Kurt Angle Reveals Recent Scrapped WWE Return Plans

WWE had plans to bring the Olympic Hero back to television.

by Andrew Pollard
Kurt Angle
WWE

With plentiful speculation recently that Kurt Angle was set for a WWE return of sorts, the Olympic Hero himself has indeed revealed that, yes, there were plans for him to do something with the company at last weekend's Royal Rumble premium live event.

Speaking on The Kurt Angle Show (via WrestlingNews.co), the WWE Hall of Famer confirmed that not only was he in attendance for the Rumble, but Vince McMahon's sports entertainment giant wanted Angle to do a "short program" that ultimately got scrapped at the last minute.

"I went to the Royal Rumble. The WWE wanted me to do a short program that they ended up cancelling it at the last second. But we went to the Rumble, my wife and I. We saw Kim Orton, my wife's best friend. We had a great time. We went to the Rumble and I also did some documentary interviews a day before [and] a photo opp with the fans. But I want to make it clear, I'm not signed with the WWE. They weren't gonna sign me anyway, it was gonna be a three-week program. It got cancelled, but, you know, my obligation is to the show - The Kurt Angle show - and that's it."

The 12-time World Champion didn't give any specifics on what this three-week run would've consisted of, nor did he mention any of the talent he would have been working with if these plans would've been followed through on.

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Angle's most recent spell with WWE officially wrapped up on 15 April 2020, with him released as part of that particular round of company cuts. Prior to that, Kurt had been operating as a backstage producer for McMahon's promotion.

As it stands, the final match of Kurt Angle's career took place at WrestleMania 35, where the Wrestling Machine lost to Baron Corbin. Since his release, Angle has made a one-off appearance in NXT to officiate the Timothy Thatcher vs. Matt Riddle 'Fight Pit' contest.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.