Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles Announced for SmackDown Live

Kurt Angle announced back on March 11 that he would be competing in his final match at WrestleMania 35, and has since appeared on Monday Night Raw every week to have matches with a few more wrestlers as part of his farewell tour. The first two included Apollo Crews and Chad Gable, but the WWE appears to be upping the ante this week as the Olympic Gold Medalist will travel to SmackDown Live to face AJ Styles in a one-on-one bout. Angle will compete in his retirement match against Baron Corbin, the man who continuously antagonized him during his run as the Raw general manager.

While Angle and Styles haven't locked horns in the WWE before, the two have an impressive history that reaches over a decade. According to Cagematch.com, the duo were involved in 100 matches in TNA/Impact Wrestling from 2006-13. While Styles would initially serve as Angle's lackey in The Angle Alliance, the two would wind up becoming rivals as Styles inserted himself into the TNA World Heavyweight Championship picture. Styles took the title from Angle at TNA No Surrender in 2009 as part of a five-way math, and successfully defended the title against the WWE Hall of Famer in a string of matches in early 2010, which culminated in Styles' heel turn where he aligned himself with Ric Flair.

The two would have their final TNA match in July 2013, when Angle defeated Styles at the TNA BaseBrawl house show event. Styles would leave the company after a final set of television tapings in late December 2013, and would quickly move on to Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Angle would have his last match in Impact in March 2016.

While his WrestleMania match is meant to be seen as a momentous occasion, many fans rolled their eyes at the thought of Angle wrestling Corbin on an already-packed card. Even Giovanna Angle, his wife, indicated she wasn't a fan of the matchup before deleting multiple tweets about it.

"Guys, it's pro wrestling," she wrote after deleting her tweets. "Its like watching a movie. I'm no way upset with my husband wrestling Corbin. Lol I love having fun with yall. But It is really nice to see how many fans support Kurt on how he should be sent off."

Even Angle himself had to defend the matchup, writing on Instagram, "My farewell match will be against Baron Corbin at Wrestlemania. I realize it's not the most popular decision from a fan's perspective... BUT I will make Corbin tap out on the biggest stage of them all.... and I Hope you can share this moment/accomplishment with me on April 7th," Angle wrote. "Baron is a legit tough guy. It won't be easy but it never is."

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