RAW Deal: A good Angle for this year’s Hall of Fame

I can’t write today’s column without getting this awesome piece of news out of the way: I’m really, really happy that Kurt Angle is getting inducted into the Hall of Fame.

It’s even better that none of the usual dirt sites rumored it, or even saw it coming at all. Yes, there was the occasional rumor that Angle was getting in touch with the company for one last possible run (for as long as his body lets him). That’s what we all expected, and we had absolutely no idea that the first move was to induct him into the Hall of Fame.

Granted, an induction usually means that one’s days wrestling—in the WWE, at least—are over, so if this is the case as it is traditionally, it may mean that this decision may have been a compromise for Angle, who’s always wanted one last shot. But Angle has also gone on record to say that the deal they reached did not either forbid or allow him to wrestle again for the WWE, which Vince McMahon is wary of due to Angle’s poor health. 

Regardless of what they end up agreeing to, though, you can’t deny that Angle deserves this spot. It’s the only Hall of Fame he hasn’t been inducted to. It’s a travesty, now that you think about it—before anything else, Angle set the real foundation for amateur wrestlers achieving success in pro wrestling by sticking to their actual strengths.

It’s thanks to Angle and his amazing ability to adapt to the professional style, which allowed him to become WWE Champion in only two years, that guys like Brock Lesnar, Shelton Benjamin, Jason Jordan, Chad Gable, and Matt Riddle, among others have followed a similar pattern of immediate success in the squared circle. There have definitely been others like Angle who have come before him, but he’s the original standard for the archetype.

However, it’s quite ironic that what he’s achieved in his time away from the WWE ended up contributing more to his legacy than his meteoric rise in his 8-year WWE career (8 years only—guys like Zack Ryder have been in the company longer than he was). It’s arguably a bigger, better, and more compelling reason for his induction.

Consider this: Angle had been in TNA for 10 years, becoming a top champion (and a Triple Crown champion) and one of its anchors in the entire time he was there. Angle also wrestled in NJPW for two years, becoming an IWGP Heavyweight Champion (albeit for the Inoki Genome Federation spinoff) and had this rather interesting matchup:

And when you think about it, Angle’s post-WWE career also looks like the path Cody Rhodes is taking. He proves that wrestling for the biggest company in the world isn’t the definition of success in the business. Angle proves that the biggest wrestling superstars wrestle all over the world—not only with one company, but with as many different ones as they can, spreading greatness all over. He may not go down in the history books as big a name as recent inductees Sting, Randy Savage, or the Ultimate Warrior, but his long-awaited inclusion in the WWE Hall of Fame is a shining example of the true best in the business. Especially in an age when pro wrestling is no longer just about the WWE, which the WWE itself even recognizes, now more than ever.

SmackDown Live continues to be more progressive than RAW

It’s funny that RAW has to pull off major stunts like heavily hyping the first ever women’s Hell in a Cell match and is still floundering. Yes, a women’s Hell in a Cell match and a Falls Count Anywhere main event for the championship are definitely big deals, but there’s something about the way the show overcompensates for these big moments that end up being artificial. Meanwhile, SmackDown Live built a natural progression to the first ever steel cage main event for the SmackDown Women’s Championship, and while it wasn’t perfect, it still felt like a better moment.

It was better because first, Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss are slightly better than Charlotte and Sasha Banks and have more chemistry with each other; second, the build-up to their feud had been natural (even if it had been a little repetitive), entertaining, and solidly-booked; and third, the match was really a plot device to bring us the return of former WWE Divas Champion Mickie James. While we’ve seen James at NXT recently, nobody had any idea at all that she was going to be at SmackDown, and it’s a welcome addition to a divison that’s objectively shallow despite being booked decently. Granted, there wasn’t much of a reaction for her (not anyone’s fault but the crowd’s), but the Lynch/James feud (or a Lynch/James/Bliss feud) will be looking great.

It’s things like this that RAW inexplicably can’t seem to get right. How could you expect them to when every little thing is micromanaged and not allowed to progress naturally? RAW is the home of the Women’s Revolution, but how come it can’t be more revolutionary than SmackDown is?

*****

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