15 Things We Just Learned From Kurt Angle About WWE & His Career

15. Any Regrets About Leaving WWE And Not Returning Sooner?

Inevitably, the question of Angle's departure from WWE more than 10 years ago and what drove him to TNA came up in a pretty big way. Again, Angle reiterated that it came down to his desire to work a reduced schedule, as well as his issues with painkiller:

"No, it was my time to leave. I was having a lot of issues with painkillers. I was having issues with injury. I was in WWE at a time when... I was there for about six and a half years, and I probably missed about a year with injury, so on TV for five and a half years, so I wanted to go part-time and back then you didn't do that in 2006 unless you were Shawn Michaels or Undertaker. And those guys put in a good 20 years each... I was relatively new and I just don't think we would have been able to come to an agreement."

He also spoke quite candidly about his problems with medication, which he acknowledges played some part in him not being able to return as early as he expected to (he thought he'd be back three years ago):

"The painkiller issue was a big one too. I think Vince McMahon was very concerned about me at the time, so I had to part. Do I regret parting for this long? Yes. I didn't expect to. I expected to come back earlier. It just wasn't in the cards. When you get in the situation I got into and your life spirals out of control, you can't expect a company like WWE to bring you back. You have to prove yourself. That you're okay, and that you're physically and mentally prepared to come back. I don't think I was ready until this past year and I think both WWE and myself agree on that."

It's very clear he's itching to get back in the ring and to get himself another WrestleMania moment, but like Goldberg, he says he returned partly for his kids, as well as the fanbase - both of whom he felt he owed the opportunity to see him wrestle with WWE once more.