Here's What WWE Planned For Kurt Angle's Nixed Return

It looks like Kurt Angle wasn't fudging when he said recently that he was in discussions with WWE about a recent onscreen return that was cut, but now we know what those plans might have entailed.

Angle himself confirmed that he had conversations with WWE officials before the Royal Rumble about returning to the company in an unnamed storyline, but now Fightful Select reports that those plans would have involved the Olympic hero in the the Alpha Academy academic challenge against RK-Bro that played out during the past several weeks.

Reportedly, there were pitches that the challenge would have been dubbed the "Three I's Challenge," which was a direct reference to Angle's three I's during his heyday: Intensity, Integrity and Intelligence. This could have led to Kurt serving as a special guest referee at Elimination Chamber, presumably for a Raw Tag Team Championship match.

The report makes perfect sense, as Chad Gable has drawn strong comparisons to Angle throughout his career - both are Olympians, both have shows a great ability to mesh amateur wrestling with WWE-style sports entertainment, and both have displayed tremendous comic timing.

The academic challenge itself seemed to lend itself perfectly to interaction from Angle. Listeners of the WhatCulture Raw Review podcast might recall there was a great parallel between the individual events and Angle's "Three I's": Gable lost the spelling bee (lack of intelligence) and won the scooter race by cheating (lack of integrity). You could say he lost the quiz bowl by being distracted by fans and a buzzer (lack of intensity).

Regardless, this seems like a huge missed opportunity for WWE with a perfect entry point for the popular Hall-of-Famer.