When Kurt Angle returned to WWE, it was obvious to fans that he'd have to work a limited schedule. The Olympic Gold Medalist's health had deteriorated and, at 50, this wasn't an Angle in his prime.
Despite that, he impressed in matches with the likes of Triple H, Ronda Rousey, and The Shield, but Vince McMahon's backward approach to booking Angle did him no favours.
WWE brought the former TNA star back into the fold for a WWE Hall of Fame induction and then made him RAW General Manager. Ring rust set in and by the time Angle's final run rolled around, he struggled. Eventually, he was retired by Baron Corbin at WrestleMania.
During a recent interview, Angle shared his belief that McMahon was punishing him for his decision to leave and sign with TNA years earlier.
"I love Baron Corbin, but I just felt that my second time in WWE, I wasn’t so much appreciated. I think it has a lot to do with me leaving the company high and dry in 2006 and going straight to TNA. I was supposed to go back to WWE in six months. Vince [McMahon] wanted me to take six months off and come back."
"So literally, when I left his office and I quit, I called TNA and got a contract that day. I didn’t wait a second. I knew what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go and I think they was like, ‘Okay, well if he comes back we’re going to teach him a little lesson,’ which is fine. I understood."
"I love my TNA run. I think I came into my own right around 2006 when I was having my best wrestling, and that’s when I moved over to TNA."
Angle clearly has no regrets, but it's hard not to wonder how much better his final WWE run would have been on Triple H's watch. He definitely had some memorable matches, but it wasn't what he or his fans deserved.
Back in April, Angle said, "When WWE brought me back after I spent 11 years in TNA, they had a different plan for me than I did. They wanted to induct me into the Hall of Fame first. And I was like, 'Vince, the Hall of Fame should be last, when I retire.' He said, 'Well, we want to induct you into the Hall of Fame and get a feel for you, make sure you’re doing okay.'"
"When you get away from it at the age I was...fans could tell that I was not the same wrestler. I looked older, I wrestled like I was older, I felt like I was looking like an old man. And I didn’t like what I saw."
You can check out the full interview with the WWE Hall of Famer below.