Kurt Angle Talks Teaming Up With The Shield, Why He Believes He Wasn’t In A World Title Picture For Final WWE Run

On the latest edition of the Kurt Angle Show WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle spoke about his first match after returning to the WWE, where the Olympic Hero teamed with The Shield in place of an injured Roman Reigns. Angle later discusses why he thinks he was not in a world title picture for his final run with the company, and what his initial thoughts were on being offered the General Manager role. Highlights are below.

Says he was surprised that he got invited back to WWE but wasn’t immediately wrestling:

It was a surprise because I was planning on continuing to wrestle. I was expecting a call from the WWE eventually and when I did get the call I thought Vince McMahon was going to ask me to come back to wrestle but they did the opposite. They decided to induct me into the Hall of Fame which is what you do when you retire. I told Vince I didn’t want to retire and he said we’ll get around to wrestling eventually.

Says he thinks they were making sure he could handle the GM role and stay clean:

I think I was a liability for the company and I think that’s the reason Vince wanted to start me out with the Hall of Fame, then gave me the general manager spot the following night on RAW. I think he was getting a feel for me to see how I was handling this situation and staying clean, even though when I came back to WWE I was clean and sober for 4 years in 2017. Vince McMahon just wanted to make sure I was staying clean while I was with the company.

Says he loved getting a chance to work with The Shield:

I was a fan. If you saw me come out of the arena and I was behind Seth and Dean, I just looked like a fan. I was so excited to be a part of The Shield. The Shield is a legendary team, I have a lot of respect for all 3 of those guys. Being apart of it for that night was so much fun, I had a blast.

Why he thinks he was no longer in the world title picture:

This was the first time [Vince] saw me compete. I was training for the match, I had a good like 3 weeks, and I was doing hill sprints and I pulled a muscle in my leg. I couldn’t push off my left leg, so I had to use my right leg the whole time. It just looked like I lost a step, even though I did, I was able to hide it. I think Vince was like ‘Okay, this guy is close to retirement, he’s almost done.’ I think that was where he judged me and said I’m not going to use Kurt in the world title picture, I’m going to use him to make younger guys. I think that’s what happened.

(H/T and transcribed by Inside The Ropes)