Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe Booked for WWE Raw

One of Impact Wrestling's greatest feuds will be reignited this week, only this time it will take place inside a WWE ring. WWE announced on Monday afternoon that Kurt Angle will take on United States Champion Samoa Joe on this week's Monday Night Raw as part of his ongoing farewell tour. Angle is already booked to appear on SmackDown Live this week to face AJ Styles, another of his former rivals from TNA/Impact, and is scheduled to face Baron Corbin in his final WWE match at WrestleMania 35 on April 7. He previous opponents on the farewell tour included Apollo Crews and Chad Gable.

"Tonight, The Olympic Hero locks up with SmackDown LIVE Superstar and United States Champion Samoa Joe, who would undoubtedly take great pleasure in making Angle tap out. Can the WWE Hall of Famer conquer The Samoan Submission Machine?" WWE.com wrote in its preview for the match.

The feud between Angle and Joe stretches back to the Olympic Gold Medalist's first days in TNA . He made his first appearance on an episode of TNA Impact in October 2006, confronting Samoa Joe over the stolen NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The two wound up facing each other for the first time at the Genesis pay-per-view, where Angle successfully ended Joe's undefeated streak in the company. The two would go on to wrestle in 77 matches either against or alongside each other in Impact Wrestling, resulting in multiple titles changing hands including the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

The two clashed for the first time in a WWE ring at a house show in November 2017, where Angle teamed with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins of The Shield to face Joe, Cesaro and Sheamus.

Joe left TNA in 2015 and quickly joined WWE's developmental program, NXT. After winning the NXT Championship twice, Joe made his main roster debut in January 2017. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown Live he finally won his first main-roster championship, defeating R-Truth, Andrade and Rey Mysterio in a four-way match to win the United States Championship. He successfully defended the title against the same three men at Fastlane, and is booked to take on Mysterio at WrestleMania 35.

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