The fact that Kurt Angle was able to wrestle at all by the end of his first WWE run is a genuine miracle. The Olympic gold medalist broke his neck five times in his career, and no matter how much he tried to push through the pain, things just seemed to get worse. By 2006, Angle was in so much pain that he had requested time away to let his injuries heal, but knowing that he could rely on the Olympian to perform well, Vince McMahon told him no, which was the worst thing he could have done.

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Angle resorted to abusing alcohol and painkillers to numb his pain. In mid-2006, Angle was suspended from WWE for testing positive for nandrolone (decadurabolin) following a sting at the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center. However, his use of steroids may not have been illegal as reports that came out at the time claimed that Angle had a prescription for them, something that is common in athletes who have suffered severe injuries to help their recoveries go smoother. Angle was also fined $125,000, and once he realized that he was being drafted to the new ECW brand that summer, he requested his release from the company and would spend the next decade in TNA Wrestling.

The WWE Hall of Famer has been open and honest about his troubles with addiction. Angle has admitted to steroid use, noting that it affected his reputation. Being seen as an Olympic gold medallist, only to then get caught using PEDs, was something that he was incredibly sad about. Fortunately, Angle got clean and returned to WWE in 2017 before officially retiring in 2019.

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