Kurt Angle has opened up about his addiction issues, which led him to leave the WWE in 2006.
The Olympic Gold Medallist left the WWE in 2006, after suffering with a painkiller addiction. He was a top star in the company at the time. Kurt Angle had just been drafted to ECW to become the face of the brand.
After his exit, the WWE Hall of Famer made the jump to TNA, where he stayed for a decade.
Kurt Angle spoke with Sam Roberts on NotSam Wrestling, where he detailed his 2006 WWE exit. The WWE Hall of Famer recalls asking Vince McMahon to release him, worrying that he’d kill himself with pills if this wasn’t granted.
“I wanted to get out of my contract. They didn’t have to do it, but they actually—if I wouldn’t… okay. I did tell Vince. This is something that was really difficult for me to say. I told him, ‘Listen, I’m afraid I’m going to kill myself.’ I didn’t mean stab myself in the stomach or shoot myself in the head. I meant I was going to take too many pills and kill myself. And I said, ‘I need to get out of here, you’ve got to let me go.'” Kurt Angle said.
“They didn’t want to let me go. I said, ‘I don’t want to say this, but I feel like I’m going to kill myself if I don’t do something now, if I don’t get released.’ Vince put his hands up and said, ‘CT, you’re released. No problem. Come back in 6 months, we’ll have the same contract for you.’ Unfortunately, I already had my sights set on TNA, so I ended up going there. I didn’t hear from Vince for the next 11 years.”
Kurt Angle Threatened To Beat Vince McMahon Up While Taking Pills
Kurt Angle continued, explaining how he would text Vince McMahon, threatening to beat him up because of how high he was.
“I was texting Vince while I was taking pills at night.” Kurt Angle said.”I was texting him because he wouldn’t answer the phone when I called. I was threatening him, saying, ‘Vince, I’m going to kick your ass when I see you, I’m going to F you up when I see you, wait till I see you, Vince. I’m going to beat the shit out of you.’ He had three pages of text. Typed on paper, of my messages to him. I’m reading them in the meeting like, ‘I don’t remember saying this stuff! Vince, I’m going to kick your ass?’ I was shocked, saying, ‘I don’t remember this.’
Vince looked at me and asked, ‘You want to kick my ass?’ Then he got up, took his jacket off, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, this guy wants to fight me!’ I put my head down and realized, ‘I’ve got to get out of here.’ I left the room, started crying, and when I came back, I said, ‘Vince, listen, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to get out of here. You’ve got to let me go.’ He said, ‘No problem, go,’ and hugged me. He was really cool about it. He was willing to give me a contract when I came back in six months, but I had already made up my mind where I wanted to go.”
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