Kurt Angle On John Cena's Retirement, 'Perc Angle', Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Brock Lesnar
en
January 21, 2025
TLDR: Retired professional wrestler Kurt Angle discusses his WWE and TNA careers, legendary matches with Chris Benoit, battle with addiction, 'Perc Angle' nickname, in an interview with Chris Van Vliet.

In the latest episode of the podcast, Kurt Angle sat down with Chris Van Vliet to discuss pivotal moments in his storied wrestling career, touching on topics such as his battles with addiction, key matches with legends like Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, and his reflections on retirement. Here's a concise summary of the major points covered in this captivating conversation.
Career Highlights
Winning Olympic Gold
- Angle achieved significant success in wrestling by winning a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics before transitioning to professional wrestling.
- He shared the challenges he faced post-Olympics, including confusion about his career direction after achieving his lifelong goal.
- Recommendations from coaches and the opportunity provided by WWE led him to a lucrative wrestling career.
Experiences in WWE and TNA
- Kurt discussed his journey through WWE and TNA, emphasizing how he adapted from amateur to professional wrestling.
- He highlighted his legendary matches with Chris Benoit and the unique chemistry they had, which led to what he considers one of the greatest wrestling matches of all time at Royal Rumble 2003.
- Angle’s reflection on his TNA matches emphasized how he believed he reached his peak during this period.
Humor and Catchphrases
"It’s True" Catchphrase
- The famous catchphrase, "It’s true, it’s damn true!" originated unintentionally during promos in response to fan reactions.
- Angle embraced the lighter, comedic side of wrestling, which contributed to his popularity.
Personal Reflections
Regrets About His Career
- Kurt expressed regret over not retiring sooner to preserve his in-ring legacy, citing a decline in his performance as he aged.
- He emphasized the importance of leaving the fans with the memories of his peak performances rather than a diminished version of himself.
Addressing Addiction
- The conversation took a serious turn as Kurt opened up about his struggles with addiction to painkillers.
- He recounted the pivotal moment in 2012 when he realized he had to change his lifestyle after hitting rock bottom, which led to his long-term sobriety.
Legacy and Future
Inducting John Cena
- As speculation surrounds John Cena’s retirement, Angle stated he would be honored to induct him into the Hall of Fame, attributing significant importance to Cena's contributions to WWE.
- He humorously noted that despite being named a favorite to induct Cena, his current health would prevent him from wrestling again.
Takeaways and Insights
- Angle's journey reflects the highs and lows of a wrestling career, showcasing not just athletic talent but also resilience in overcoming personal challenges.
- The importance of family and legacy emerged as key themes as he discussed how being a father now shapes his satisfaction in life more than accolades from wrestling.
Wrapping Up
- Kurt Angle’s honesty about his past struggles and triumphs offers deep insights for fans and aspiring wrestlers alike.
- The episode serves as a powerful reminder of the significance of personal growth, community support, and maintaining relatability, even when at the top of one's game in sports and entertainment.
By sharing these experiences, Kurt not only sheds light on his illustrious career but also inspires others facing their battles, stating, "It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop."
For wrestling enthusiasts and those interested in life stories of perseverance, this episode with Kurt Angle is undoubtedly a must-listen!
Was this summary helpful?
Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Blee!
Alright, welcome back to another one here on Inside It's Me. It's me, it's C-V-V, Chris Van Vliet. Hey, thank you for being with us on this one, and thank you for making Inside the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. Slap an ankle lock in that follow button wherever you're listening right now, because if we've started off 2025, as strong as we have,
Just wait until you see what we have coming up for the rest of the year. There's a few bucket list interviews that we're going to be ticking off in the next few months. So keep an eye out for those ones. And we've got some big things happening this year. The first three live events are scheduled. We're taking insight and some big guests on the road for insight live. We're going to Indianapolis the day before the Royal Rumble, Toronto the day before elimination chamber. That's right. I'm coming home, baby.
Can't wait to be back home in Toronto. And then we've got Las Vegas during WrestleMania week at Circa Resort and Casino. Tickets for all three of those are on sale right now at CVVtix.com. That's CVVtix.com. So I hope to see you at least one of those, but maybe all three of them. That'd be amazing. So good to have Kurt Angle back in the show and great to sit down with him in Pittsburgh for this one.
And when you think of pure technical wrestlers, Kurt is easily in the top three, top five, just the intensity that he brought to every match. But what makes him really stand out from other people on that list is how he wasn't afraid to be silly and how he wasn't afraid to lean into the comedic side of things. Think of some of his most iconic moments. They're hilarious, the milk truck, the man who plays with boys promo, the stuff with Stone Cold and the tiny cowboy hat, he's a legend.
He's a legend. And it's amazing that he's equally as good in the ring and like being serious as he is outside of the ring with all the other stuff.
that he did. Amazing. We covered a lot of things during this interview that Kurt hasn't talked about before. So I hope you enjoy this. As much as I did, I appreciate Kurt for being as open and as honest as he always is. It's always great to sit down with Kurt. Snap a screenshot. Let us know that you're listening. Let us know what stands out for you the most from this conversation and tag us. He's at real Kurt Angle on Instagram and Twitter and also on TikTok. TikTok's back.
I'm at Chris Vambleed on Instagram and Twitter, Chris.vambleed on TikTok, if you're looking for me there. And let's do this. Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Kurt Angle.
Kurt, always good to see you. You too, Chris. Hey, you were a Pittsburgh legend. You mentioned your name anywhere around here in Pittsburgh and people are like, yeah, of course, Kurt Angle. Yeah, you know what? I grew up here and I stayed here. And when you grew up in a certain city and you make a name for yourself,
the people adore you even more if you stay. So I'm a Pittsburgher for life. What was the reason you stayed because you could live anywhere? Family. You know, my wife's family, my family, we have a really tight-knit family and to move away from them would not
It wouldn't be beneficial for us, especially having six kids. You know, my in-laws do a lot of babysitting for us, so you wouldn't have that opportunity if I had moved somewhere else. They always say the greatest parenting hack is just live close to the grandparents. Yes, yes. Actually, they practically live with us, so. Even better. It's actually better, yes, yes. How close were you to being a Pittsburgh stealer? Ah, you know what?
It's a long story, I'll make it short. A football player or a wrestler, a three-time national champion to vision one, NCAA championships. His name was Carlton Hasserick. And when he graduated college, he didn't play football, never played football a day in his life.
When he graduated college, he won three NCAA Division I titles, and the Steelers called him and said, hey, you wanna come try out. And not only that, but he didn't even try out. What they did instead is they drafted him in the eighth round.
the lower, one of the lowest, lower rounds. And they brought him on the team and he did incredibly well. He was like a seven time all pro. And they saw me, I was the next one coming up through the ranks for the NCAA wrestling. And I dominated for the next three years, just like Carlton did. And Stewart thought, you know what, this kid might be a good choice too. Even though I was, I try to add a skill position.
which is backfield, defensive back, quarterback. Anytime you have a lot of movement, Carlton was a lineman. So he was an incredible athlete, and he was so much better than the other athletes on the line. So I understand why they picked him and why they drafted him. But for me, being at a skilled position, you have to have college experience. They want me to be a running back.
