5 most disappointing retirement matches in WWE history

#4. Kurt Angle - WWE farewell against the wrong opponent?

Kurt Angle revealed in a Facebook Q&A that he wished he would have wrestled more after his WWE return in 2017. He returned to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame after more than a decade away from the company.

He was then announced as the new General Manager of RAW. Angle said that his body became arthritic because of the lack of activity and he was forced to retire earlier than he would have liked:

"Yes, I wish I would have wrestled more when I came back in early 2017, I was wrestling really well then. Because of my inactivity of being GM, my body started to get arthritic. I got tighter, more sore, and less flexible than when I was active two years ago. In other words, the inactivity of not wrestling consistently led me to retirement a little faster. But, I can't complain. I loved doing what I did in WWE."

Angle admitted that he wanted John Cena to be his final opponent, as he gave the franchise player his WWE start, and wanted to give back the opportunity to end his career. From a story-telling standpoint this would have been perfectly symmetrical.

Things didn't align and Angle faced Baron Corbin in his farewell instead. Angle has defended Corbin and has stated that he has a bright future ahead of him. One of the most disappointing aspects of the farewell was that Kurt Angle was only given six minutes in his retirement match. In comparison, Batista was given 25 minutes for his retirement match against Triple H later that night.

The underwhelming quality of the match combined with the lack of time given has made it one of the most disappointing retirement matches in WWE history.