The 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist has had a whirlwind career and is just about ready to pack it in and move on with his life. He has stated that the tour of the UK that he is doing with TNA in January will be his final dates for the company he has been with for over 9 years. Kurt Angle has been speaking more frequently about his interest in returning to WWE to end his career under contract with Vince McMahon. He has said that he would love to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Recently he out-and-out stated that his dream match is with Daniel Bryan.

With rumors circling that Daniel Bryan may be back as soon as the Royal Rumble event in a few short weeks, the match between Angle and Bryan is a very strong possibility. Instead of starting off with Daniel Bryan, however, Angle may have a bigger score to settle.

The Rock essentially dominated Kurt Angle over the course of their two years going head-to-head and toe-to-toe inside the squared circle. Angle won his first WWE Championship at No Mercy in 2000 when Rikishi helped him cheat to defeat The Rock. Just a few months later at No Way Out in 2001 The Rock took the title back en route to his classic match with Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 17.

The Rock vs. Kurt Angle was a great rivalry between two great talkers and great in-ring competitors. Kurt Angle was last seen in WWE all the way back in August 2006 and it feels like a WWE return would be a pretty spectacular idea. A match between two pro wrestling legends in front of the biggest WrestleMania crowd of all time would come pretty close to living up to the epic moment The Rock has been promising.

Indeed it is true that The Rock will be filming a movie during a large portion of the build to WrestleMania and word is out that we shouldn’t expect to see him much, at least live in the arenas, before the big day. Why not do the same with Angle? Have both men appear on TV in January or February, get into a conflict and then have them both only show up (except for a chance few appearances) on television either via satellite or in pre-taped video packages and interviews?

Just because they aren’t going to be at every TV taping doesn’t mean WWE can’t give us a few months to build up tension and anticipation to see the return of one of the best to ever lace up his boots after nearly a decade away from the company, against one of his greatest rivals.

Please, please make it happen.

Nicholas A. Marsico is a featured pro wrestling writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter!