WWE Releases Kurt Angle Due To Deteriorating Personal Issues, Plus Repost Of Our 7/5 Article
WWE has posted the following announcement today on wwe.com. Below you will find our 7/5 article reposted which we broke exclusively here specifics regarding his painkiller addiction and attitude issues backstage. I would almost bet the ranch that Angle simply has not improved at all since his suspension. One would think it became worse; worse to the point WWE had to make the decision to release him. I believe WWE was very careful the way they worded the announcement below. Obviously it was done in a more respectful way and doesn't specifically get into the details surrounding Kurt Angle's serious issues. It was also written in an attempt avoid an issue possibly in the future, which we will discuss on the hotline.
Let's all pray that Kurt Angle can recover from his problems. Forget coming back to Wrestling for a moment; we just don't want to hear anything tragic becoming of Kurt Angle. And if you've been following our webcasts, this seems to be in the back of many minds that Kurt Angle is a tragedy waiting to happen.
We will certainly discuss this tonight (Friday night) on the hotline (718-303-4444) for those interested.
Here's the WWE.com article followed by our 7/5/06 story:
Angle released
Due to personal issues, Kurt Angle has been granted an early release from his contract. WWE looks forward to establishing a new relationship with Kurt in the near future.
The only Olympic gold medalist in WWE history, Kurt Angle arrived in 1999 and quickly became one of the most decorated champions in sports-entertainment history. "The Wrestling Machine" is not only a six-time World Champion, but also held the Intercontinental Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship; he also won the 2000 King of the Ring tournament. Recently joining ECW, Angle’s unmatched intensity was rivaled only by his technical and athletic in-ring prowess.
If you recall back on July 5, 2006, 3e6r.net posted this exclusive story regarding Kurt Angle being suspended due to Violation of the Wellness Program:
3e6r.net has learned from reliable sources, that Kurt Angle is currently on suspension from World Wrestling Entertainment. We received two different interpretations of what led to the suspension. One item that is consistent is that Kurt Angle has been taking very high dosages of painkillers. One source told me that it became so much a problem, he would go thru several refills in less than a month. Since painkillers like Vicodin are controlled substances, a physician can only prescribe a certain dosage at a time (IE: 100 tablets with 3 refills). An example of a normal prescription would be 1 tablet every 4-6 hours, which would equal about a three week duration per refill. And you can just walk into a pharmacy and refill a prescription because you took all your pills in a week.
Another problem which has worsened over time, is Angle's serious mood swings. This is a very common issue with people taking Vicodin and other prescriptions.
The suspension we've heard was designed to force Angle to rest and heal up a bit. Of course he will have to lower his intake of pain medication.
Interesting enough with Vicodin, you can intensify the painkilling effect not by taking more Vicodin, but adding a simple Tylenol. The Acetaminophen in a Tylenol intensifies the painkilling ability in the Codeine. Unfortunately though when you become addicted to painkillers, you take the higher levels of Codeine to satisfy your body. So even if Angle was taking the medication for pain, the addiction leads someone to take higher levels of codeine ingested hence a problem.
Kurt Angle was taking the medication for the right reasons however it led what has transpired. Hopefully he can heal up and successfully address this problem. For the sake of his health.
As much as we criticized WWE (in our opinion) on how they have handled certain aspects of the Drug Wellness Program, we praise them for this decision. Especially with the ECW product as bad as it is and with Rob Van Dam suspended, one would realize how much Angle could help right now. WWE's decision shows an example how they are more concerned for the well being of Kurt Angle, than the need for him on upcoming ECW house shows.
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