WrestleMania 34 saw Kurt Angle wrestle a critically-acclaimed intergender tag team match, but initial plans called for him to instead face Jason Jordan.
Returning to WWE in 2017, Kurt Angle wrestled a combined 22 matches, two of which occurred at respective WrestleMania events. At WrestleMania 34, he teamed with Ronda Rousey in a winning effort over Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, while the following year’s instalment saw him pinned by Baron Corbin.
The ‘Mania 34 outing has been praised ever since, particularly as it was Ronda’s first wrestling match. Easily the best match on the card, it reportedly wasn’t the original plan for ‘The Olympic Gold Medalist’ that year. Instead, he was due to his illegitimate son, Jason Jordan.
Detailing the plans for the match on the Kurt Angle Show, the multi-time World Champion remained positive that he got the chance to wrestle in Ronda Rousey’s in-ring debut:
“Yes, I mean I was looking forward to that, that’s what we were gonna do. We’re gonna go to WrestleMania, Jason [Jordan] was going to turn on me and we’re going to have the match. You know, I’m actually, part of me is sad that it didn’t happen, but part of me is happy, because I got to tag with Ronda Rousey for that mixed tag instead of Jason’s match. And that match was definitely the best match on the card at WrestleMania that year.
Even though it was a mixed tag match, it was really entertaining and we really put Ronda [Rousey] over hard, really strong. But Jason, I would love to have wrestled him, it was just a shame. But you know, you’re gonna have injuries and it happens in the sport. It’s unfortunate, but I got the wrestle with Ronda Rousey, which was great.”
Jason Jordan was introduced as Kurt Angle’s illegitimate son in July 2017, challenging for the Intercontinental Championship – a title that Angle himself held for 35 days – soon thereafter against The Miz. He was unsuccessful, though he did manage to capture the Raw Tag Team Championships alongside Seth Rollins.
Jordan was sent home the following February as a means to write him off WWE programming, with the former American Alpha ultimately being forced into retirement after undergoing neck surgery. He’s since been employed by WWE as a producer.
Kurt Angle wrestled several more times following Jason Jordan’s departure from television, with his final encounter seeing Angle pinned by Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35. He was let go from WWE during the Black Wednesday releases in April 2020.
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