WWE Raw – March 18, 2019 (Review)

In a relatively slow wrestling news week, the major talking point over the last several days has been Kurt Angle’s pending retirement match. More to the point, the question has been who the legendary figure would face for his in-ring farewell at WrestleMania.

Would it be someone from his past? Like John Cena, who would offer some semblance of poetic symmetry, with Angle of course having been Cena’s opponent in his first televised match in 2002. Or perhaps the Olympian could rekindle his unforgettable feud with Samoa Joe, who together arguably put on the best series of matches in TNA history. A further alternative would be for Angle to elevate a budding star before he gracefully rode off into the sunset. Someone who could drag a good match out of Kurt’s ageing body and still capitalise on the momentum generating by conquering a wrestling hero. The likes of Chad Gable or Matt Riddle are obvious choices.

But nope, we’re getting Baron Corbin instead.

WWE Hall of Famer @RealKurtAngle will have one last match at #WrestleMania, and his final opponent will be @BaronCorbinWWE! https://t.co/vWb1zoBnps pic.twitter.com/ZvAJwx5LwC

— WWE WrestleMania (@WrestleMania) March 19, 2019

It’s hard to properly convey how incredible Kurt Angle is to someone who wasn’t around 10 to 20 years ago. If you’ve only witnessed the hobbled, broken down, hunched-over husk that we’ve been subjected to since the former multi-time WWE Champion returned as Raw General Manager two years ago, then you’ve missed out on one of the most naturally gifted performers of all time. Few, if any, have merged comedy, ferocity and in-ring ability as seamlessly as the gold medalist has during his career. The originator of ‘The Three I’s’ is widely believed to have boasted the greatest rookie year ever seen in wrestling. He transitioned from winning a gold medal to winning championship gold quicker than anyone could have imagined and made it all look ridiculously easy.

But it was his charisma that really captivated audiences. Angle was able to shift between goofy sketches and uncompromising intensity in a manner so rarely seen today. He was everything and anything: athletic, smart, funny, intimidating and a technical genius. His retirement from in-ring competition should therefore be heralded. Angle is an absolute, unquestionable legend of the business.

And his last match looks to be against Baron Corbin. The master of the ankle lock against the master of the chin lock.

Now it wouldn’t be entirely out of character for WWE to abandon this program midstream, somehow writing Corbin out of the picture and replacing him with someone more exciting. But time is running out and at this point it looks rather unlikely. So we may just have to make peace with the unavoidable – Kurt will continue to beat more deserving opponents in the run up to WrestleMania, before being snuffed out by Corbin at the ‘Showcase of the Immortals’. The same Corbin who lost to Apollo Crews last night. The same Corbin who is destined to forever be the same boring non-entity we see on Monday nights each week.

Until that happens though, we can only hope. Let’s get to the best parts of Raw.

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