On Raw Kurt Angle told the WWE Universe that his Hall of Fame career will officially end on April 7. And on Tuesday put out a thank you note to fans as well as a reminder that WrestleMania 35 will be his final act as a WWE Superstar.
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“I want to thank my hometown, Pittsburgh, for the incredible reception I received on Raw last night. I couldn’t think of a better place to announce my retirement. Thanks to @apollowwe for stepping in the ring with me for my final match in Pittsburgh. It’s on to Wrestlemania, and regardless who my opponent is, I feel like I’ve already won my farewell match, because I know that every WWE fan will be cheering for me. I’m very grateful for the amazing career I’ve had, but it’s time for me to step down and move on. Wrestlemania will be a very emotional night for me, but I will enjoy every second of it. Thank you WWE Universe. #itstrue”
Naturally, the conversation around Angle’s WM35 match is centered around his opponent. WWE can take this a number of ways, too. A young heel like Baron Corbin would get no shortage of heat for retiring a beloved hero like Angle. The same goes for an up-and-coming star like Chad Gable or a recent NXT call-up. But as of Tuesday, John Cena is the most popular option.
Cena, of course, had his first match in 2002 with Angle on SmackDown. When Angle issued an open challenge it was Cena who answered and the match that followed was good enough to launch Cena’s solo career. In terms of coming full-circle, this may be an opportunity WWE can’t let pass. Even more, Cena’s Instagram page fully acknowledged Angle’s upcoming retirement with the following post.
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While Cena makes sense for Angle, it’s by no mean guaranteed. A the moment, Cena is also rumored for a US Championship match, but at this point, his WrestleMania status is a total mystery.
It will be interesting to see how much camera time Angle gets in the final weeks before WrestleMania. WWE will likely attach a storyline to the retirement match, but that fully depends on who he’ll actually be facing. From Raw and this post, Angle seems to be taking his final match like an exhibition, rather than the highly dramatized career-ending matches in WWE. Maybe that’s all this will be, a short match followed by a tearful goodbye. But given Angle’s resume, we’ll guess there’s something more waiting for us on April 7.
