Appearing on ESPN’s The Dan Le Batard Show, wrestling legend Kurt Angle opened up about the drug abuse issues which plagued him throughout his career and came to a head in TNA with multiple DUI charges, among other things.
Angle tells the Miami-based host that at the nadir of his addiction, he was taking “65 extra strength Vicodin” a day, and describes how he would hold off on taking the narcotic pain medication until the evening, when he could also drink alcohol (because “everybody drank down there [in TNA]”) to increase the effect of both. He also says he was abusing the highly addictive anti-anxiety medication Xanax during this time.
Though he says he was able to stop taking the pain killers on his own once, that period of abstinence didn’t stick. Angle admits “when you’re that deep into that stuff - you can’t do it on your own”. He credits a break TNA gave him and the WWE-funded rehabilitation program he underwent with helping him address the problem and start on the path which he says has given him three years sobriety to date.
Hearing Kurt speak on this topic honestly and openly is a good sign for his long-term recovery prospects. Managing addiction is an ongoing process, but three years clean and sober is no small accomplishment.
And thanking WWE for their role in achieving that - on the airwaves of one of their most high profile partners - probably goes a long way toward an eventual reconciliation between the two, at least for a Hall of Fame berth.
Take it one day at a time, Kurt, and hopefully we’ll hear “Medal” on the Saturday before WrestleMania in the not-too-distant future.