[2006-06-02-WWE-Smackdown] Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio

[ohtani's jacket]

This was Kurt Angle's farewell match on Smackdown before jumping to ECW. It was the millionth match he'd had with Mysterio Jr, but at the same time it was a fitting sendoff given their five year history. They kept pushing Angle as having his competitiveness renewed by his jump to ECW, which was stupid given that Angle was always pushed as being highly competitive. He had a mouthpiece that spelt out the word "machine," which was supposed to mean wrestling machine but could have easily meant roid machine. They didn't break any new ground with this bout, but there were some exciting moments down the stretch. They managed to give Angle the win without making Rey look stupid, and the pair had a nice embrace post-match. I guess what people didn't realize at the time were the problems Angle was having that led to his departure from the company. Well, I guess the dirt sheet readers knew, but the fans didn't. If you tuned into this on a Friday night on June 2nd, you sure as hell didn't know that the end was nigh. I'm an unashamed Angle fan. I like watching Angle matches. I thought this was kind of sad even if it wasn't designed that way. I was glad they embraced at least.