All language subtitles for EP-04 - Kurt Angle

- I never had a love
for something as much

As I do for this company.

- Shake hands and hug.

I'm gonna give you the low one.
Good game.

- Vince.
- How are you, man?

[soft dramatic music]

- I always thought
that my destiny

Was the olympic gold medal.

♪ ♪

But being in wwe,

This is what brought me
real joy.

♪ ♪

This is my first love.

♪ ♪

- You all ready?

♪ ♪

There aren't any words
to describe exactly how great

This next individual is
simply because

He is in a class by himself.

[cheers and applause]

The one, the only kurt angle!

♪ ♪

- He was determined
to be olympic champion.

He lived it.
He breathed it.

He slept it.

- He won a gold medal
with a broken freaking neck.

- Kurt angle of
the united states!

[cheers and applause]

- All of a sudden, this guy
shows up, and I'm thinking,

You know,
can he make the transition?

- An american hero!

I'm an american hero!

- Audiences loved to hate him.

[crowd booing]

But here's the thing.

He was also
a bad mother [bleep].

- And a slam, slam!
Oh, my god!

- And he connected!

- He is at the very, very top
of that list.

Hands down, bar none.

- You gotta be kidding me!
Oh, my god!

- Those matches
are what made me

The best in the business
during those years.

- Now comes the tough part
of the questions.

- Okay.

I went to a chiropractor.

He said, "you know you have
four broken vertebrae, right?"

♪ ♪

Those painkillers
can hide a lot of pain.

My life completely
spun out of control.

- This guy, who was
olympic gold medalist,

You think he's bulletproof,
but nobody is.

- Vince, he told me,
"listen, you're gonna die."

- When you have
that level of addiction,

It takes a hold of you
to a point

Where you just don't care.

- My husband,
how did he get from

Where he was to this point
of his life?

- Don't let people
see you like that.

Man, you kurt angle.

- I always felt that kurt
was a man with great resolve.

- It's never
too late to make changes.

It sure as hell isn't too late
to save your own life.

- I think I want kurt angle
to be remembered

Not for the mistakes
he's made

But what he was able
to accomplish

In his lifetime.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- We were from pittsburgh.

We were the city of champions
back then--

The steelers, pirates,
world series, super bowls.

♪ ♪

- So, kurt, he was set
on being a champion,

You know, from the beginning.

- They played a lot of sports,
the angle boys.

Kurt, he was--you know,
he's good at everything.

One of those guys that was
just a great athlete,

And I think, like,
his brothers were too.

They were all tough guys.

You did not want to mess
with the angle boys.

- My brothers had a reputation
of being fighters, tough guys.

We had a hard time
with the police department

In the area where we lived
because my brothers

Were in so much trouble.

- No, hardly ever.
- Yeah, yep.

We got in trouble
here and there,

But kurt never got in trouble.
Never.

Didn't cause my mom no grief.
None.

That's why she loved him.
She adored him.

That was her whole life, kurt.
It was unreal.

The bond that them two had.

♪ ♪

- Le'anne was
a really good sister.

She was the only girl
in our family.

My sister
was my dad's princess,

So she's the only one
that my dad ever hugged.

♪ ♪

- My father was in the service
for 25 years.

Master sergeant first class.

We got a lot of our discipline
from my father.

- The guy was the most solid
mother [bleep]

You'd ever want to meet, okay?

People say he'd give you
the shirt of the back.

[bleep] them, okay?
This guy would really do it.

- He knew that I was
gonna be capable

Of doing something great.

He seemed to know
that early on.

He was my coach up until
a time in high school,

And he felt that it was time
that somebody else taught me,

And he became my fan,
my number one fan.

The great thing about my dad,
though, he didn't pressure us.

He didn't tell us
we had to be good.

He just wanted us
to give our best.

♪ ♪

But my dad was
a functional alcoholic.

♪ ♪

He drank all day.

- What did your dad do
for a living?

- He was
a construction worker.

- Now comes the tough part
of the questions.

- Okay.

- Your dad, the record
will show, had an accident.

- Yes.

- On August 27, 1985.

Do you remember where you were
when that happened?

- Yes, I was
at football practice,

And somebody came up to me,
received a phone call--

One of my coaches--
and told me that my father

Was in an accident.

