WWE WrestleMania 35 review: Highlights, takeaways and projections

Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin (Angle’s last match)

After 20 years, Kurt Angle is calling it a career, competing for the very last time on Sunday night at WrestleMania 35 and taking on Baron Corbin. Corbin wasn’t everyone’s first choice for this sendoff, not even Angle’s himself, but we don’t always get everything we want. This, at least, accomplished what it needed to.

There weren’t many who expected this to be a great match (and it wasn’t) and no one expected it to last very long (which it didn’t), but this was fine for what it was. Angle got to compete in one more match at WrestleMania, a stage where he’s given wrestling fans so many memories, and he went out the right way. There are a lot of upset people today about him taking the loss but that’s how pro wrestling farewells go, out on your back. Angle respects the business too much to have had it go down any other way. He could have talked his way into getting a win, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to see Angle compete one last time. Kudos to Corbin for leaving the ring so quickly to give Angle his time, and the speech that Angle gave was short and sweet.

Angle thanked the fans for 20 amazing years and then asked them to send him out with the “You Suck” chant as his music played. Instead of focusing in on how this match went down, what we should be looking at is how many great Angle matches we’ve been able to witness for the past two decades. Thank you, Kurt.

What’s next: We’ll see Angle pop up from time to time in backstage segments, but that’s probably about it for him. As for how creative handles Corbin, this is a crucial time for his career. He can come out and boast how he sent Angle packing, which will draw thunderous boos every time, and if done correctly, he could really benefit from all of this. We’ll see how that plays out.