After 20 glorious years in the wrestling business, Kurt Angle finally retired at WrestleMania 35 in a loss to Baron Corbin.
The Olympic gold medallist is one of the greatest performers to ever lace up his boots, but during his second run in the WWE it was clear the business had taken its toll on him.
Angle depareted WWE in 2016 and would spent 10 years in TNA putting on some of his very best matches.
By the time he returned to WWE, there was no way he could put on the clinics he used to, or even work a full-time schedule.
Many fans were crying out for Angle to end his career in poetic fashion against John Cena, a man who started his career against Angle in 2002.
In an interview with Collider, the WWE Hall of Famer explained how he came to retire and why Corbin had to be the right guy.
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I decided to retire at ‘Mania,” Angle said. “Vince didn’t tell me ‘Listen you’re done after ‘Mania.’ I went to him and said ‘Listen, I want to retire. I’m not able to do what I used to, and if I can’t be the old Kurt Angle, I want to be done now,’” he explained.
“I was hearing a lot of feedback from people that Kurt looks like he’s in pain in the ring and he’s slower then he used to be, and it’s like ‘Guys, I’m 50 years old, of course I’m slower.”
“You have a program that you’ve been doing for a year; I’m not throwing it away. It’s with Baron Corbin, so whether you want to retire now or whenever, you’re going to wrestle Baron at WrestleMania.”
Angle agreed, saying “‘You know what, that’s fair. You’re right.’ I can’t just change the whole thing and what they had planned and say ‘Hey, add Cena in.’ So I think that if it was next WrestleMania [36], it would have been John and I.”