Massive WWE legend reveals he turned down a retirement match against John Cena at WrestleMania
A WWE Hall of Famer recently opened up about his decision to retire early from in-ring competition. He claimed he turned down an offer from Vince McMahon to have a retirement match against John Cena.
The legend in question is Kurt Angle. The Olympic Gold Medalist was Cena's first opponent on the main roster when the latter debuted on SmackDown in 2002. The two later squared off several times in WWE. While many expected The Leader of the Cenation to be the one to retire the 55-year-old, the latter squared off against Baron Corbin in his final match at WrestleMania 35. On The Kurt Angle Show, the Hall of Famer disclosed that he could have had another retirement match at WrestleMania 36. However, he refused.
Angle revealed that he decided to retire after seeing himself on TV. He felt he looked like an old man struggling in the ring and did not want fans to remember him like that:
"You know, that's why I retired early, Paul, is because I saw that on TV. I was like, 'Oh man, I look like an old man. I don't want fans to remember me like that.' I mean, in my prime I was perhaps one of the best of all time and here I am I'm looking like an old man, struggling in the ring. I just hated it and that's the reason why I didn't go to the following WrestleMania to retire with John Cena," he said.
The Olympic Gold Medalist claimed that former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon asked him to fight Corbin at WrestleMania 35 while offering to give him a retirement match against John Cena the year after. The Hall of Famer turned down the offer, telling McMahon that he had to retire in 2019 due to his health condition and could not wait another year:
"I retired with Baron Corbin because I didn't have a choice. We were doing a program together and Vince McMahon couldn't just switch Baron with John Cena. So, he said, 'Listen, you gotta go with Baron, continue with this program, and wrestle him at WrestleMania and then the following year, we'll have you retire with Cena.' I said, 'I can't wait a year, Vince. My body is just too banged up.' So, unfortunately, that didn't happen." [29:29 - 30:18]
John Cena will retire from WWE in 2025
While Kurt Angle retired from in-ring action five years ago, John Cena recently announced his retirement plans at WWE Money in the Bank. The Leader of the Cenation disclosed that he will have one final run in 2025 before hanging up his boots by the end of the year.
On the Straight Talk with The Boss podcast, wrestling veteran Greg Gagne addressed the possibility of Cena winning the 2025 Men's Royal Rumble, capturing his 17th world title at WrestleMania 41, then dropping the championship at WWE SummerSlam:
"That's a possibility but I'd like to see a better sendoff than that," he said.
While Kurt Angle did not have the privilege of retiring against his desired opponent, it would be interesting to see if The Leader of the Cenation will have that opportunity.
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