- What happened was he went
to the cab to get his lunch,

And he stepped--
when he stepped back,

He stepped on some rebar,
lost his balance,

And went against
the guardrail

And fell through it.

13 feet on the back.

He hit his shoulder
and his head at the same time.

He actually broke his shoulder
and fractured his skull

All the way through.

- In the hospital,
he went into a coma,

And I remember
my sister-in-law saying,

"kurt, do you realize
what's going on here?"

And I said, "yeah,
my dad's hurt,

But he'll be fine."

"no, no,
he's not gonna be fine.

"your father's braindead,

"and they're gonna--
they're gonna

Leave him on a--
on a machine."

So I remember them taking us
into the room

Where my dad was,
and my mother

Had to make a decision
to either keep him on

Or pull him off--
off of the machine,

And she decided
that she wasn't

Gonna let him
just stay like that,

So she--I remember
her getting on her knees,

And before she gave the doctor

Permission to do it,
she begged my dad to come back.

She--she asked him,

Or she actually told him,

"if you come back,
we will make this work.

I'll be the"--

♪ ♪

She said she'll be the wife
that he wanted her to be.

♪ ♪

And then,
right before they pulled--

Pulled the plug,
my sister started crying.

And that was just--
she jumped on my dad.

♪ ♪

She begged him not to go.

♪ ♪

We pulled her off of him,
and they pulled the plug,

And that was it.
You know, my dad was gone.

♪ ♪

My father passed away
on a Wednesday,

And it was
the first week of school.

I decided to play football
that week.

♪ ♪

I wanted to do
something special for my dad,

Knowing that he would have
wanted me to play.

I really didn't want to play,

But I just felt like
somebody was tugging at me

And was telling me, you know,
"get up.

Keep moving."

♪ ♪

I had a game that--
it wasn't just spectacular.

It was beyond unbelievable.

It was--it was perfect.

I had two touchdowns
as a fullback.

I had 14 solo tackles,
two fumble recoveries,

An interception.

♪ ♪

- That's the way to hit.

- And I did it for my dad.

I always wanted
to make him proud.

♪ ♪

I'd like to be all-state
in the big 33 game.

Like to go on
to either penn state,

Pitt, west virginia,
or rutgers as a linebacker.

Football was my first love,
not wrestling.

[cheers and applause]

I never watched
pro wrestling before.

- Look at this!

- He slammed him!
- He slammed the giant!

- I don't believe it!

- I was taught by my brothers,
"don't watch that stuff.

"it's crap.

Don't waste your time
watching it."

So I never did.

[cheers and applause]

But in high school,
I was very, very good,

And the high school coach,
coach lamprinakos,

Pulled me aside and said,
"listen,

"I haven't had a wrestler
like you in 20 years.

You're gonna be
state champion."

♪ ♪

And I dominated.

My senior year,
I was the state champion

From pennsylvania,

And all I had left
was the junior nationals

In the summer, and I won it.

So I was considered
a national champion

In high school before
I ended up going to college.

- We recruited him out of
mt. Lebanon high school.

He was blessed
with quickness and talent.

He was the one
that gave the extra time,

The commitment
to the weight room

And to the practice room.

- And I was beating guys
that were olympians.

It was crazy.

I was a 19-year-old kid,
and I'm beating

All these great athletes.

- Nice,
beautiful duck to a double.

And he's got walker
on his back!

- Kurt angle's
probably 5'11 1/2"?

He's not your typical

6'5" heavyweight, 270 pounds.

He was 220 or under.

- He amazed me a lot of times.

♪ ♪

Staying in it to the very end,

And winning with someone
that he shouldn't have beat.

♪ ♪

- I knew
that I was really good.

I knew that I could compete
at the ncaa level.

I didn't know I was that good.

♪ ♪

- He continued to grow.

He found out that he could go
with the best of them.

His match with sylvester terkay
in the ncaa finals

His senior year
is an epic match.

♪ ♪

- I was the national champion.

Over half my wins
were by pinfall.

That was my thing.
I pinned a lot of people.

- This was a david
and goliath story all the way.

Kurt's 5'10".
This guy is 6'6".

Kurt's 200 pounds.
This guy's 275.

♪ ♪

- Was I worried?
Yeah.

Was I very confident
that kurt was gonna win?

