10 Moments Legendary WWE Careers Almost Died
3. Kurt Angle Sticks His Neck Out
Kurt Angle "won an Olympic gold medal with a broken freakin' neck". Don't believe him? Just ask for a promo using that very dialogue and he'll drop it in as a reminder of the damage he could still probably do despite being buttoned tight into his Raw General Manager's suit each week.
Two bulged and herniated disks, two cracked vertebrae and four pulled muscles in his neck were enough to force doctors to insist he not compete in the 1996 Atlanta Games, but Kurt's incredible commitment to his rehabilitation lifted him from the paramedic's table to the podium in unfeasibly short order.
It wasn't just a career-threatening injury that should have provided a blockade to ever stop Kurt attaining the level of success he did in both WWE and TNA, either. A hardened and experienced amateur, Angle didn't even want to turn pro, not least after witnessing Raven crucify The Sandman whilst in attendance at an ECW show as an invited guest of Taz and Paul Heyman.
Making an entire second life in WWE and pro wrestling in general required reconfigurations both emotional and physical for Angle, but as evidenced by the affectionate "You Suck" chants that greet him nearly two decades on from his debut, a generation of fans are glad he pinned down his preconceptions.