5 Reasons Adding Kurt Angle To TLC Is A HUGE Mistake
Olivia Owen WWE.com just broke the news that thanks to a Roman Reigns medical issue, he won't be available for his main event match at TLC. It's a huge blow to the pay-per-view and it completely halts the reunion of The Shield in its tracks.
As a way to ensure viewers don't freak out and not watch the show now that the arguably biggest star is not taking part in the contest, WWE has gone and done the unthinkable by adding Kurt Angle to the contest and having him wrestle alongside the remaining members of The Shield.
Clearly, the WWE Universe will be interested in seeing Angle back in the ring, but this is a massive blunder by the company. Here are Five Reasons Putting Kurt Angle In TLC Is A Huge Mistake.
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5. It Means WWE and Angle Lied About His Status
Fans who were hoping Angle would come back and start wrestling again were always told by WWE and Kurt Angle in interviews that it would likely happen one day, but to this point, Angle hadn't even taken his physical to be medically cleared to wrestle, and Angle wasn't thinking past his current role and when he was cleared, he would look to come back.
It's not that WWE couldn't have done a physical since learning the news, but Reigns would have been injured on Monday's episode of Raw. This change means Angle was approached, cleared by taking a physical and then it was deemed best to include him all within a matter of a couple days. His injury worries couldn't have been nearly as bad as everyone led on.
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4. It Draws Attention Away From The Shield
If the WWE wanted to keep The Shield strong the easy fix was to add another member. Why not take a lesser known wrestler and have him join Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose? It would immediately boost the profile of that wrestler and it would keep the focus on the group The Shield instead of now putting the focus of the main event on Angle's in-ring re-debut.
This seems like extremely short-term panic planning. The WWE had a lot of other options and they're going the easy route without any regard for what this means for everyone involved long-term. Add Finn Balor, Baron Corbin, Mike Kanellis, AJ Styles or debut an NXT talent. Add any number of other people instead of just throwing them in there with Angle.
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3. It Kills the Jason Jordan Long-Term Payoff
By putting Angle in this match, WWE has almost completely thrown away whatever they had planned to do with Jason Jordan. Angle's on-screen son was eventually going to be the reason Angle came back to the ring. Whether it was to defend his honor or whether it was because Jordan turned on his father, Angle needed a juicy storyline with his son as a reason to not only bring him back but create a payoff for Jordan who absolutely needed the rub.
By ignoring that long-term plan, it leaves Jason Jordan in no-man's land. What will the WWE do next with him and will anyone care now?
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2. The Shield Literally Just Threatened Angle
Of all the teammates Angle would take, this storyline and these teammates make the least amount of sense. The Shield threatened Angle, especially Reigns who threatened to kick the crap out of the Raw GM. Why would Angle then turn around and help out The Shield?
There are so many other people that could have joined the Shield, Angle just doesn't fit. The WWE might explain this away by suggesting Angle is the GM and he needs to do what he needs to do to save the pay-per-view, but that's still not a strong enough reason.
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1. It Completely Destroys Angle's Eventual Re-Debut
Having Kurt Angle come back to the WWE was huge news. The only thing bigger was to see him eventually wrestle again and when the WWE finally pulled the trigger on that move it was going to sell a ton of pay-per-views. Really, it was a WrestleMania moment in the making.
Now, WWE has lost the ability to promote his return and they'll never be able to go back and re-do his return to the ring. There's no push, there's not the time to promote properly and there's no feud to build upon. It's absolutely terrible in terms of long-term draw and ability to make money off Angle's return.
