• Kurt Angle Says WWE Legend Injured Him So Bad He Started Buying Painkillers Illegally From Mexico
Kurt Angle suffered some of the worst injuries a pro wrestler could throughout his career, which led to him struggling with painkillers.
The Olympic Gold Medalist had an intense rivalry with Brock Lesnar over two decades ago, and they ended up producing extremely physical matches.
While speaking on The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast, Angle spoke about The Beast Incarnate breaking his neck with a chair in WWE.
“When I broke my neck in WWE, that was the second time I broke it. First time was before the Olympics, the second time was my… third year in WWE.
Brock Lesnar actually broke it. He hit me over the head with a chair. Three vertebrae cracked and I had two more discs sticking in my spinal cord. It was really bad. And the doctor introduced me to painkillers, and I’m not going to lie to you, man, I loved it. I loved the way it made me feel, gave me energetic feeling, didn’t make me feel nauseous like some people it feels like. It made me alert.”
The WWE Hall of Famer went on to talk about his painkiller addiction following the injury and how he used to buy them illegally from multiple pharmacies in Mexico.
“You need two. Two led to four, four led to eight. Before I knew it, I was taking 65 extra (painkillers) a day. I was crushing it. I was buying them illegally from Mexico, 500 of them, and I was getting 12 different scripts from 12 different pharmacies. You can’t do it now.
I had a system, I had it all drawn out – this pharmacy on this date, that pharmacy on that date. So, I was getting 120 pills from each pharmacy, which is about 1800 pills. And you add on those 500 extra pills I was getting illegally from Mexico, that was around 2300 pills a month.”
Kurt Angle retired from in-ring competition after losing to Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35.
• “My neck is feeling terrible” – RAW Star
Xavier Woods is currently selling a neck injury as part of a storyline on WWE RAW. He has been appearing in a neck brace on the red brand and feels like Adam Pearce has been treating him unfairly.
In an appearance on the Battleground podcast, he said the following about his injury:
“My neck is feeling terrible. I don’t know if you watched RAW this past Monday night, but I was forced to wrestle even though my neck is injured. I had to take my neck brace off during the commercial break because the referee was accosting me about wearing it, as it was an illegal tool.”
He went on to talk about how a Mexican Destroyer from Penta further damaged his neck on the latest episode of RAW.
“Penta jumped off of Ivar’s back and somehow attached his body to mine into an incredible Mexican destroyer that has only injured my neck even more. So now I don’t know where we even are in the recovery process.”
The New Day member isn’t happy with Adam Pearce’s attitude and feels like the RAW General Manager is discriminating against him.
“Adam Pearce refuses, he absolutely refuses to ban this maneuver. But he bans it when it happens to Cody. He bans it, it gets banned when it happens to Randy. But oh, but not me, not the 21-year vet, not the 15-year company guy, not the guy who delivers every single time.”
• AJPW Wrestler Dies At Age 21
All Japan Pro Wrestling has announced the passing of Taishin Nagao, a 21-year-old rookie who had only recently begun his professional career.
Nagao died on Sunday morning after complications stemming from an accident earlier this year. On May 31, he was struck by a tour bus, suffering severe abdominal trauma that left him in critical condition. While initially treated in intensive care, his condition remained serious throughout the summer.
AJPW stated that his cause of death has not yet been determined and that his body has been turned over to police as part of an ongoing investigation.
In June, the promotion confirmed that Nagao had suffered traumatic shock from the incident and was being monitored in the ICU. A follow-up in July reported that he was still receiving treatment, and several wrestlers and staff had visited him in the hospital with permission from his family. Despite hopes for recovery, Nagao ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
Nagao entered the AJPW dojo in 2024 and made his in-ring debut in October of that year, facing Ryo Inoue. Though his career was brief, his presence was regarded as promising within the promotion’s new generation of talent.
The company released a formal announcement expressing condolences and gratitude to fans for their support, while asking for privacy for Nagao’s family during this difficult time.
