11 MORE WWE Returns That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
7. Kurt Angle (2017)
This writer was over in Orlando for WrestleMania 33 when news spread that Kurt Angle's much-anticipated WWE comeback was a lock. Then, on the post-'Mania edition of Raw, Angle was introduced as the brand new GM for Monday nights, and all was well in the world again. That 3 April 2017 announcement seemed to fit, and the role would also give Kurt plenty of time to get healthy for some big time money matches.
Yeah, about that.
By his own admission, Angle was struggling to physically live up to the billing around that time. His body had seized up badly, and he just wasn't capable of performing at the high level necessary for heavily-hyped featured matches in WWE. Thus, his GM gig trundled along for a while before the ultimate sin was committed: WWE installed Jason Jordan as Kurt's kayfabe son, and the fanbase was not amused.
That sudden and unrealistic nonsense started in July, but the bloom came off the rose for Angle pretty early. There were highlights over the coming years before he retired in 2019 (such as a stunning mixed tag match with Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 34), but they were few and far between. Overall, Kurt's GM saga and meagre amount of matches failed to satisfy the way people had hoped.
Comments like, 'His TNA run was better than this' started to appear on socials. The penny had dropped that Angle would never be back to his best in-ring again, and that was that. WWE had hoped to give Kurt enough time to get prepped when making him GM, but all they did was dilute somebody who should've been a special attraction by having him make matches every week.