It's like, you know, going from wrestling to pro football. It's, you know, it's a hard transition. So it wasn't going to happen. Well, they, they haven't tried out. I had a real good try out. They wanted me to go to NFL Europe for, uh,
a year or so, and I didn't want to do that. And don't forget, the reason why I tried out for the Steelers is because I wasn't making the World Team or the Olympic Team in wrestling. So in 1993 and 1994, I ended up third and 93 and second and 94. I kept losing to these two wrestlers consistently.
And so after the 1994 season, I decided to quit. I figured what's the use of they're going to beat these guys. So I haven't tried. So that's when the Steelers approached me and I tried out for them. And I'm glad that I didn't make the team because
I ended up coming back after five months, and I made myself a promise that I was going to do everything possible to make sure that I could give the very best I can in the tryouts in 95 and 96. So I did something that really helped me. It was called exhaust training. That's when you train to your exhausted, and that's when the training actually begins. It's almost the form of torture. I learned this from the University of Iowa head wrestler coach Dan Gable.
He taught us wrestlers this and they were always the most well conditioned wrestlers. So I did that. And in 95 and 96, I won the world championships and I won the Olympic gold medal when I defeated both years and never looked back. Did you have a moment in Atlanta in 96 where you went? It doesn't get any better than this because you change your whole life just to make the Olympics. Then you win gold at the Olympics.
They can't get any better. No, you know what, actually, after I won on national TV, I literally said, if I died tonight, I'd be happy to expand the world. Because that's all I ever set out to do. But the difficult part about that is what I was not going to do the next day. Okay, I woke up the next morning, I'm like,
now. And I didn't have any plans. I graduated college, I had a degree, but I wasn't going to use the degree. And I was like, what am I going to do now? This is tough. So what happened was the WWE approached me in 96 and Vince McMahon offered me a multi-million dollar deal.
I didn't, my family doesn't have money. I didn't have money. He offers me a multi-dipped million dollar deal. And I'm like, holy crap. I said, Vince, I don't know if I want to join yet. Can I take this home and think about it? He said, yeah, take it home and think about it. But you know, sign it and send it back to me. I know you're going to, you're going to say yes. And I went home and I talked to my brothers and they were like,
You're not doing that crap. That's fake. You're real. And I understood that because back in the 90s, amateur wrestling always took a back seat to pro wrestling. In other words, if someone asked me what I did for a living, I'd say, I'm a wrestler. And they'd say, oh, while those wrestlers on TV, I'd be like, no, you idiot. You know, home coping wrestlers. Yeah. Yeah. So it was like, it really hurts your pride, you know, that you're an Olympic wrestler. And they think that you're a pro wrestler when they hear the word wrestling.
So the amateur wrestling community always was sour about pro wrestling.
So my coaches didn't want me to do it. My brothers didn't want me to do it. But what happened in 1998 is Vince came out of the closet and said, uh, we were no longer sport where sports entertainment. And that's when everybody went, Hey, you can do it now. Yeah. And, um, so, and in me, I, I fell miserably as a sportscaster and I didn't have any direction. So I turned on, uh, TV in 1998, the TV and I decided to start watching raw and, uh,
I fell in love with Stone Cold Steve Austin. I mean, he just, he made it so exciting. The show was entertaining and the wrestlers were incredible athletes. And I saw myself doing it. And so I called the WWE and I asked that contract still stood in 1996 and they said, no, but you can come up and try out.
So I figured nothing in my life's ever come easily this morning or I'll go up and work for it. So I went up and tried out after the first day, I picked up on everything pretty quickly. So they offered me a contract. It wasn't a very good contract. It was only seven, five grand a year. It's a lot less than a million. If you're a pro wrestler and you're making 75 grand a year and you're traveling 300 days a year and you have to pay for your hotel, your rental car, 75 grand doesn't go very far. So it wasn't that great of a contract.
But they did sign me and I trained for seven months before I went on WWE television. Prize picks is America's number one daily fantasy sports app with over 5 million active users. It's the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports because unlike other apps, on prize picks, it's just you against the numbers. All you do is pick more or less on two to six player stat projections and watch the winnings roll in.
You can also now win up to 100 times your money on prize picks with as little as four correct picks. Download the prize picks app today and use the code INSIGHT and get $50 instantly when you play $5. That's code INSIGHT on prize picks to get $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive that $50 bonus. It's guaranteed. Prize picks. Run your game.
If you've watched any of these interviews on my YouTube channel, you know that I know a thing or two about a good plain t-shirt. It's kind of become my uniform at this point, just a solid black t-shirt or a solid white t-shirt. I have found the most comfortable t-shirt ever with the Ori's Dream Nick Collection. The Ponto Performance T is amazing because it's so soft and lightweight and has that four-way performance stretch.
It's versatile so you can wear it for something like an interview or going out. It's also something that I wear to the gym all the time. Same with their Ponto performance joggers, which are so comfortable. I wear them in and out of the house all the time. In fact, you'll never see me in an airport wearing anything else but the Ponto performance joggers.
Viori is an investment in your happiness. And for anybody listening right now, they're offering you 20% off your first purchase. So get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet by going to viori.com slash CVV. That's V-U-O-R-I dot com slash CVV. Where do you make the most money as a wrestler? Is it in the contract? Is it in the merch? Is it in the percentage of the gate?
All three. The contract, okay, back then, in the late 90s and early 2000s, the highest guarantee you could get was a million and only a few people got. Is that because Stone Cold and the rock were making a million? Yep. The Stone Cold, the rock undertaker, Triple H, myself.
I'm a big show, I think. That's about it. But now you can, they're offering like eight, 10, 12 million dollars a year now. Wow. It's really opened up. But back then, so you were guaranteed that, but if you work full time, you're going to make two, three, four times that. So where does the extra money come in?
merchandise comes in with merchandise, but you have to be a businessman, which I wasn't. You're also, you know, pay-per-view buys. If you're main eventing a pay-review, you're going to get a hell of a lot more than the other guys are. You know, we're talking like significantly more 50, 70 grand more. So, yeah, so that's another way to make more money. But for me, for the most part, I made about
Honestly, two and a half million a year. I did all right. But no, I'm sorry to say I did fantastic.
But I wasn't a businessman. I didn't promote myself. I didn't do a lot of merchandise. I didn't know. I went into pro wrestling thinking, all I have to do is wrestle and that's it. But you have to market yourself. And I didn't do that. I didn't do that at all. And watching Stone Cold, Steve Austin, rumor has it that he made
tens of millions of dollars with merchandise. So, he obviously was a good businessman, but he was also the most popular wrestler of all time. Well, people were all Cogan. People still buy Austin three-sixteenths or something. Oh, God. Yeah, until this day. And if he makes an appearance, he's going to sell 8,000 of the shirts right at the arena. Yeah. Is there a piece of merch that you regret not making?
