Kurt Angle Says He Turned Down Ten-Match Offer From AEW

[Liz]

Kurt Angle retired from in-ring competition following WrestleMania 35 and a loss to Baron Corbin.

He's since undergone double knee surgery and has stated that he won't wrestle again. Before he officially called an end to his in-ring career, Angle was offered a chance to join AEW on multiple occasions.

They actually wanted me to wrestle, in particular. Tony Khan gave me a call, wanted me to wrestle, they offered me a pretty good deal, but I just can't do it anymore. I wish I could, but it's just not possible. They did offer me two different times. They did want me to do on-camera personality as well, a non-wrestling role, I actually turned that down as well. I wanted to start up my supplement company and put more time into that and didn't want to leave the company at this particular time, so I decided not to do it," Angle told Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston.

After discussing Sting's success in AEW and how he's found a role in multi-man matches, Angle was asked what he believed his AEW schedule was going to be.

"They wanted me to have big special matches. They gave me a contract for ten matches, they didn't say how long it would be. It might not have been for a year, it might have been for three years and I would have wrestled three matches a year. I decided not to do it because of my supplement company, and the fact that, I'm not the same that I used to be. If I'm gonna go in there and wrestle, I want to be the old Kurt Angle and I know I can't be that anymore," he said.

Angle currently hosts his weekly podcast on the Conrad Thompson Network and was part of IMPACT's 20-year celebration at IMPACT Slammiversary, sending in a video message.