WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle was one of the most gifted pro wrestlers to have ever stepped foot inside the squared circle. He competed in numerous matches during his time as an active in-ring wrestler. However, he also had a dark period of time in his life as he battled against drug addiction.
The Olympic Gold Medalist recently spoke on his podcast called The Kurt Angle Show, where he detailed his eventual descent into painkiller addiction. He revealed it first began after his neck was broken at the hand of Brock Lesnar in 2003.
“The first time Brock broke my neck in 2003, that’s when I was introduced to painkillers. The second I took them, I loved them. It took the pain away, it gave me energy, it got me up, it made me feel really energetic. I started taking them, when one didn’t work I started taking 2, 2 went to 4, 4 went to 8, 8 went to 16, I got completely out of control. I was taking 65 extra strength Vicodin a day before I started trying to fix the problem. I got myself dug into a hole and I had to get myself out.”
Angle’s condition then continued to get worse and he also never told anyone about it, even Vince McMahon.
“I didn’t really tell anybody. I hid it really well. Vince didn’t know it was occurring, a couple of the boys saw me sneaking pills so they knew I was taking them but they didn’t know how many. Nobody knew I had a serious problem like that.
I was just trying to find a way out. Once I injured my neck, I got the GM job and I was being wheeled around a wheelchair and I got really self-absorbed in the painkillers at that point. The people I was hanging around with were a bad influence. It wasn’t the right thing for me and I had to get myself straight.”