Let's think about this. Yeah, my gold medal. Yes, that's exactly what I was going to say. Yeah, but the problem was, I don't know how this happened, but somebody started making them. And the reason why I couldn't make them is because we weren't allowed to duplicate.
but somebody else did it. And now a lot of fans come to me with these gold medals and I'm signing it. And I'm like, where'd you get this? And they say, I got it online. And I'm like, well, somebody snuck in there and made those gold medals without the Olympic or the Olympic Committee's permission. But they didn't have to be Atlanta gold medals. They could have been just a WWE gold medal. You're right, but they made it Atlanta. I'm not sure how they did that, but yeah.
Yeah, I feel like that could have been, I could have been huge if you did that. It definitely would have been huge. Yeah, especially all those little kids that want gold medals that strive to, you know, be the best. Yeah. You know, yeah, it would have been, it would have been a great money maker for me. At what point did you realize it's true, was catching on as a catchphrase? That came by mistake.
Vince McMahon was having me cut promos and whenever I go to one city or whatever city or whatever town, he would have me pick on their sports teams. And usually their sports teams were doing horrible. So when I would say, hey, your Olympic hero is here to save your year, I represent you now instead of the Detroit Pistons who actually suck right now.
And the fans would boo me and I'd say, no, it's true. It's damn true. So that came by mistake just because I was reacting to the fans reaction. What do you think is the hardest of the three eyes to actually follow integrity?
Yeah. Sometimes intelligence. I do some stupid things. Ah, come on. No. What's the stupidest thing you've done in wrestling? Oh, God. Boom. So off the top of the cage. The one on Ken Anderson. Yeah. Yeah. But I did that actually against Chris Benoit, Ken Anderson. And I did it one other time. And I can't remember who's with
And you took one from Cody, too. Yes, yes, I did. Yeah. Cody wrote was the one to Ken Anderson, the worst one. Yeah, I landed on its face. Usually when I do it, I miss the guy moves for the first time. Ken's like, I'll take it. I'm like.
You don't want to take that. He said, no, no, no, I'll take it. I'll be okay. So we did it and I land around his face. It looked like he was maybe too close. He was a little bit, but I went straight up instead of back. So I kind of gauged where I was going to be. I was able to land on him barely, but I land on his face. Did you immediately know? Oh, that's not good. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, I was hurting.
You know, I hurt my stomach. I knocked the wind out of myself, but I figured if I'm hurting this bad, Ken's hurting worse. The way you sold that, like it looked like you were in genuine pain. Well, that was half fake and half real. You always had, I think, one of the most beautiful moon salts. Oh, thank you. You know what? It's crazy as I never practiced it.
It's one of those things you don't want to practice I mean you could put a crash mat on there and go ahead and do it But what the hell if you're gonna do it just go ahead and do it
you know, take a chance and see if how it goes. I mean, I don't know any other way. I don't know anybody that does practice moonsaults off the top of a cage. I could see them doing it at the top of the rope, but practicing off the top of the cage is just stupidity. But when did you realize you had that in your arsenal? Because it's so smooth, it's just perfect in the execution. Well, you know what, I did a lot of diving when I was younger.
growing up, even through high school. And I learned how to like, you know, do double flips and off the diving board and, you know, gainers and stuff like that. So a lot of back flips. And so I knew I had that ability. I just never thought it would be an wrestling ring. So if you're doing gainers, you could do a shooting star press. Yes, I could. I actually have done it, but, um,
I... In a match? No, no. Okay. I'm trying to think. I practiced it. I actually did that on a crash pad. And I ended up landing on my knees. I didn't handle that on my stomach. So I was close, but no cigar. Yeah, that sounds like it could be painful. Yeah, well, I hit a crash pad, so I was okay. That's okay. What is the most painful thing you've done in a wrestling ring?
Oh God, when I broke my neck against Brock Lesnar, when he hit me, he hit me over the head with the chair. It was the third time I broke my neck, Brock brought it and went straight over my head instead of swinging sideways. And I should have told him what happened was he was supposed to hit Chris Benoit and myself with a chair. And Chris told him before the match started, swing sideways. So you don't go on top of my head where it crunches down on your neck.
I didn't tell him to do that. He swung sideways on Benoit, hit him, which was a safe hit. He came over top and everything he had, he brought it. Right on top of my head, I knew right then I heard my neck crack. I was like, and my right arm completely went numb. I couldn't even use it. I couldn't raise it. It was really painful.
I broke my neck before the Olympics, and then the first time in WWE was against Brock, but it was a different move. It was actually I was on his back. He ran across the ring and he went to hit the turnbuckle with his back. We both hit sideways, my neck snapped sideways.
It broke right there. And my left arm I couldn't raise. So it was a different injury in my neck, but it was, you know, I still broke my neck again. So Brock Lesnar broke your neck twice. Yes, indeed. I'm sure you're not blaming Brock Lesnar for it. Or maybe you are. I don't know. No, Brock's an incredible worker. He's always been safe. It's actually my fault because I call both of those spots.
I like that you're taking the credit for it. How are you able to move your neck, move all your limbs now? Well, I was going to have artificial disc replacements. I talked to Joe Rogan about it when I was on a show, and so he forwarded some doctors for me to talk to, and I went to see them, and I wanted to get the disc replacements so my neck would have relief.
And when they did an MRI of my neck, they found out that my neck naturally fused together. So I don't have discs in between my neck. All I have is vertebrae. It's all bone. Wow. So it fused together. And now my neck is where it is. There's nothing I can do about it.
So I have to deal with the pain and move on with life. Are you in pain now? Yeah. Yeah. My fingers are numb. I have motor skill problems with my hands. A lot, a lot of issues. And I, you know, my, I have a atrophy in both arms. I lost three inches of both of my arms.
Thank God they both atrophied because if you ever saw Chris Benoit, when he atrophied one arm, he had this little tiny arm and the other arm was big, Paul Warndorf too. And that's the last thing I wanted to have one big arm, one small arm, but they both shrunk at the same time. Is there a certain amount of regret that you have? If you had picked a different career after the Olympics, you know what? I wish I would have
I wish I would have finished my career in WWE 10 years shorter. WWE and TNA. So in other words, instead of 20 years, I think 10 would have been enough and I think I would have been okay. But I pushed myself further and got into my 40s and kept working at a high pace.
The only time, the reason why I retired is because I was losing a step. And I could see it when I watched me on film. I didn't like what I saw. I didn't want the fans remembering me as a broken down Kurt Angle. I wanted them to remember me when I was in my prime.
And that occurred when I went back to the WWE for the second time. And that was in 2017, when I came back, I ended up, they, it went and ducked me in Hall of Fame. And I was like, Vince, I'm not done wrestling. He's like, well, we'll get to the wrestling. And then he said that that night after the Hall of Fame, he said, I want you to be a general manager of Raw. I was like Vince, I want to wrestle. He said, it's coming. So he made me general manager of Raw for nine months.
