Kurt Angle has made no secret of the fact he wanted his final match to be with John Cena. Instead, Vince McMahon pushed him into facing Baron Corbin, a waste of a match for both men and a disappointing way to end the WWE Hall of Famer's in-ring career.
This year will mark the end of Cena's career, with the sixteen-time WWE Champion embarking on a year-long "retirement tour." Talking to Chris Van Vliet, Angle was asked if he could come out of retirement to face off with the Leader of the Cenation.
"No, I can't wrestle anymore," he admitted. "Actually, you know what I did? I did wrestle about two months ago. I did a commercial for CBS, and it was for the NFL pre-game for the Ravens and Steelers. So me and a gentleman named Kyle Brandt, he's a sportscaster for CBS. He pretended he was the Ravens and I pretended I was the Steelers. We had a pro wrestling match and I was bumping."
When Van Vliet asked if that means there's a chance Angle will wrestle again, he responded, "No, no, no. Because what happened was I threw my back out and I couldn't walk for a week after that. My wife was like, you're never getting in that ring again, and she's right. I shouldn't have even got in the ring, but it was a lot of fun to do it."
"But I would love to wrestle John Cena," the Olympic Gold Medallist added. "There's nobody that wants to wrestle John more than I do for his retirement match, especially with the respect I have for him. I just can't do it."
Of course, just because he can't wrestle, that doesn't mean Angle won't be the one to induct Cena into the WWE Hall of Fame. Many fans would love to see that happen, and the wrestling machine confirmed he's open to the idea.
"Well, I'll tell you this, there are a lot of people that deserve to induct John. Randy Orton, who was his biggest competition, or his nemesis. But Stephanie McMahon, don't forget that she's the one that discovered his rapping ability, and she was a big fan of his, she really supported him quite often. But no I'd be honored to induct John Cena, the one thing I want to say about him is he has shown that he is possibly the greatest WWE superstar of all time. Winning 16 World Heavyweight Titles in one company, Ric Flair won 16, but he won them in NWA and WCW and WWE and you can't take that away from him, they were all major promotions. But to do it all in one company, that makes you that company's greatest star. And I really believe that he deserves another title before he retires."
If Cena is inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, then it will likely be in 2026 (and even then, it will depend on his film and TV schedule). And, while a match is off the table, here's hoping Angle gets something to do during Cena's retirement tour.
You can watch the full interview with Angle in the player below.