’s main roster call-up is only a whisper away, and you’d expect the Nakamura/Roode loser to hit Raw or SmackDown sooner or later. Whatever happens over the coming months, a number of open spots should materialise, and Angle would be tremendous in a player/coach role.
As one of the most talented wrestlers of his generation, Angle would bring a wealth of knowledge to the Performance Center. WWE’s young trainees would benefit immensely from working with him, and he’d a big asset to help put them over on television while he can still wrestle. Angle brings significant name value to the table, and beating him, particularly in WWE, should still mean something. A couple of big TakeOver matches would do NXT the world of good, and allow Angle to retire gracefully.