And during those nine months, I was inactive. I never got in the ring. I was so busy doing general manager stuff, I couldn't get in the ring. And by the time they had me wrestle, I looked like an
taking those nine months off, especially at my age, close to 50. It just, I shut down, my body shut down. And I literally, my knees were bent full time. Like I couldn't straighten my knees out. I had to have knee replacements. Now my knees straighten. Hey, look at you now. Yeah. But, um,
I had a rough time in that ring, and I wanted to retire against John Cena, but I was doing a program with Baron Corbin, and Vince McMahon said, if you wait another year, we'll give you Cena. And I said, Vince, I want to retire this year. I don't want to be the person I am right now. I don't want to be out there in the ring where I lost the step, and I don't want the fans to remember me like that. He said, well, you're going to have to wrestle Corbin.
And then that was fine. If you had waited another year, you would have been wrestling in front of nobody. You're right. So at least you were tired in front of a sold out crowd. You're exactly right. Was there enough about that? If you wanted to retire 10 years earlier, was there an opportunity for you in 2009 to go back to WWE? Yeah, yeah, there was definitely an opportunity.
You know, the reason why I was having a hard time getting back in the WWE in 2016-17, that's when I was trying to, you know, go back to where I started. And, you know, I told TNA, thank you so much for the 11 years. I appreciate it.
But I want to go back and finish my career where I started was also by the way something happening in t&a at that time because 2016's when aj left when bobby rude left well i would say this i don't know for sure but i i could be safe to say that the money was running out and i could see that and i was making seven figures a year so they were paying me handsomely and i figured you know if they want to keep me you know
They would have to pay me another second seven figures. And I didn't think they were going to be able to. So that's when I decided, you know, this might be the right time. I tried to go back to WWE and Vince McMahon said bad reputation. Because I had, I had four DUIs. That's when I was making really horrible choices. And I had four DUIs. So Vince had me sit and I waited for about a year and a half, two years before they brought me home.
Was there a chance in 09? Did you have conversations with WWE then? No, no, I was happy in DNA. I was literally moving along nicely and I love being there. The great thing about it is
You got to be creative yourself. They would give you an idea, a promo, and you would write the promo and do it. And when you wrestled, usually you have agents that will structure the matches for you. We did it ourselves, for the most part.
It seems like you flipped it into a completely different gear when you debuted in TNA. I was excited about it. When people see your TNA matches and they compare them to your early 2000s WWE matches, it doesn't even look like the same person. Yeah. Well, you know what? The one thing about pro wrestling and a lot of people don't understand this, but you don't really come into your own until about six, seven years into your career. And that's about when I
when I went to TNA, right around my six and a half, seventh year. And that's when I was in my prime and I was really chugging along really good. And that's one of my best matches of work. And so I was the rest of the machine in WOV right before I left. I was having great matches then, but in TNA, I flipped to another gear.
I was on a different level. Fans seem to like to blame it on the painkillers. You know the nickname, right? Yeah. What do you think of the nickname? You know what? I know that fans, it's almost like they want me to feel good about it.
It's the fans are having fun with it. Yeah. Because I was the best wrestler in the business. Absolutely. So, you know, they want to say that, you know, Kurt Angle was perk angle. That's why he was doing it because he was all perked up. The thing is, I didn't, I didn't, uh, I didn't use painkillers while I was wrestling.
I did them in the morning and then at night I would wrestle and then I did painkillers after I got done wrestling. So I never wrestled high. Were you in a lot of pain when you were wrestling? Yeah, I was in a lot of pain. You know, I got introduced to painkillers in 2003 after I broke my neck the second time. And man, not only did they mass the pain, but for me,
they made me feel really good. I mean, I knew I liked it. I was drawn to it. Like, wow, this makes me feel energetic. And so I know that's kind of the euphoric feeling you get with that, but I loved it. And I knew right away that I'm gonna have a problem with these. People seem to have this misconception that that's why you wrestled so well in Tana. No, listen, you can't wrestle messed up.
It's going to be sloppy. You've seen people in the past that have wrestled high. People are like, what's wrong with them? So you can't do that. It's almost impossible, especially to have a good match. You have to be sober, or you're not going to have a good match.
Did you feel like you were proving something in TNA? Because it really truly felt like you had flipped into another gear. Well, you know what? I guess a little bit because in WWE, I don't blame this for them for this, but in WWE, when I was addicted to painkillers,
Um, they were, they knew I had a problem and they, you know, they wanted me to fix it. And, uh, you know, they even had me sit at home for a week and try to go through a withdrawal and, uh, that didn't work very well. And so like they were, uh, telling me that, um, you know, they were ignoring the situation. They, they, they had me work in full time.
I was working 300 days a year and I was caught on the painkillers. I was even getting injured quite a bit. I was injured in my neck, my hamstring, my groin, my abdominal muscle, my shoulder. Everything was going and they just never let up on me. And I started getting like a sour taste in my mouth about WWE. And so when I left the WWE, I went to TNN and I said, I'm going to stick it to them.
And not that I did because you know, you're not gonna stick it stick in the double. He is too big of a company and they have incredible products So but to me it just made me feel better. You know, I'm gonna stick it to them and show them how good I am You know, but you arguably had the best matches your career. I did I did I have you know AJ Styles and Samoa Joe Sting Jeff Jarrett a lot of those guys Bobby rude James Storm Christopher Daniels
So many incredible athletes. Alex Shelley, Chris Saban. I had a lot of great matches. I was so excited about going to TNA because I heard about AJ and Joe, and they were barely known at this time. You had to be in wrestling to know who they were. And it was like, man, I'm going to, I'm salivating. I can't wait to get in the ring with those guys.
You've mentioned his name a few times in this conversation, but Chris Benoit. And I saw that you had mentioned something about one of your favorite matches ever was you versus him at the rumble, I think.
Does it feel strange that you have to be guarded with the way that you talk about your matches with him? Well, I will tell you this. I did it for a while. I did what I was told to do was to pretend Benoit didn't exist. But what that did for me is it took away all my best matches.
It was rubbing on my legacy. So by saying that Chris Benoit no longer exists is saying I never had those matches. And it's like, whoa, I have my best matches with it.
And he was an incredible wrestler. I don't condone what he did. What he did was 100% wrong. And it's unforgivable. But how he was in the ring, he was the best in-ring worker I've ever been in the ring with. He reminded me of me. I felt like I was wrestling my twin. What was it that allowed you guys to bring out the best in each other? Intensity.
Chris nobody more intense than him except for me We brought it and we would stay on each other and we just had we had incredible chemistry where we were able to do finished trade-offs and submission trade-offs Like nobody else. I mean nobody compared to us You know we would go from the ankle lock to the crippling cross face back to the ankle lock to the angle slam to you know just we had all these different
spots in the match that really made it really, really good. I will say this, I believe that Chris and I might have had the greatest wrestling match of all time at Royal Rumble 2003. That's how confident I feel about it. If no one's ever seen it, you gotta watch the match. I mean, we barely threw any punches, a couple of kicks, it was all wrestling. And that's really difficult to do, especially today.
