Kurt Angle’s 2017 Hall of Fame induction was originally planned to have Angle get the full red, white, and blue fireworks treatment until Vince McMahon called an audible.
Kurt Angle sensationally returned to WWE in 2017 as he was revealed as the headline inductee into that year’s Hall of Fame class. Angle’s speech would be the most memorable of the night, as he delivered the best hits of his legendary career, from the milk celebration to a rendition of Sexy Kurt. His walkout during WrestleMania 33 was due to be equally as spectacular.
Angle was scheduled to walk onto the stage after the other inductees had been acknowledged, as is tradition, to a series of red, white, and blue fireworks setting off inside Orlando’s Camping World Stadium. Instead, the former WWE Champion was left with his arms in the air as no fireworks went off.
As revealed on The Kurt Angle Show, those fireworks instead went to The Hardy Boyz, who returned to WWE that night after several years away and captured the Raw Tag Team Championships from The Bar in a four-team ladder match. This was reportedly an audible made directly by Vince McMahon, though the WWE Chairman had a fair reason for doing so (h/t Wrestling Inc.):
“Yes, I was pretty pissed off about it too. When I was going out for WrestleMania to be acknowledged as a Hall of Fame inductee, I’m getting ready to go out there and Vince tells me, ‘Hey listen, we’ve got red, white, and blue fireworks for you. When you go out there, point your fingers in the air and we’re going to have the fireworks go off and then we’re going to celebrate your Hall of Fame induction.’ So I go out there and I raise my hands and nothing goes off, no fireworks go off, I lower my hands and raise them again, nothing goes off.
I came back from out of the arena to go backstage and I said, ‘Vince, what happened?’ He said, ‘Well, unfortunately, The Hardy Boyz were winning the Tag Team Titles tonight and every World Title match has fireworks but theirs. So I called an audible and I stole yours and I’m giving them to the Hardyz because they’re on the segment after you.’ The Hardyz got the red, white, and blue fireworks, the b*****ds stole them from me.”
Kurt Angle officially retired from in-ring competition at WrestleMania 35, where he lost to Baron Corbin. He’s stayed true to his retirement thus far, though he did referee the inaugural Fight Pit on NXT between Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher in May 2020. This was followed by ‘The Wrestling Machine’ appearing on that week’s SmackDown to announce Riddle’s arrival on the blue brand.
This came almost two months after Kurt Angle was released from his contract, though it was a one-off arrangement and Angle remains a free agent, despite WWE offering him a new deal that would see him serve as Riddle’s manager.