WWE Hall of Famer and Olympic Fold Medallist Kurt Angle recently appeared on the Chris Van Vliet YouTube channel for a long form interview. The former WWE Superstar discussed a variety of topics on the show, one notably about his retirement following this year’s WrestleMania. Angle lost his last bout against Baron (now King) Corbin, opting to move to a backstage role following the event.

“…No I’m done”

CVV asked Angle about the retirement, mentioning how wrestling retirements are often not actually as final as they seem. “No I’m done,” Angle confirmed. “I knew I was done when I went to Vince and told him that I wanted to retire and just have my last match at this past WrestleMania.”

“I just didn’t want to do it anymore” – Kurt Angle

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Angle then made an interesting point about his retirement from in-ring competition, “I believe that he [Vince McMahon] wanted me to go another year but I just didn’t want to do it anymore. I know what I’m capable of now and it’s not enough for me to be comfortable going out there and performing. If I can’t do it like the ‘old’ Kurt Angle then I don’t want to do it anymore.”

“I wanted John last Mania but we already had a storyline going on with Baron Corbin” – Kurt Angle

Angle then revealed that if Vince had his wish then Angle would’ve likely retired at WrestleMania 37, against John Cena. “I chose not to, because I wanted John last Mania but we already had a storyline going on with Baron Corbin. Vince said ‘if you’re going to retire you’re going to finish with Baron Corbin, if you don’t mind, because we’ve got a great storyline here.’ And Vince was right. So I said ‘ok I’ll wrestle Baron and it’ll be my last match.'”

“We didn’t talk to each other beforehand!”

Van Vliet then mentioned how ‘poetic’ it would’ve been for Kurt for finish up his career with John Cena. When Cena debuted on SmackDown he faced Kurt Angle in his debut match, saying that he was there to show his ‘ruthless aggression.’ “I think it was thought of,” Kurt stated. “I think it was thought of for the following year. What was ironic is I did my hoodie with the throwback to Team Angle and Cena did the throwback as well. We didn’t talk to each other beforehand!”

“he’s really good at his job”

Kurt Angle also had praise for the man who he faced in the final match of his career. “Baron’s a great wrestler, he’s a great talent. A lot of people don’t like him but he’s really good at his job. He’s the top heel in the business right now. People might naturally hate him but that’s a good thing. People think ‘he’s got real heat not WWE or wrestling heat, well that’s the point he wants to have ‘real’ heat. I got to wrestle the top heel in the business at WrestleMania, that’s the way I look at it.”

You can check out the full interview below: