8 CM Punk WWE Feuds For His Inevitable Return
1. CM Punk Vs. Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle!? But he's retiring from TNA and and has signed on to commentate for MMA's second largest promotion in 2016, Bellator Fighting Championships! Oh, and the man's about to turn 47 and just had a (benign) tumor removed from his oft-injured neck.
Point taken. Kurt Angle obviously needs time away from pro wrestling to heal and recharge. He could also use time away to make fans yearn for a return. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and many have taken the Olympic Gold Medalist's sports entertainment career for granted.
Whether Angle's stature in a tumultuous TNA has diluted his relevancy, he's due for a final sendoff on the grandest stage. This leaves a possible 2016 or 2017 return open, as Angle has openly disclosed in recent interviews how he'd like one more run in WWE after taking time to organize his life and explore other business ventures.
But when Kurt Angle is ready, he'll want big time matchups. While a dream rematch with Brock Lesnar or a wrestling clinic with Daniel Bryan are always possibilities, CM Punk injects a compelling narrative between the two. CM Punk walked away and took the chance to fight at 36. Kurt Angle was a tad older than Punk in 2003 when he and UFC president Dana White had talks about Angle potentially joining the MMA ranks. But Angle's fight career never came to fruition. Rumors of his involvement on The Ultimate Fighter floated, but that too turned out to be little more than hot air.
Angle has admitted his regret at not taking the chance when it was available, but stands by his fiscal decision: the audience and money just wasn't there back then, and Angle was offered a 10 fight contract for a paltry $150,000 back in the late 90s, which is just above what rookie UFC fighters are compensated these days.
Back then, the UFC was not the global powerhouse it is now. Yet Punk's position emulates one which Kurt wished to attain, both of popularity and of legitimisation. Punk can menace and taunt the Olympic hero, denouncing his gold medal as a trinket and not a true test of all around combat. After all, wrestling is not fighting. Punk can claim to have an 'edge' over Angle, regardless of the outcome of his fight(s).
The barbs between the two about who is truly the Best in the World would not only be thrilling, but a true-to-life tale of career supremacy. Their matches likely wouldn't be half bad, either!