Do you consider Christmas while your greatest rival?
Yes, yes, I do. Hemmer Brock Lesnar. I also love wrestling Shawn Michaels, but we only wrestled three or four times. It wasn't like a big program. But Ben Wan, we went for years. I mean, it would be him and me, and then they would take a break from it, and then they'd go back to him and me, and take a break. Then it'd be him and me tagging together. When we'd be tagging and fighting each other while we were tagging, that we just had a really strong program, and it went on for years.
But Brock, our program went on for about two and a half, three years, and that was a good run. With John Cena on his retirement tour right now, your name keeps getting thrown around because you were his first opponent. People seem to think that there's a chance you could be his last opponent. And I think it's just, you know, you've said it so many times, but I think it's important to make it clear that you can't wrestle anymore. No, I can't wrestle anymore. Actually, you know what I did. I did wrestle about two months ago. I did a commercial for CBS.
And it was for the NFL pregame for the Ravens and Steelers. So me and a gentleman named Kyle Brandt.
Uh, he's a sports caster for CBS. He, uh, he pretended he was the Ravens and I pretend I was a Steelers. We had a pro wrestling match and I was bumping and, um, so you're telling me there's a chance. No, no, no. Cause what happened was I threw my back out and I couldn't walk for a week after that. And my wife was like, you're never getting in that ring again. And she's right. I, I shouldn't even gotten the ring, but, um, it was a lot of fun to do it, but I, I, I would love the rest of John Cena.
There's nobody that wants to wrestle John more than I do for his retire match, especially with the respect I have for him. I just can't do it. You got 11 months between now and the end of the year. Yeah, yeah. Well, why is it not possible? Because if I get the ring and I start beating myself up, I'll never heal. It's just not possible. I could just walk in there cold and have a match with them. But then I probably regret it when I was done.
You're the best in the world. I feel like it was. Ah, come on. If you look at the betting websites, if you look at my bookie, you are the favorite to induct John Cena into the Hall of Fame. Really? Yeah. Well, I'll tell you this, there are a lot of people that deserve to induct John. Randy Orton, who was his biggest
uh, I guess competition or, you know, his nemesis, but Stephanie McMahon, uh, don't forget that she's the one that, uh, discovered his wrapping ability. Um, and she was a big fan of his. I mean, she, she really supported him, uh, quite often. Uh, but no, listen, I'd be honored to induct John Cena. Um, you know, the one thing I want to say about him is,
He has shown that he is possibly the greatest WWC superstar of all time. Winning 16 World Heavyweight titles in one company, Ric Flair 116.
but he won them, you know, in NWA and WCW and WWE. And there's nothing, you know, you can't take that away from him. They were all major promotions, but to do it all in one company, that makes you that company's big, the greatest star. And I really believe that he deserves another title before you.
It feels like that's going to happen at some point this year. Yeah, I think so too. It's the number 17 is going to happen somewhere in there. And it should. It should. You think you might get a call at some point this year to do a segment with him? Yeah, that could be possible. If they need me to do something like that, that's cool. I'm sure Raw or SmackDown will come to Pittsburgh at some point in time.
Who better to bring out than Pittsburgh's own Olympic hero? That's right. They actually brought me on TV for my birthday couple years ago and then.
Then they brought me on to spray down who was it? Oh, it was Chad Gable and Otis with milk. I did it with Gable Stevenson. Yeah, so I've had a couple of dates here in Pittsburgh. So usually when they come to Pittsburgh for TV, they usually give me a call and say, hey, would you do something? Makes sense. I've seen a lot of people talk about, man, the dream match that I would love to see is Kurt Angle versus Chad Gable. And I'm like, it happened. We saw this. Yeah, yeah, no, that was when I was at
And you'd still look so good. It was okay. But Chad made me look good. He did. Chad's Chad's incredible. He's a very talented kid. And I'm just glad that they're utilizing him properly because I know because he's undersized a little bit. They didn't know what to do with him, but this kid could be a world champion and be very marketable.
I mean, especially with the gimmick he has right now, with the whole USA thing and the USOC and everything where, you know, it's like he's like my, you know, he's like my son. He should have been your son. Yeah, he should have been. Yeah, exactly. But Vince McMahon had other ideas having Jason Jordan be my son, which was ridiculous because, you know, that was cool.
They're doing the You Suck chant on him. I know, I know. It's crazy because when they did it to me, when they first started doing it, it was because they thought I really sucked. And for Chad, it's a terminal endearment. So they're saying, you're awesome instead of You Suck. But they're just saying it because they used to say that to me.
How do you not hear that for the first time and go, do they actually think I suck? I don't suck, right? Yeah, you start the question yourself. Right? Yeah. Yeah. And then you start to then eventually like play into it and go, yeah, that's my thing. And agree with it. Yeah. You know what? The crazy thing is when they started doing it, that's what man wanted me to fight. He wanted me to
I don't say that and stop talking. I'm not going to talk until you guys stop saying you stop. And I'd wait there for five minutes and you'll go. So it didn't really work. But I turned baby face. The fans turned me baby face.
They were even trying to make me a heel. I mean, I was saying degrading stuff about our military and and African Americans and crazy stuff. And the fans still like me. And it was like, and then I did a promo where I was like, you know what? I could do anything I want. I could make Jesus tap or
I could, uh, you know, I was just saying these things that are arrogant and the fans are still cheering me. I'm like, Oh my God, I can't. They're trying to turn me heel, but their fans are keeping me baby face. So that's what Vince said. You know what? Start going with you. So you saw, you know, and encourage them to say it. So that's what we started doing.
You guys know that being healthy is a big focus of my life, and I'm always looking to incorporate better habits into my life, like getting more protein in my diet. And our next sponsor makes that so easy to do. This podcast is sponsored by Orgain. Orgain believes real nutrition has the power to make a real difference in people's lives. Orgain's new 30-gram complete protein shakes offer protein-packed real nutrition designed to satisfy your cravings without any added sugar.
Plus, they're an excellent source of premium ultra-filtered protein with all nine essential amino acids. Orgains products are handcrafted with high-quality ingredients in it. It really tastes like a milkshake. It's so good. So if you're looking to fuel your personal best, if you need muscle support and recovery, or you're just looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle, or gains 30-gram protein shakes, check all the boxes. I just had one before I recorded this podcast. I just love the way that it tastes. And I travel a lot.
So bringing those organ 30 gram protein shakes with me, whether it's on the road or whether I'm flying somewhere, then make sure that I hit my protein goals no matter what I'm doing and no matter where I am. But remember, there's no quick fixes when it comes to your health. If you want more protein, give organ 30 gram protein shakes a try. Head to organ.com slash insight and use the code insight for 30%
off your order. That is the best offer you will find, but you have to use my code. Insight, you'll get 30% off. One last time, it's 30% off when you go to organ.com slash insight. That's o-r-g-a-i-n.com slash insight and use my code. Insight.
