Kurt Angle Had Two Specific Wrestlers He Wanted To Face Before Retirement Match

During the latest episode of The Kurt Angle Show, the WWE Hall of Famer spoke about the legendary career of AJ Styles and their time spent in IMPACT Wrestling together. Kurt Angle also talked about reuniting with AJ in the WWE and why he always knew Styles was geared for WWE early on.

"Oh yeah, I knew from early on in TNA," Angle said. "All he needed was an opportunity and a chance, and he got it, and when he did, he kicked some ass."

"It was exciting to see AJ, he's such a good guy. He was such a great friend, loyal. Not just in the ring but he always had this caring way about him, asking about your kids and your wife. He was a great family man and it was just great to see him and knowing that we might wrestle again was pretty intriguing."

In 2019, Kurt Angle was on his farewell tour wrestling several of his favorite rivals on route to his retirement match against Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35. During that tour, Angle wrestled his IMPACT Wrestling friends AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, and detailed how disappointed he was in his match with Styles just before 'Mania 35.

"The thing was, I requested this match to Vince McMahon," Angle said. "I had the Kurt Angle farewell tour and they allowed me to request certain matches, and I requested AJ Styles and Samoa Joe over any other WWE wrestler and I made sure I got those two. AJ and I went out there, it was three minutes and we kicked ass for three minutes. But what're you going to do? There was no finish and it just kind of sucked. Unfortunately for AJ and I, it wasn't the finish that we wanted."

"Not the way I wanted to end my career, and Randy Orton did not get up for me on the Angle Slam. This match was so embarrassing, it showed no traces of the real Kurt Angle. It was like the old beat-up Kurt Angle with the quad injury, no finish, it was just horrible."

As far as whether or not AJ Styles is the best wrestler of this generation, Kurt Angle detailed the differences between Styles and AEW superstar Bryan Danielson. Ultimately, he would choose Styles and explained why.

"That's tough, they're identical," Angle said. "They're so much alike and as far as their styles and everything they do, they're great at submission, they're great at highflying, they're great at anything that belongs in the ring. I will say this, I will pick AJ only because I wrestled him. I never wrestled Daniel Bryan and if I did I might change my mind, so I'm saying AJ right now because I wrestled him."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Kurt Angle Show with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.