6 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (March 11)

4. Calling It A Career

Seeing a legendary wrestler announce his retirement is rarely a positive, but when you consider the ups and downs of Kurt Angle’s career, his decision to have a farewell match at WrestleMania was the right thing.

Angle had a great career in WWE before leaving in 2006. He would return 11 years later after a run in TNA/Impact, this time mostly as an onscreen authority figure. But the Olympic gold medalist would get back in the ring several times to compete, and it became clear to anyone who’s followed his career that Angle was running on fumes.

We’ve all seen the wrestler who is a shell of his former self still going out and competing, doing what they love so much, but at the same time reminding fans that they’re not who they used to be. Angle was an other-worldly grappler who could do no wrong in the ring. But in his dozen-plus matches during this WWE run, Kurt had slowed significantly.

Learning that he’ll retire on his terms is a great thing, and he’ll get to do it at the biggest show of the year, which makes it even more special. It’ll hopefully be an opportunity to celebrate his career.