This year, actually achieve your New Year's resolutions. This is your year to feel your best, regain your energy, and conquer your goals. No matter what your goals are for 2025, this supplement can help because it supports your health at the foundation by encouraging cellular renewal. Mitopeur is a precise dose of the rare postbiotic urolithine. It works by promoting an essential cellular cleanup process that cleans out dysfunctional mitochondria, aka your cell's battery packs.
Mitopure is the only urethane supplement on the market clinically proven to target the effects of age-related cellular decline. With regular use, you'll see and feel the difference in the form of improved energy levels, better workouts, faster recovery, more endurance, all that and more, all of which helps you to achieve your new year's goals.
awaken the strength, power, and resilience already within you with the first and only supplement clinically proven to rejuvenate health at the cellular level. Timeline is offering 33% off your order of mitochondria while supplies last. Go to timeline.com slash insight33. That's timeline. T-I-M-E-L-I-N-E dot com slash insight33.
There's a photo that popped up recently on social media. I'll show this to you. It's you and Eddie backstage. And I'm curious if you remember anything about this. This is an iconic photo. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that thing. Do you remember when or where that was or maybe what you guys are talking about? Oh, you know what? That was okay. Eddie and I, we had a little scuffle one night. What happened was I was,
I was in a faction called the Honor Society. It was with Luther Raines and Mark Jindra. And we were supposed to get heat on the Guerrero's. And I was the end of the show, and we went out in the ring, and Luther and Mark Jindrack beat up Eddie, and I was beating up Java.
And we got backstage at the gorilla where you entered the arena. When we went backstage, Eddie started yelling at me. He said, you were stiffing me. You were hit me hard for real. I'm like, Eddie, I didn't touch you. And he's like, yes, you did. He pushes me. I said, Eddie, you don't do that again. He pushed me again. I shoved him and he tried to double leg.
I got them in the front. Hey, stuff. And I choked them out. And so that was after that was that day. Yeah. Yeah. And the thing was when, uh, when we went to talk, I went over to him and said, Hey, I want to apologize. He goes, I'm not ready to apologize. And I said, Oh, really? We started going at it again. So Eddie and I were like brothers, we loved each other and we hated each other hard.
And, but that was right after that occurred. And, but Eddie, that's when Eddie calmed down and said, listen, I know, let's just let my guns be by guns. And, you know, he's like, I love your car. You know, I do. And so that photo right there is right after that incident. Wow. Yeah. What's your best memory about it? Oh God. Yes. So many memories of Eddie.
But my WrestleMania 20 match one of my favorite matches of all time Eddie came up with the finish which was brilliant because you know Eddie lies cheats and steals his way to victory and He kind of cheated his way to victory with me where he he had a shoe Untied and I had the ankle lock and the shoe came off and then I charged him and he rolled me up real quick and won the match It was a brilliant finish because it worked with his character and it all and it protected me So it wasn't like I lost legitimately
And that's what Eddie was good at. He was good at protecting everybody and making sure everybody looks good when they're wrestling. Early on, you wrestled Owen Hart. What do you remember about that match? I remember that he called the whole match in the ring to me.
He was, he was every, honestly, I never wrestled Brett. I've watched him wrestle, but I will tell you that Owen Hart is just as good as his brother. He was. So I know Brett's always had the crown of being the greatest wrestler in the world, but Owen was really good too. And he was a little bit of a prankster though, you know. He pissed a lot of people off, but he was really good in the ring.
I had, I had an incredible match with them. It was 10 minutes and we went backstage. Everybody was like high five in us and saying it was great match. And I just started at that time. Was this the four year debut? Yeah. This was like a three months in the business. Yeah, it was a dark match. Three months in. Yeah. My own and I had a freaking incredible match and it was because of him.
He's just so good. And I wish you had the opportunity to wrestle Brett, but I know it's a time when I talk about it all the time. It's never going to happen. It's too bad because I would have been so good. Yeah, I believe that too. I've always looked up to Brett as being one of the greatest of all.
just watching his technique in the ring and the way he carried himself. I always, when I signed in 98, late 98, that's when Brett, I believe, moved to WCW. Yeah, because I missed them by a few months. Montreal was 97. Yeah. Yeah. So I kind of sucked. I missed them by a year. But I would have loved to work with
And you mentioned Owen being a prankster. You don't need to name names here, but what's the worst rib you've seen? Um, I remember when, uh, who was it? Um, I think it was Bob Hawley. Um, uh, wait a minute, what happened with Owen, uh, he, okay, he, he called, uh, Bob Hawley or Val Valvenis. I can't remember which one it was, but he called them.
in their hotel room, he was in a lobby. And he pretended to be a fan. He's like, listen, come down here, I'm going to beat the shit out of you. And they said, what do you look like? And he looked at a fan, he's like,
I said, I have a red shirt on and jeans, he's picking a fan. So, Val or Bob, I can't remember which one it was, came down and charged right for the fan and Owen had to cut in and say, no, no, no, it was me. So, that's pretty nasty. I mean, that could end up a disaster. Sure. Did anyone ever review really bad?
Or did they know that? You know what? I was, you know what? I came in with humility. I was humble. I got along with everybody and I was a team player. But Rakeshi got me during a match. He had to go to the bathroom before the match and he didn't wipe his butt. And he did his stink face on me. And then, all about Brown's hands.
Yeah, it stunk so bad too, man. Oh, I went backstage. He was laughing. I couldn't. I wasn't even mad. I was like, is this a TV match? Yes. Yes. Oh, man. Yeah, the boys can be cruel. Did you want to get him back? No, no, I wasn't like that. I didn't play pranks on anyone. You know what? I'm going to eat the target if they want to don't rip me, you know, but nobody else read me very much. You know, I undertaker like, you know, he just like,
We'd be on a plane traveling overseas and he would throw pillows at me while sleeping and try to keep me up, but nobody really read me that much. But you feel like you also would have had a target on you because you got so much so quickly. Well, you know what, you're a target when you have a big title.
and you're an asshole. That makes you a target because that's when they even want to get you more. You have all the success and you're an asshole still. Well, we're going to stick it to you. So if you come in and you're humble and you show that you're a team player and that you're willing to do whatever they want to do, even though you're an Olympic gold medalist and you know you're better than them, you don't act like it.
And because I was so humble, nobody really ever read me. When were the conversations starting about you winning the world title? Because you wanted 10 months in. Well, you beat the rock. Okay, I didn't hear anything about it until I wrestled the rock in Triple H in a triple threat match at SummerSlam.
And Triple H gave me the pedigree on a table. And the table collapsed before he gave me the pedigree. And I went down and I hit the concrete floor of my head. And I was out cold and Triple H couldn't even wake me up.
