The Chairman speaks on Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle has been released from the WWE. Even though the company line says it was mutual, many inside sources say that Angle was released for over-medicating himself. He’s worked through several nagging injuries over the past few years, including broken ribs, and, of course, his broken neck, and he’s still been able to wrestle better than most wrestlers on the WWE roster. In fact, he’s wrestled better than most men on any of the major wrestling circuits. That’s why it was such a shock when the news broke. And it will be a great loss not having Kurt Angle work regularly inside the four corners.

But the greater concern was on his health. Mentally, the man couldn’t be right. Personally, he was going through a divorce, with rumors having his soon-to-be ex-wife pregnant with another child. And professionally, Angle has been noted as saying that he was in so much pain that he couldn’t even think straight. And the only way he was able to control that pain was with painkillers. He had come to rely on the pill so much over that he became one of the first suspended in WWE’s new Wellness program.

What made things worse is that Angle, even with the intense pain, still went full throttle when he worked his programs. And this, of course, led to more injuries, recently suffering a groin injury which took him out of a three-way match with RVD and Sabu. Seeing that nothing good could come with letting Angle continue wrestle, Vince McMahon called for a meeting between the two. And from this meeting, it was decided that Angle should take some time off.

So, that’s where we stand, one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, sitting on the bench. If it weren’t for him, the newfound legitimacy that pro wrestling has recently received wouldn’t be. I doubt if Shelton Benjamin, Brock Lesnar, or Bobby Lashley would have considered pro wrestling a viable career choice if it weren’t for Angle.

Angle approached his fake matches as if they were real one. His intensity and planning in the ring made the whole spectacle look true. And that’s because Angle approached it as if it were true. His matches, his mat work, his stunts and spots all carried the intensity and the integrity of a man he won a gold medal in the Olympics.

And that’s why you never knew if Angle would win or lose. Because he was known to lose when he believed the match and the storyline called for it. And he almost always made his opponent look better than they were. Every wrestler, every booker, knew if you wanted someone to have a good match, you paired them with Angle. And because of that, the wrestling world will be losing a grand master of the art.

But I think it can be stated, it might be for the best. If Angle’s mental and physical health is of any of his co-worker’s or fan’s concern, then this extended leave of absence that Angle has been forced to take can only be good. And here’s hoping that the Wrestling Machine gets back healthy, that he gets his life back right, rather he returns to the ring or not, because, coming from one fan, that’s all anyone can ask to granted to someone who has given so many so much.

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