One of the most criticized creative decisions by WWE fans in recent years had to do with Kurt Angle's retirement as a professional wrestler. While the stage was ideal, WrestleMania 35, the choice of opponent by the company was not well-received.
Baron Corbin's selection as Angle's final opponent did not sit well with the vast majority of fans, many of whom believed that John Cena was the right man for the job, as both could complete a symbolic circle that dated back to Cena's well-known debut as a sixteen-time world champion.
Meanwhile, during a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, Corbin shared some discarded plans for his rivalry with Angle in 2019, revealing that Vince McMahon had the idea for him to become a gold medalist after defeating the legend at WrestleMania 35. Here are his statements:
"There are always plans. When I worked with Kurt Angle, Vince had the idea that I should have the gold medal, that I should be the gold medalist. It was amazing. Then, it just didn't happen, something changed, and we went in a different direction. The same thing happened with my victory in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania 32. The next week, I was working with Dolph (Ziggler). You're new on the roster, you work with Dolph. Dolph is one of the best on the planet at pushing talent, and that's what I did. Then 'The Lone Wolf' did well. I won Money in the Bank, became United States Champion, and all that."
On his "Sad Corbin" character and a potential run as Kevin Owens' partner:
"There are times when you find yourself in situations where you think, 'But how do we capitalize on this?' and then, you know, things change. I don't know, someone gets injured. I've had moments where I was supposed to wrestle someone, and it was going to lead to something, and you know, they get injured, and we have to take another path. It's a bit detrimental to the flow (of the stories), but that's the nature of the business. That's the nature of the beast. They have a lot of very talented writers who come up with these stories, and they might have an idea that they think is better than the one they had before, and we go with it. Maybe it doesn't work. Maybe it does. It's a matter of luck. I mean, 'Sad Corbin' was luck. I think we could have done it for another six months."
"They had a really cool idea for Kevin Owens and me to have a run as a team, and they were like, 'We love it. We love it.' We did it for about two weeks, and then Kevin had to go in a different direction. I was turning babyface. I think Vince didn't want to go down that road with me yet. So, we changed course and went with Happy Corbin, winning all my money in the casino after SummerSlam."