And he said, I was snoring. So the thing is, I was supposed to do that. And I was supposed to pretend I was hurt. I was going to go backstage. And then they were going to bring me back out for the rest of the match. Yeah. So that was all planned. But I got hurt for real. Now they pull me backstage. And when I went back out there,
I didn't know what I was doing. I don't remember what I did. So they called the whole match to me, Triple H and rock. So whoever I was wrestling in there in the Triple Threat, they were calling the spots and telling me what was next. So I don't know how they did it, but then the match looked really clean, it looked great. And you can tell if you look and watch their mouths, you can tell they're talking a lot. You can also tell, especially when Stephanie's bringing you out that you don't know where you are.
Do you remember anything from that? No, I woke up in the hospital at three in the morning and I was like, what happened? They're like, you don't remember us. You know, I remember being at a pay-per-view. They said, well, you, you got a concussion. And I was like, well, man, I don't remember that. So was it because of that match? They went, oh, Kirk Vince was like, you know what, you, you impressed me. You know, you went, you went back out there and you got the job done.
I like you. So the next month, he ends up giving me the title. Wow. Rock at it. And, you know, it was like, and don't get me wrong, like at this point in my career, I wasn't ready to carry the title. I'll tell you why.
I barely knew psychology. And wrestling, psychology is a good guy versus bad guy. Good guy out, wrestling is the bad guy. The bad guy cheats, gets a good guy down for heat. The good guy makes a comeback. The bad guy, he cheats and wins. Or the good guy overcomes the cheating and wins. So I was learning that. And I could barely structure a six-minute match when I first started.
So for the first year of my career, my opponents had to structure the whole entire match for me and then call the whole entire match in the ring so I wouldn't forget a spot. And even 10 months in when I wrestled the rock, he had to do that for me too. So I was world champion and after one year, two months later, I was such a good listener, a good follower that I then became a good leader. I started structuring matches and I started calling matches in the ring.
So after two years in the business, I actually became the best in the business. It happened that quickly, but if it wasn't for Vince McMahon pushing me and forced me to go out there out of my comfort zone, like my first night on the air, he wanted me to cut a promo. I cut one promo on Memphis and it was horrible. See, we didn't have OVW or NXT back then. So we had no way to prepare the wrestlers except Memphis and they didn't like me down there. They barely did anything with me.
So it was tough.
I had to go out there and cut a promo. And the crazy thing is he said, listen, I'm going to tell you the promo and you're going to go out, I'm going to tell you once, you're going to go out there and do it. So I was like, you're not going to write down. I said, so I could memorize. He said, no, I'm going to tell you, you're going to go out there and do it. So he starts telling me the promo. I'm listening. And after three minutes, I'm like, holy shit, this is a long promo. He keeps talking four or five, six minutes. He gets done. And I said, Vince, I'm sorry, but I didn't hear a word you said. You repeat that.
I'm going to tell you one more time, you go out there, you either sink or swim. Wow. I went out there and I got 80 percent of it right. He said, I can work with this kid. This kid has ability. He started having me cut promos every week and they're getting longer and longer. I started mastering promos. I was getting better. I was learning on the job. By a year in the business, I was one of the best promo cutters in the business. I should have been.
But if it wasn't for Vince taking me out of my comfort zone and forcing me to learn quicker, it would have never happened. I think you really endeared yourself to fans when they saw that you were willing to not take yourself that seriously. Yeah. You know what? The reason why I was able to do that is because Vince McMahon came to me and he's a genius. He really is. He came to me and said, listen, you're an electric
It doesn't matter. You could pull your pants down and run around the ring. And they're still going to take you seriously when you wrestle a match. So we could do all this funny stuff. And still, when you get in the ring, they're going to say, oh, the shits on, angles in there. So he made it easier for me to go out there and be the idiot, the dumbass, the funny guy. And it worked extremely well. I actually enjoy doing it.
Stone Cold and I had some of the best times. So it was a lot of fun, but it was because Vince basically said, listen, you're a badass. It's not going to matter what you say, because when you go out there, you're going to have the best match of the night. But you went all in on it. And I think that that's why it was so good.
Yeah, I mean, you know what, though, that is a little part of me. I'm a little gullible. I'm kind of an idiot at times. It's hard for me to... I am a little goofy.
And so I don't mind doing that. I feel comfortable doing it. My favorite segment of yours, and this is a deep cut, it's when you were pretending to interview the rock. Do you remember this? And I remember it word for word me and my buddy Greg will talk about it all the time, but rock, thanks for joining us today. That's super. Do you remember putting that together? Yes, yes. The crazy thing is,
Brock wasn't in front of me. Of course, because it kept switching to a shot where his sideburns were longer or shorter. He's burning it for sure. They wanted to make it look like I put it together. Yeah. The Rock will tell you exactly what he thinks about. Stone Cold Steve Austin and all his little shenanigans. Sure, he's a piece of monkey crap and a jabroni.
Oh, you remember that word for word. Whoa, that's a little harsh, isn't it, rock? Sure, rock. Drink up. That was a lot of fun. I didn't know how good it was going to pan out because all they had me do is lines. Sure. I was like, what are you going to do with this? And then I saw what they did and I was like, oh, this is awesome. It's like when Weird Al would pretend to interview people on MTV when it was out TV.
It's just so good. Even to this day, 25 years later, I'm like, it's one of my favorite segments ever. I had a lot of fun. My first year, my rookie year was the funnest time of my career. I went to TV excited. I was like, I can't wait to see what I'm going to do this week. Because every week I was doing something that was just funny or exciting. It wasn't until I broke my neck.
Um, I guess my third year in where it wasn't funny anymore. Um, then it was work and then, you know, I kept injuring my neck and I was getting deeper and deeper into painkillers and then my life became dark. And, uh, so those, those first couple of years were
so important to me and so exciting and fun because I knew that the rest of the years were, you know, a trial, a test, you know, and I just, you know, I don't remember a lot of those years. And it's probably because I just blocked them out of my mind. And that's why I can remember so vividly what I did in my first two or three years. If you were in a dark time then, what helped you to get out of it?
Ah, well, I didn't get out of that dark time until 2012. And what happened is I got arrested my fourth DUI and I called my wife from jail and she said, listen, I can't do this anymore. Either go to rehab or I'm taking the kids and I'm leaving. And it wasn't an easy decision.
I'm not going to lie to you. I love my addiction. It was my baby. And I mean, I was so organized with my addiction. I had 12 different pharmacies, give me 12 different prescriptions. And I had to write it down in a notepad and make sure I didn't go to the wrong pharmacy.
because then you get in trouble. And then I was ordering 500 illegally online every month. And so how many a day was it? 65 a day. Extra strength, I can end. And were you actually counting them or were you just grabbing a fist? No, I was grabbing them, but approximately 2,200 pills a month because that's what I was getting. And so it was.
It was a toll, but, you know, my addiction is what was, you know, I had to make sure I had painkillers. So it was my first priority every day is what do I have to do to get my painkillers, make sure I have enough.
And so that overtook my life. And my wife said, listen, you either got a rehab or I'm taking the kids I'm leaving. And I love my addiction, but I knew I love my kids more. So I went to rehab. And I've been cleaning sober for about 14 years now. Congratulations. Thank you. It's a lot of people when they go down.
that path of painkillers, it turns into heroin at some point. You don't want it might have with me, but in 2012, heroin was out there, but for the wrestling community, the safe bet was getting painkillers.
