WWE TLC 2017: 5 positives we can take away from Kurt Angle’s in-ring return
Kurt Angle returned to in-ring action last night at TLC and his performance divided the WWE Universe. Some were expecting a bit more from the Olympic Gold Medallist, myself included, but it was a lot of fun to see one of the greats back where he belongs.
There is no doubt that Angle has been a major part of television since he came back to the company. He has had his problems in the past and it’s not for us to judge. He’s now clean, back in the company that made him and the General Manager of Raw.
His run as General Manager reminds me of Mick Foley’s first run as commissioner. He is more than respected so he can carry the authority needed to tell wrestlers what to do and he is able to inject comedy into the role, which is needed in a show that is generally serious.
This comes from him not taking his character too seriously back when he was one of the top stars. There was nothing Kurt wouldn’t do and when you go into situations that are downright embarrassing with the right attitude, it can catapult you to the top and help you win over the hearts and minds of the fans.
I myself wrote a quite critical article of his return last night as it did not match the expectations I had for it. That being said, there are many positives we can take out of the performance and I’ll run through them in this article.
#5 He enjoyed it
We’ll start off simple. Kurt really enjoyed coming back to the ring. It was written all over his face. Literally. He was like a kid in a candy store.
One thing that can really drag a performance down, is if the wrestler is not enjoying their time out there in the ring. In the wrestling business, you have to have a massive passion for it and if you don’t have that, you will be found out very quickly.
With Kurt being out of action for so long, it was very possible that he could have lost the buzz that comes with performance and this would have reflected in his output. If you love what you do, you will automatically put more effort into it.
While I still stand by the fact that Kurt’s goofy grin kind of ruined the entrance (there are now countless memes of this already), I’d rather have that than a Kurt that just does not want to be there at all. His positive attitude resulted in a positive performance and I think the crowd really helped here, which leads me to my next point...