Kurt Angle Almost Fought Jason Jordan At Wrestlemania Before Neck Injury

In an interview with Wrestling Inc, Kurt Angle spoke about the original plans for him at Wrestlemania 35, which would have involved Jason Jordan before his neck injury. Here are highlights:

On facing Baron Corbin at Wrestlemania: “I didn’t really get who I wanted. I was in a program with Jason Jordan. We were supposed to work that up to WrestleMania but he ended up hurting his neck, and they replaced him with Baron. [Vince McMahon] didn’t know that I wanted to retire. I wanted to retire because I wasn’t the same anymore. My body was getting really arthritic from not working. It didn’t go as I hoped. I told Vince I wanted to wrestle John Cena because I started his career and I wanted him to end mine – it just made sense to me. He told me no and that I was getting Baron Corbin. He said that if wanted Cena, I’d have to wait until next year, but I didn’t want to go another year. Baron is a great athlete and a great worker, but where he was at the time might not be at the level where Hall Of Famers would feel totally comfortable with. He was great to work with; I didn’t have a problem with that. I had a little bit of a problem retiring with him. I don’t want to put him down because he’s good, but I wanted to go with John Cena because it just made sense. I don’t want to say I had the worst retirement match, but wrestling Baron wasn’t exactly my dream match. Back then, he just wasn’t there.”

On WWE booking Roman Reigns: “It was one of those things where it goes in phases,” Angle added. “You start low and work your way to the mid-card, you win some matches, and then you lose some, then you win some and get to the main event level, and then you’re going to lose some matches again. It’s not like a meteoric rise to the top. You go up a little bit, then down a bit, then back up a little, then down. It’s so the fans can get used to you and get used to seeing you in that situation. The example today, whether you like him or not, he’s a ring general, and the guy is incredible – Roman Reigns. The problem with him is Vince just took him from zero to hero and the fans were confused, wondering, ‘Who this guy is?’ The thought was just like, ‘Who’s this guy and what’s he doing here? He must be Vince’s guy, and if that’s the case, I don’t like him.’ This heel turn has been a long time coming.”

On who he wants to wrestle: “If I was going to wrestle anyone, I’d love to wrestle Cena. I’ve also been watching Chris Jericho, and wow! He’s still so good. I’m so jealous of that son of a gun. He’s my age, and how he’s still able to go at this level like he’s doing right now, especially after 25-30 years in the ring, he’s phenomenal. He might go down in history, this is me speaking, but he might go down as top 5 of all time. He’s still as good as he ever was. I wouldn’t mind having one more round with Jericho, but that’s not going to happen.”