What have you done to repair your reputation? Like you said, you wanted to go back to WWE in 2016. Yeah, they didn't want me because of your reputation. But look at you now. Nobody thinks about Kurt Angle in that light anymore. Well, I stay clean for 14 years. Time always helps. When you're not in trouble and you're out of the eye of going against the law and
You show that you got your shit together. People start to forget it. The only time they remember is when they say, hey, remember per tango? So that's one of the things that I still have to deal with. But I understand that for the fans, it's more of a term of endearment, how great was per tango? He was awesome.
You know, so I know they're not saying it to try to hurt my feelings. I mean, even though I... But does it hurt your feelings? Yeah. Yeah. But I know they don't mean it. Yeah. And for that, you know, I'm okay with, you know, if they say it, I don't want them to say it to my face, but you know, you know, it is what it is. Does it hurt your feelings because it reminds you of a time you don't want to remember? It's a time where I was in a dark situation in my life, and
That is the part I don't want to remember. All the trouble I got into, the divorce I had, and just a lot of things that were going on in my life that I don't want to remember anyway.
If you were so competitive for so much of your life with leading up to the Olympics, everything before that too, but leading up to that, and then WWE and TNA, and then back to WWE, what gets the competitive juices flowing now? Oh gosh, I don't know. Do you and your kids compete with something?
You know what? I don't really compete anymore. I don't play video games. What I do now is I'm a husband and a father first. And maybe you're competing against all the other fathers to be the best dad. You're right. You're right. I could say that because we do have our kids in sports. I have a daughter that wrestles. I have another daughter that has
does gymnastics and I have a daughter that's a swimmer and they're all really good. But I'm there for them. So that's the outlet now? Yeah, that's the outlet. That's what I focus on. And I focus on my wife too, because she did so much for me in my life. She never left me high and dry. When I retire from pro wrestling, I got depressed.
I got really depressed because it was like, what am I going to do now? My wife's like, open your eyes. You have a family. I still didn't get it for a while. I was like, well, what am I going to do now? And how's my legacy going to pan out? And now I'm just over the hill old man. And she's like, you don't understand. Your legacy is intact.
what you did in the Olympics and what you didn't pro wrestling, nobody can ever take that away from you. People are gonna remember you as one of the greatest of all time and both amateur and pro wrestling. So you build a legacy that no one can ever take away from you. And when I started to understand that and I was like, you know what, I want my legacy not just to be a great athlete and a great pro wrestler, but I want my legacy to be a great man. And the way you do that is what you do with your wife and your kids and your family.
Is it because your identity was so tied to wrestling for so long? Yes. When you retire, it's like, what am I now? Yeah, I didn't have an identity. And it was like, what am I going to do now? And I don't have a purpose. And my wife opened my eyes and said, you do have a purpose. It's really important.
Yeah. Look, Kurt, it's always so great to be able to catch up with you and sit down with you. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for inviting us to Pittsburgh to make this happen. I'll wrap this up with a question I ask everybody at the end. I think you answered it's the last time you were on, but gratitude's so important to me in my life. And I wake up every day, say out loud three things I'm grateful for. My wife and I do it before we go to bed every night. What are three things in your life you're grateful for right now?
I'll say this right off the top of my head. I'm grateful for God being there for me. I'm grateful for being a father and a husband and I'm grateful for my legacy and I know that you know if I died today that I did everything I could to make the life that I wanted and
There's no way that can take that away from me. You are one of the absolute greatest of all time. Thank you. Both in the ring and outside of the ring. Hell of a guy as well. Thanks, Chris. So are you. Thank you, sir.
Well, there we go. Big thank you to Kurt for welcoming us to Pittsburgh for this one. And thank you for listening and being with us all the way until the end here. Name a bad Kurt Angle match. I'll wait. Exactly. There's no such thing as a bad Kurt Angle match. And I just appreciate how honest he is about his career and his legacy and him saying that he wished he'd retired 10 years earlier. But I mean, if you think about it, during those 10 years, he still had such amazing matches.
But I get it. We're often most critical about ourselves, right? I also appreciate how opening is about his addiction of painkillers and that period of his life in TNA. And I know that his story of sobriety is really going to speak to someone who's going through that themselves or has been there and they know what it's like and they know the struggles associated with that. So I just appreciate that.
Snap a screenshot. Let us know that you're listening and tag us. He's at real Kurt Angle. I'm at Chris Van Vliet. Tickets are on sale now for Insight Live in Indianapolis, Toronto and Las Vegas. Grab them at CVVTix.com. That's CVVTX.com. I'll leave you with this quote from Confucius. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
Be great and be grateful my friends. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. We've got former WWE superstar Baron Corbin joining us on Thursday. We'll see you right back here for that one.
Was this transcript helpful?
Recent Episodes
Jordynne Grace On WWE, Leaving TNA, Royal Rumble, Bodybuilding

Insight with Chris Van Vliet
Professional wrestler Jordynne Grace discusses her time in TNA, letting her contract expire, becoming the TNA Knockouts Champion, becoming a free agent, follow-up appearances on NXT, powerlifting records, and more.
January 28, 2025
AskCVV #67 - WWE/TNA Partnership, Royal Rumble Final 4, Penta, Joe Hendry, WCW Mount Rushmore

Insight with Chris Van Vliet
Chris answers questions about WWE & TNA partnership, Royal Rumble predictions, John Cena's Retirement Tour, best Rhodes of all time, WCW Mount Rushmore, and more on AskCVV #67.
January 24, 2025
Baron Corbin On His WWE Exit, New In-Ring Name, AEW, TNA, New Japan, What's Next

Insight with Chris Van Vliet
Professional wrestler Tom Pestock (Baron Corbin) discusses his WWE career, a match with Josh Barnett, and upcoming plans in wrestling, along with stories like meeting Taylor Swift at a Kansas City Chiefs game.
January 23, 2025
AskCVV #66 - Penta's Debut, Best 'Big Man' In Wrestling, Is This The Most Star-Studded Royal Rumble Ever?

Insight with Chris Van Vliet
Chris Van Vliet answers questions about WWE, match stipulations, and more on AskCVV #66. Topics include Penta's debut, potential Royal Rumble size, revisiting a past stipulation, Chad Gable resembling Kurt Angle, the best big man of all time, and more.
January 17, 2025

Ask this episodeAI Anything

Hi! You're chatting with Insight with Chris Van Vliet AI.
I can answer your questions from this episode and play episode clips relevant to your question.
You can ask a direct question or get started with below questions -
What was the main topic of the podcast episode?
Summarise the key points discussed in the episode?
Were there any notable quotes or insights from the speakers?
Which popular books were mentioned in this episode?
Were there any points particularly controversial or thought-provoking discussed in the episode?
Were any current events or trending topics addressed in the episode?
Sign In to save message history