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WWE News: Kurt Angle Opens Up On Past Drug Addiction, Hiding Habit From Vince McMahon

By Lorenzo Tanos
Published on: 23:09 PST, Nov 13, 2016

Kurt Angle’s past drug problems have been well-documented, particularly during his time in TNA Wrestling, as he had entered rehab in 2013 to deal with what’s known in wrestling jargon as “personal demons.” But in an appearance on The Steve Austin Show, the former Olympic gold medalist spoke out about how his drug habit started during his WWE days, and how he had tried to hide his addiction from WWE officials, including Chairman Vince McMahon himself.

On a recent episode of The Steve Austin Show, Kurt Angle sat down with his fellow wrestling legend and talked in length about his previous painkiller addiction. According to the 48-year-old former WWE and TNA standout, he got his introduction to painkillers in 2003, using them to dull the pain from his first major neck injury. And when WWE Chairman Vince McMahon noticed that Angle was acting strange due to his drug use, he had tried his best to shake it off and pretend everything was alright.

Wrestling Inc quoted one excerpt that illustrated Kurt Angle’s descent into drug addiction, and how the ability of one pain pill to dull the pain and give him energy led to him taking more and more per day.

“One (pill) turned to two. Two turned to four. Four turned to eight. And before I knew it, I was out of control. I was hiding it from WWE. I know there were times I was slurring. Vince, Vince McMahon, was like, ‘are you alright?’ I was like, ‘oh yeah, I’m fine.’ I really shrugged it off. And then, I made him think that he was going crazy.”

In the end, Angle believes he was so hooked on painkillers that he was popping up to 65 Vicodin pills each day. He had also come up with a way to get his fix without getting caught, a scheme where he was acquiring about 25 percent of his monthly drug supply through illegal means. At the time, Angle had 12 doctors supplying him the drugs, and he told Austin about how he had created his own schedule for coordinating with these doctors and visiting different pharmacies, while making sure he didn’t arouse suspicion by visiting a given doctor or pharmacy too soon or too late.

“Back then, you could hit different pharmacies and they didn’t know if you got it from a different pharmacy. Now, you can’t do that anymore. Yeah, you can’t do that anymore. I also was buying about 500 of them illegally every month, so I was… let’s see, 1,500, 500, that’s 2,000 a month, I was taking. And that pans out to be about 62 to 65 Vicodin a day.”

As to why Kurt Angle spiraled into drug addiction, it wasn’t just a broken neck that fueled his habit. He explained to Austin that he was also dealing with a “really bad marriage” and other personal challenges. And when Angle was already deep into his pain pill abuse, he kept on taking the pills simply to “medicate and not feel everything” as he escaped from his troubled home life whenever he was on the road touring with WWE.

Angle also spoke about the time he entered drug and alcohol rehabilitation during his run in TNA. The wrestler had racked up several DUI charges while wrestling for TNA, and on the same day as his August 2, 2013, DUI arrest, he had also announced he would be entering rehab. Interestingly, Angle claimed to Austin that he had done this on the advice of his lawyer and not because he wanted to get clean after about a decade of painkiller use.

“I didn’t go because I thought I had a problem,” Angle admitted. “I went because I thought it would help my DUI case. When I got there, I realized I had a really serious problem. You learn so much in rehab.”

Since leaving rehab, Kurt Angle has successfully beaten drugs. He’s also embraced his role as a family man, having welcomed a fifth child to the family earlier this month, according to 411 Mania. Speaking to Sports Illustrated in June, Angle said he was looking forward to being three years drug-free in July, and there haven’t been any reports of any brushes with the law or with drug or alcohol abuse since then. And he remains committed as ever to helping others conquer their addictions.

“I want to use my experiences in life to help people,” Angle told Sports Illustrated. “When you have an addiction, you need to have the mindset that you can win every day.”

[Featured Image by Michael Buckner/Getty Images]

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