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Wrestling legend Kurt Angle is never too far from a lot of fans’ thoughts. Since the recent WWE brand split, rumors keep swirling about the possibility of Angle returning to the company that made him a megastar. The man himself says it’s a definite possibility for 2017, he’s helping WWE star Rhyno campaign for political office, and even Shane McMahon said he wouldn’t mind to mix it up with Angle again.
But for the moment, Angle is focused on his own projects, which include some admirable charity work and a lot of speaking dates. On a recent appearance the Dan Le Batard show, Kurt Angle discussed his battles with addiction in-depth and at length. He says he realized he had a problem at the height of his addiction, when he was at one point consuming 65 extra-strength Vicodin tablets a day.
As the stunned silence of the hosts and the hands-to-mouth reaction of one of the crew members can attest, that is a truly harrowing amount of pain killers. Just imagine taking 65 of any type of pill in a single day. Vitamins, calcium tablets, whatever. Sixty-five pills in a single day. That is mind-boggling.
Angle’s battle with addiction stemmed from pain management related to his four(!) instances of breaking his neck, which is understandable. He was addicted to pain killers for years, and claims that his time in TNA was a detriment to his staying sober from about 2006 to about 2013.
“The thing is, everybody drank down there [in TNA],” said Angle. “So I started drinking with my meds. And then I started manipulating my meds. I would save all of them until the evening, and drink it with alcohol. And it got me in a lot of trouble — four DUIs in five years.”
Thankfully, he eventually was able to seek help and get clean.
“I finally got the right help.” he added. “I tried to do it myself, but when you’re that deep into that stuff, you can’t do it on your own. You need somebody else’s help, and I finally reached out and I did what I had to do to get it done.
“It was the worst seven days of my life as well. I went through detox again. That time it stuck. You can’t do anything; you can’t think; you’re in constant pain; your body’s shaking. You don’t wanna eat; you don’t wanna do anything; you feel like you’re gonna die. It’s the worst pain you’ve ever had in your life. And I went through it twice.”
We’re extremely glad that Angle is on the road to recovery and is focused on staying sober.
You can listen to the entire interview with Angle below, starting at around 23:00 in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWiTSZqX6u4
(h/t to Bro Bible via Extra Mustard)
