Vince McMahon wanted Kurt Angle to wrestle John Cena at WWE WrestleMania 36

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle was recently a guest on Instinct Culture by Denise Salcedo. During the interview, Angle opened up about the final match of his career at WWE WrestleMania 35 last year where he faced Baron Corbin. Angle said that although Corbin was an up and coming star, he had wanted to wrestle John Cena in his final match, but it wasn't to be:

Vince McMahon told me I had a program with Baron Corbin and I told him I wanted to retire at WrestleMania this past year and he said, ‘Well, you’re gonna wrestle Baron Corbin ‘cause you’ve had a program with him for the last several months.’ I said, ‘Vince, I want to retire. Baron’s a great talent but he’s an upcoming talent, how about John Cena?’

Angle went on to explain that Vince McMahon told him he could face John Cena at WrestleMania 36 if he wrestled one more year. However, Angle said that he knew he was done before WWE WrestleMania 35 and agreed to face Corbin in his last match:

He said, ‘If you want John Cena you got it. But this year you got Baron.’ I said, ‘Vince, I’m not going next year. I’m done, this is it.’ And he said, ‘Well, you’re stuck with this.'

A lot of fans found Baron Corbin to be a lackluster final opponent for a legend like Kurt Angle and it looks like he himself felt the same way.

How Kurt Angle became WWE RAW GM

During the same interview, Kurt Angle also discussed his final run in WWE as a whole. Kurt Angle said he and Vince McMahon didn't see eye to eye regarding it and revealed how he ended up becoming the General Manager of WWE RAW:

I wanted to have another title run and retire. And Vince McMahon wanted me inducted into the Hall of Fame and I told him, ‘Well, I am not done wrestling’ and he said, ‘That’s okay’ And I said, ‘Well, you know eventually I would like to wrestle,’ and he said ‘We’ll get there.’ So, after the Hall of Fame, that night, after I had my speech, Vince McMahon came up to me and said, ‘You’re going to be the GM of RAW starting tomorrow.’

Kurt Angle was released by WWE in April as a part of the budget cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He did, however, return for a brief period where he was the special guest referee for the Fight Pit match between Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher on NXT. The same week, Angle appeared on SmackDown to announce that Riddle would be moving to the Blue brand.