Corbin’s WWE exit makes Angle feel even worse about his last match

When Kurt Angle finally decided to hang up his legendary boots at WrestleMania 35, WWE — then still firmly under the control of Vince McMahon — decided it would be Baron Corbin to send the Olympic gold medalist into retirement.

Angle’s spoken highly of Corbin over the years, but also made it clear that the former NFL lineman wasn’t his ideal choice for his final opponent.

After WWE recently decided to part ways with Corbin, Wrestlezone checked in with Angle about the man who retired him back in 2019. The Hall of Famer continued to praise the last man he wrestled, but the fact Baron is even more unlikely to go down as an all-time great at this point doesn’t make Angle feel any better about how WWE booked the end of his in-ring career:

“Baron, I think he’s underrated. I think it kind of sucks that they — they started utilizing him the way they should have, you know, they had him beat me, which I was okay with. It was my last match, and obviously you’re going to lose with your last match when you retire. But Baron, after that, he ended up winning King of the Ring and then nothing else happened with him.

“It’s a little disappointing to know that he beat a legend at WrestleMania — the legend’s last match — and they didn’t really do much with him after that. For me, it makes me feel like I did that for nothing. So it’s not like, ‘Screw you Angle.’ But it kind of is [laughs], because I thought they were going to run with the kid.

“I thought they were going to make him one of the top-tier guys. And he was on his way. And I do believe they changed his character a couple times, I think he was Happy Corbin or something like that and then something else. But I don’t know if they just found anything that really stuck. And maybe that’s why they let him go, because they couldn’t find a character. But Baron has a great personality. He didn’t need a character. He could be him and he was entertaining as it is.

“So I was just a little disappointed that they didn’t do much with him and then they let him go.”

Does Corbin’s exit impact your view of Angle’s last match, or his run in general? Let us know in the comments below.