AEW tried to pry wrestling legend Kurt Angle out of retirement, but the Olympic gold medalist turned down the offer .
Angle wrestled his final match at WrestleMania 35 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. He lost a relatively short bout to Baron Corbin, who briefly served as the "Constable of Raw" during Angle's run as the brand's general manager. We've seen many other wrestling legends come out of retirement for at least one more match, but don't expect Angle to do so.
During an interview with Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston (h/t SEScoops), Angle revealed that he was given multiple contract offers from AEW. One of them was a ten-match contract, and he was even offered the chance to work an on-screen/non-wrestling position. Angle said the deal was "pretty good", but multiple factors prompted him to turn the contract proposals down.
"I just wanted to start up my supplement company, so I wanted to put more time into that," Angle said. "So, I didn’t want to leave the company at this particular time, so I decided not to do it.
"They wanted me to have big special matches. They gave me a contract for ten matches, but they didn’t say how long it would be, so it might not have just been for a year. It might’ve been for three years, and I would’ve wrestled three matches a year. But I decided not to do it because of my supplement company, and the fact that I’m just not the same as I used to be. If I’m gonna go in there and wrestle, I want to be the old Kurt Angle, and I know I can’t be that anymore."
Angle recently revealed that he underwent double knee surgery, also emphasizing at the time that he was done as an in-ring performer. Angle added that though even though he's able to walk about, he's still dealing with plenty of pain.
After retiring, Angle transitioned into a backstage producer role for WWE. Though he was released in April 2020, the company offered him a chance to manage Riddle on the main roster. Angle turned down the offer, citing the low financial offer.
Kurt Angle Is Making The Right Call
There are too many cases of some WWE legends not knowing when it's time to retire. Ric Flair admitted that coming out of in-ring retirement to work in TNA was "a disaster", for example. The Undertaker is now 57 years of age, and so far, he has stood by his retirement word following an epic final match against AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36.
Angle takes pride in his in-ring performance, and if he doesn't think he can perform at a high level, he's better off staying retired. His legacy is cemented at this point, and the WWE Hall of Famer doesn't have anything to prove to anyone now.
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