Kemo
06-28-2016, 01:15 AM
In an interview with Sports Illustrated this week, Kurt Angle reiterated that he won’t be returning to WWE for their upcoming draft. Angle says he’s spoken with Triple H, and that you might see the Olympic gold medalist back on either RAW or SmackDown sometime in 2017.
“I had a talk with WWE,” said Angle. “It’s confidential. I will not be returning for the draft. Possibly in the future, most likely next year, but that is not a guarantee. It was a loose conversation but I will be in touch with Triple H [Paul Levesque] in the future.”
Angle left WWE in 2006 for competitor TNA, but says Vince McMahon still cares about him and he admires the WWE Chairman’s work ethic.
“Vince always cared about me. He’s a good guy, and he felt like he was my father figure. I admired Vince’s work ethic and drive,” Angle said. “He was a machine. He was willing to sacrifice so much to be a success, and he was one of those guys who I feared and looked up to. I feared him the same way I feared my father. I was right – he was a good guy. He would tell me when I screwed up, and he’d tell me how to fix it.”
While he credits TNA owner Dixie Carter with making him go to rehab, he says McMahon had also tried to talk to him about his battle with painkiller addiction.
“[Vince] basically said, ‘Listen, you won an Olympic gold medal. Very few people on this planet have ever done that. You’re special, you can kick this thing.’ But I fell back into it,” Angle recalled.
Despite his numerous career highlights, Angle remembers the low points in both WWE and TNA. He recalls breaking his neck four times in two years with WWE due to rushing himself to return each time, and says the atmosphere in TNA wasn’t conducive to his fight with alcohol and painkillers.
“I was at a company where everybody was drinking, and you were encouraged to drink with them,” Angle said of TNA. “That’s where the alcohol came in. I didn’t go crazy with it, but when you mix it with pills, it can make you do some really crazy things. It can make you careless.”
Kurt says he’s now been clean and sober for three years.
“I had a talk with WWE,” said Angle. “It’s confidential. I will not be returning for the draft. Possibly in the future, most likely next year, but that is not a guarantee. It was a loose conversation but I will be in touch with Triple H [Paul Levesque] in the future.”
Angle left WWE in 2006 for competitor TNA, but says Vince McMahon still cares about him and he admires the WWE Chairman’s work ethic.
“Vince always cared about me. He’s a good guy, and he felt like he was my father figure. I admired Vince’s work ethic and drive,” Angle said. “He was a machine. He was willing to sacrifice so much to be a success, and he was one of those guys who I feared and looked up to. I feared him the same way I feared my father. I was right – he was a good guy. He would tell me when I screwed up, and he’d tell me how to fix it.”
While he credits TNA owner Dixie Carter with making him go to rehab, he says McMahon had also tried to talk to him about his battle with painkiller addiction.
“[Vince] basically said, ‘Listen, you won an Olympic gold medal. Very few people on this planet have ever done that. You’re special, you can kick this thing.’ But I fell back into it,” Angle recalled.
Despite his numerous career highlights, Angle remembers the low points in both WWE and TNA. He recalls breaking his neck four times in two years with WWE due to rushing himself to return each time, and says the atmosphere in TNA wasn’t conducive to his fight with alcohol and painkillers.
“I was at a company where everybody was drinking, and you were encouraged to drink with them,” Angle said of TNA. “That’s where the alcohol came in. I didn’t go crazy with it, but when you mix it with pills, it can make you do some really crazy things. It can make you careless.”
Kurt says he’s now been clean and sober for three years.