Kurt Angle at Survivor Series: a Preview of Things to Come for WWE Hall of Famer

When Kurt Angle made a sudden return to WWE by competing alongside The Shield at WWE TLC, many questioned whether or not this was a one-off. 

WWE was in a tight pinch with a lot of the Raw locker room battling a viral infection, and Angle as a last-minute replacement read like a desperation make-good by WWE officials. 

But with Angle now set to compete in his second consecutive pay-per-view event, as the captain of Team Raw at WWE Survivor Series, the Olympic gold medalist has suddenly gone from non-wrestling general manager to potential part-time performer. 

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Angle was limited in his performance at TLC. This could have been for one of a myriad of reasons. Maybe WWE wanted to ease him in during a dangerous comeback match surrounded by tables, ladders and chairs.

Maybe WWE wanted to see how Angle's body would respond to the limited action before increasing his activity.

Maybe WWE was just giving fans a preview of things to come because his actual debut might have already been scheduled for Survivor Series. That would certainly help explain how he was medically cleared so quickly. 

Either way, expect to see Kurt Angle unleashed: suplexes, Olympic Slams, maybe even a moonsault.  

The fact that Stephanie McMahon is back swinging around her magic wand of authority has already set off sirens of speculation that Angle could be in line for a WrestleMania match against the suddenly ubiquitous Triple H. 

Angle was a suplex machine at TLC, so expect to see more of the same—and then some. Angle will once again be protected in a tag team environment but will also have an opening for a hot tag where he breaks out all his vintage spots to the delight of the Toyota Center in Houston. 

If TLC was the soft launch, Survivor Series will be Angle's grand opening. With Stephanie McMahon back in the storylines, it's only a matter of time before he gets fired right into a WrestleMania match against her husband. 

Survivor Series will not be a nostalgic curtain call. At best, it'll be a revival of a WWE legend who still has at least one more very good-to-great match left in him. Forget those frivolous "you still got it" chants. By night's end at Survivor Series, Kurt Angle's calling card will be "welcome back." 

Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report and Forbes. Like him on Facebook.