“A Filler Match”- Kurt Angle Reveals the Sad Reality Behind His WWE Retirement Match at WrestleMania

Kurt Angle made a huge return to WWE as the General Manager of Raw and even returned to the ring as he always wanted to. However, he wasn’t the young man he used to be in 2002 and had just a few years left in him. 

The WWE Hall of Famer was ready to bow out in style in the place that made him a legend but got quite the anti-climactic finish, far from what fans wanted it to be. 

Angle was made to fight Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35 in a painstakingly short fight, right before the main event of the night. Moreover, he ended up going out with a defeat, being pinned by Corbin.

“I don’t think they knew if I was going to wrestle with Corbin at WrestleMania,” revealed Angle, speaking on The Kurt Angle Show. “I think that what they did is they knew I was going to retire. I didn’t know if I was going to be on WrestleMania if I didn’t go to Vince and say I want to retire WrestleMania I think that was a last-minute decision to put me on the card. And they didn’t know who to put me with.”

Kurt Angle felt that his match was just a filler

Kurt Angle truly believes WWE got the best out of two situations by making him fight against Corbin again. He also realized that his match was not meant to be a big one but merely a filler. 

“I was doing a program with Baron even though we finished it because he beat me clean. They decided to do it again at WrestleMania. So, you know, I think they kill two birds with one stone. They got my retirement match on WrestleMania and they got a good filler match in between two main event matches,” said Angle.

The former WWE Champion realized this when he saw the duration of his match as well as the slot on the card and realized it was not his moment.

“I really believe that the match was honestly a filler match. When you go under six minutes at WrestleMania, and you’re on 14th position and you’re after Battista and Triple H and you’re on before the main event, it’s a tough spot and not having a lot of time, you just know that you’re the the filler match. That’s what it is,” admitted Angle. 

Kurt Angle was released from his WWE contract in April 2020 as part of the budget cuts during the pandemic. He is however still in great shape and keeps proving that age is just a number.

Also read: WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle Recalls a Heated Backstage Confrontation With Brock Lesnar