Kurt Angle was not disappointed but was under the assumption that he was going to have a feature singles match.
WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle made his return to WWE programming the night after WrestleMania 33 and was announced as the GM of Monday nights. Angle did not wrestle for seven months until former Universal Champion Roman Reigns came down with an illness that opened a spot for Kurt Angle in the main event of the 2017 TLC pay-per-view. Angle teamed with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose and they defeated Braun Strowman, The Bar, The Miz and Kane.
Kurt Angle has spoken about this match at length before and further commented on it again during an interview with Comicbook.com. Angle stated that he enjoyed stepping back into the ring at TLC but thought his return match would be a spotlight reserved for him and reiterated that being inactive for all those months led to his body cramping up.
"Okay, I'll explain my situation and what I believe has gone on," Angle said. "You have to remember, when I left in 2006 I had some serious problems. A lot of injuries, painkiller problems, and although WWE wanted to continue to keep me and have me eventually go to rehab and get better, I asked them to let me go. When they let me go I continued with the painkillers and everything else. Basically I didn't get clean until 2013, and when I got clean I decided I wanted to come back to WWE, but they wouldn't even look at me for three years. So when you say, am I upset about coming back? Yes, I'm upset about it. I mean, don't get me wrong, being part of The Shield was awesome, but to have my return, of course I want to ... you know, I thought I was going to get the royal treatment and I'd be wrestling in main events, and I was wrestling pretty good at that point, because I was very active. When I became inactive is when my body shut down and my age started to show." Angle explained. "Because when you sit out for nine months your body becomes arthritic and you start tensing up and you can't move your legs, and your back, and your neck. When your wrestling five days a week, you're bumping around, you're breaking open that scare tissue. So whether you believe it or not, wrestling actively every week and beating your body up is better that not doing anything at all. So when I got into that match it was fun for me, and was I a little disappointed? No, because it was the Shield, but I was disappointed that I didn't get a Kurt Angle feature match. But I understand, and what I'm getting to is this: When I came back here I was a liability. Vince McMahon knew that, and they were having me drug tested to make sure I was clean. But the thing is it's my fault. So I understand why Vince did what he did. He brought me in, put me in the Hall Of Fame, then he had me do the GM role, then he had me start wrestling, and by the time I started wrestling my body was all, you know, it just was all ... what do you call it? Arthritic and cramped up, and I couldn't move. It was just... But I understand why Vince did it. He looks at me and says I don't want this kid to screw himself up again. So I'm going to keep him straight by giving him these roles. So he only had me wrestle every once and awhile, and he wouldn't let me wrestle for longer than seven minutes. So it was like, sure I was upset, but I understand."
During a recent interview, Kurt Angle revealed that he inked a five-year deal with WWE and is set to embark on his journey as a producer for the company and for more on that story, check out Fightful's published article about the topic.
