How many people can claim they've won an Olympic gold medal with a broken freakin' neck? Just one: Kurt Angle. The Pittsburgh native overcame the odds in 1996, fighting through unbelievable pain (he was given liberal amounts of cortisone shots) to reach the summit of his sport. Those neck injuries didn't go away and followed Angle to the WWE. In early 2003, there was concern that Angle may be forced to retire, due to the state of his neck. Angle opted for an experimental procedure, instead of the major spinal fusion surgery, prolonging his career and cutting his recovery time to just a few months. But it was just a quick fix and, by the time WrestleMania XX rolled around, Angle was again experiencing those familiar feelings that came with his neck woes. Again, he had surgery and took around four months off. Again, it wasn't enough: Angle continued having neck problems over the next couple of years. WWE released Angle in 2006, after his injury problems led to addiction which led to increasingly erratic behaviour. In the summer of 06, Angle was put on a reduced schedule and instructed to wrestle short matches, but he still picked up painful injuries to his hamstring, groin and back . Angle's body has seemingly been falling apart for fifteen years now. His TNA career has also been marred by injuries (mainly knee and neck) and he's currently on the bench after having a benign tumour removed from his neck.