Just 72 hours after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as the lead member of its Class of 2017, Kurt Angle officially returned to WWE as the new general manager of Monday Night Raw.
Chairman Vince McMahon hit the ring an hour into the show and announced that his daughter Stephanie McMahon, the commissioner of Raw, was severely injured after taking a table bump in her husband Triple H’s match at WrestleMania 33.
With Stephanie McMahon out of action and former Raw GM Mick Foley fired a few weeks ago, McMahon named Angle to the position as he said the show needed a new leader.
Angle immediately came out to tongue-in-cheek chants of “You suck” before being greeted in the ring with “Welcome back” chants.
“I only have one thing to say: It’s great to be back on Monday Night Raw! Oh, it’s true -- it’s damn true!” said Angle, after soaking in the adulation of the crowd.
Angle, an Olympic gold medalist and NCAA heavyweight champion, spent a decade away from WWE after being the company’s 10th triple crown champion and fifth “grand slam” champion who won a combined eight heavyweight titles as well as the intercontinental, United States, European, hardcore and tag team championships once each. He also won the King of the Ring in 2000.
On Friday, Angle told ESPN’s Jonathan Coachman that he’s not done wrestling and “it’s safe to say that I will be wrestling back in that WWE ring again.”
