10 Most Radical Wrestler Attitude Adjustments

6. Kurt Angle

Vince McMahon
WWE.com

The complex relationship with drugs and alcohol that peppered an otherwise glittering career threatened to be the undoing of the Olympic gold medalist and multiple-time World Heavyweight Champion.

His severance with WWE after a 2006 exit seemed permanent as a move to TNA only fostered the worst of his destructive habits. Having broken himself physically on the ultra-demanding WWE schedule by the time he rocked up in the Impact Zone, Angle experienced unprecedented emotional strife in the years that followed.

The stress of divorce from wife Karen was heightened when she began a new relationship with TNA figurehead Jeff Jarrett. An already-spiralling pills problem worsened, with run-ins with the law becoming as frequent as five-star matches for the former ‘Wrestling Machine’. He even briefly stared down a ‘Protection From Abuse’ order from then-girlfriend and fellow TNA talent Treshna ‘Rhaka Khan’ Biggers before the charges were dropped.

Angle’s commitment to overcoming his addictions was the change that drove a crowd-pleasing WWE return in 2017 after years of question marks and questionable comments. Entering the Hall of Fame just weeks before becoming the Raw General Manager, Kurt has even wrestled sporadically since.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett