Teased Triple H vs. Kurt Angle Match Is the Wrong Way to Go for WWE WrestleMania

Monday's WWE Raw served as a test screening for a potential WrestleMania showdown as Triple H and Kurt Angle stared each other down in the center of the ring.

After that tense exchange and their violent collision as teammates at Sunday's pay-per-view, it's looking increasingly clear that WWE wants to book The Game vs. Angle at The Show of Shows. That's a matchup loaded with star power. And it's one produced great results in the past, but it's not the smart route now.

Angle captained Team Raw at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, leading the fight against SmackDown in Houston. Triple H, a last-minute addition to the squad by his own hand, battled alongside him. 

That was until a bizarre ending that saw Triple H hit Angle with a Pedigree to allow him to be eliminated before eventually angering fellow Team Raw member Braun Strowman. The attack on the Olympian felt like the first clear hints of the company's WrestleMania plans.

After Survivor Series, Blake Oestreicher wrote for Forbes: "It looks like rumblings that Triple H vs. Kurt Angle would be happening are indeed true."

WWE added another layer of foreshadowing on Raw the next night. Angle charged into the ring to confront The Game. He told him that if he ever attacked from behind again, he'd have hell to pay.

The length and intensity of their faceoff was no accident. Either WWE was feeling out how the crowd would respond to this pairing or giving fans a preview of what's to come.

Going with Triple H vs. Angle, though, would be a mistake. 

For one, it's something we've seen before. The two former world champs squared off at Unforgiven 2000, Royal Rumble 2001 and No Way Out 2002. Sure, there's a been a long gap since their past feuds, but this clash won't feel fresh.

With as much emerging talent as WWE has stocked up right now, it's hard to understand revisiting old Attitude Era stuff, especially when Angle presumably only has a handful of matches left in him. 

Triple H and Angle are household names. They will bring added buzz to WrestleMania. But they can do that in separate matches. Why not spread the star power around and get two big-time matches?

Triple H could battle Kevin Owens. Angle could take on Finn Balor. And The Game now has a beef with The Monster of Men, possibly setting up a huge bout between the past and the future.

It's one that Voices of Wrestling writer Sean Sedor commented on after Survivor Series' climax unfolded:

And how good can the in-ring action be when two 48-year-olds (one with a history of neck issues) face off?

Angle didn't look himself at Survivor Series. His posture remains stiff. He is slower and less dynamic than he was years ago. It would make more sense to pit him against a younger Superstar who can carry the load. Giving him Triple H instead would give WrestleMania a senior circuit match, so to speak.

WWE would be better off calling on some of its hungry fresh faces to take on both those icons.