An Olympic Gold Medallist turned WWE Hall of Famer. Kurt Angle had an exceptional run in his first tenure with the company between 1998 and 2006, winning multiple titles and the King of The Ring tournament along the way.

However, his first stint with WWE came to an end in 2006 due to several reasons, most notably injuries he had sustained over the years.

Speaking on a recent episode of The Kurt Angle Show, the Olympic Gold Medallist revealed the extent of how severe his injuries were.

“The hardest part was the injuries, I just couldn’t keep myself together,” he said.

“That’s the main reason I even left WWE in 2006, I just couldn’t keep my body together. My hamstring, my groin, my abdominal, my shoulder, my neck, I was falling apart and I was having a really difficult time and the painkiller issue wasn’t getting any better."

Angle went on to mention how the scenario was even more frustrating due to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon not returning his calls.

"I said before I started lashing out at Vince," he said.

"Vince was ignoring me which made me even more angrier and I would leave him threatening messages on his answering machine on his cellphone. It just got so far out of control that eventually I had to go to Vince and say we need to have a talk.

“I just came from an event and I went to a meeting and I pulled my pants down, it was a production meeting Vince was in the front and everybody else was in the back, I walked in between them and pulled my pants down to my ankles and I showed Vince my groin. 

"It was all black and blue. It was an abdominal tear, a groin tear and a hamstring tear, all three in the same time and all the blood just rushed to my leg and my groin.”

Kurt has since been back with the company, first as a general manager, before having a series of matches that led up to his retirement at WrestleMania 35 in 2019.

Interestingly, there have been rumours that the six-time World Champion is working on a return to the ring, despite being 52-years-old.