:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/19237413/kurt_angle_en_tna.0.jpg)
Towards the end of last week, reports started to trickle out at several different internet wrestling sites that Kurt Angle was not only finished with in-patient drug and alchohol rehabilitation, a little over a month after his latest DWI chargeand announcement that he was entering treatment, but that he was going to work a fundraising show for Ray and Devon's Team 3D Wrestling Academy:
Thankfully, although what I'm sure is a worthwhile event is still going on and the promotional materials have not been updated, Angle's wife jumped on her twitter to clarify that her husband would not be doing the show this upcoming Saturday night in Florida.
Giovanna's feeling on the wrestling "journalism" on the internet not withstanding, as a Kurt Angle fan and someone who generally likes for people to have healthy, happy lives, this no news is great news.
Professionals such as William Regal and Matt Morgan have proven that you can live a sober lifestyle and continue to work in professional wrestling. But it appeared that addiction's hold on Kurt was pretty strong - without even beginning to consider the physical damage it and his career have done to his body - so even laypeople can agree that five weeks is not enough time for him to be away from a ring.
Jumping back onto any stage or into any ring at a little more than a month away from the spotlight would have been a big red flag that the former WWE star still wasn't getting it. That he had to put sobriety, his own health and the concerns of his family and loved ones ahead of his competitive drive and the adoration of the crowd.
We can't and shouldn't know anything else about his recovery at this point, or at any time unless he chooses to share it with us. But we can take the fact that he is not rushing back to pro wrestling right now as a small, positive sign.
Now let's hope this little blip is the last time we hear his name for a few more months.