Opinion: Why Kurt Angle should be inserted into the Universal Title Picture at SummerSlam
This week's edition of Monday Night Raw saw the return of the reigning Universal Champion Brock Lesnar who made his first WWE appearance since defending his Universal title against Roman Reigns at the Greatest Royal Rumble in April.
The entire episode was centered around Lesnar not wanting to show up in the ring and Heyman pleading with his client to get in the ring as the RAW General Manager Kurt Angle had given Heyman an ultimatum to either convince his client to get in the ring by the end of the show or his contract will be terminated.
The show ended with a confrontation between Lesnar, Heyman and Angle with Brock F5ing the Raw GM and attacking Heyman. This has created quite a unique scenario for SummerSlam.
For starters, Kurt Angle isn't going to let Lesnar off the hook as he attacked him when he was vulnerable. The Olympic Gold Medallist has had quite a rough few months and his sour relationship with the Authority has only made things worse for the WWE Hall of Famer.
Fans were enraged when Reigns beat Lashley for a chance to face Lesnar at SummerSlam for the Universal Championship and the WWE would be foolish to think the match wouldn't be a repeat of their terrible main event match from this year's WrestleMania. The crowds aren't invested in Roman one bit and the company needs to put another Superstar into the mix to make it more palpable for the fans.
Enter Kurt Angle. Although he is past his prime, one should never doubt the in-ring ability of the multi-time world champion Kurt Angle. The former WWE Champion hasn't had the opportunity to showcase his in-ring talent as he has been put into multi-man or tag team matches since returning to the company last year.
This is his moment to prove that he can go at it at the level with the best the company has to better and they don't get any better than Brock Lesnar. The history between Lesnar and Angle is well documented with the two putting up one of the best championship matches in WrestleMania history at WrestleMania 19 and who is to say that they can't do the same at SummerSlam this year.
Angle is one of the few superstars in the main roster who has a storied amateur wrestling background and is the only superstar to have made The Beast tapout inside a WWE ring.
The logical thing for the WWE to do at this point would be to insert Angle into the Universal Championship Title match at SummerSlam making it a triple threat match. This will help them in getting the heat off Roman Reigns to an extent and allow Lesnar to drop the title without getting pinned.
Alternatively, the company could have Angle officiate the match as the Special Guest Referee with Angle costing Lesnar the match and the title. This would set up a future clash between Lesnar and Angle which could culminate at this year's Survivor Series with both superstars putting their careers on the line. This will be a good way for Lesnar to end his WWE tenure and go back to the UFC as losing to someone such as Kurt Angle who is a legitimate badass wouldn't harm Lesnar in any way.
The involvement of Angle will not only make the Universal Title match more interesting but also give Angle an opportunity to shine in the ring for one last time before he eventually bids his in-ring career goodbye.