Uh, not so much.

♪ ♪

- I was
a big, tall, lanky guy,

And here's a guy
that's a lot more stockier,

Kind of compact.

He was kind of hard
to get ahold of.

- Hey, cut and breathe!

- There was a minute left.

Came down to who was gonna
get the first takedown.

♪ ♪

- It was like a falling timber.

[cheers and applause]

- Technician against
just a big, burly dude,

And the technician won.

- Ladies and gentlemen,

The heavyweight champion
kurt angle!

[cheers and applause]

- It was the smartest match
I ever wrestled.

That's when you know
you matured as an athlete.

You didn't just go out there
and try

To put on a show for the fans.

You went out there
and you got the job done.

It showed that I was ready
for the next level.

I was on my way
to the olympic level.

[cheers and applause]

- I just graduated college.

I knew I had four years
to prepare for the olympics,

And I was doing
everything I could.

[soft dramatic music]

Foxcatcher was a facility
owned by john dupont.

- Mr. Dupont, you know,
the heir to the dupont throne,

He wanted to promote
amateur wrestling.

- And he started his own club,

And he recruited
the best of the best.

- My name's dave schultz.

My involvement here at
foxcatcher is as an athlete.

I train here.
I work with dupont.

- Dave schultz
was the recruiter.

Dave was really good
at spotting talent,

And everybody wanted
to be there to work with dave.

- Kurt angle went
and trained at foxcatcher

Because dave schultz
could help him.

And how many other people
went to foxcatcher

Or went around dave
because dave could help them?

- I remember the first time
I wrestled dave.

He was 40, 50 pounds
lighter than me.

He beat the [bleep] out of me.

- He thought kurt was
as hard working

An individual in wrestling
as he had ever seen.

I could just see kurt
really respected dave,

And dave really respected kurt
for the work

That he was putting in.

So I think dave
was a mentor, you know,

And of course a good friend.

- He had such
an impact on my career.

He was a friend,
a father figure,

And when I looked at him,

He was everything
I wanted to be.

So I decided,
if I was gonna do this,

I'm gonna have to take
my conditioning level

To a level
where it's never been before.

♪ ♪

I did what you call
exhaust training.

I trained
till I was exhausted,

And that's when
the training started.

♪ ♪

- Kurt angle set his goals
real high.

He didn't believe
he couldn't do anything.

You know, he wasn't--
he didn't have a limit

That he thought
he couldn't achieve.

He believed him himself more
probably than most people did.

- He was determined
to be a world champion.

He was determined
to be olympic champion.

And he lived it,
he breathed it,

And he slept it.

- Everybody wants
to win the olympics

On the day of the olympics,
but you have to want

To win the olympics
every single day

When you wake up
leading up to the olympics.

- My schedule every day was--
this is how crazy it was.

I'd do a six-mile run,

And I would do it
in about 38 minutes.

When I got done, I would do
ten 200-year hill sprints

With somebody on my back.

- See the story
about him running

Up the hill
over on mt. Lebanon

With a guy on his shoulders?

It's like this.

On his shoulders like a log
like this.

♪ ♪

- These guys that want to be
olympic champions.

They're obsessed.

They won't stop.

With kurt,
we had to watch him

Because he'd overwork.
He would work too hard.

- Were worked
a little bit more like mules

And kurt worked a little bit
more like a racehorse.

There was a purpose for why
he was doing the training

That he was doing.

- I would train every day
three times a day

For 28 and a half days
a month out of 30 days.

I did that consistently
for two years.

I did not stop.

It was ten hours a day
almost every single day.

- He was one of the best
conditioned athletes

In the world.
Had to be.

The way he worked out
and trained, he had to be.

- I mean, he lived here
with me, and I never seen him.

He would come in to eat
and run back out,

Change his clothes, and--

He puts everything
into everything

He does, you know?

And I guess, you know,
not because I'm bragging,

But I'm trying to say that,
when he does something,

He does it the best.

- And that man right there,
kurt angle of the u.S.A.,

Is getting set to wrestle
for the championship,

And he's not thinking
about the olympic games.

In fact, there is only
one thing on his mind

Tonight at the omni.

- The world championship's
right now.

Like I said before,
I'm not gonna think

About anything else.

This is as big
as the olympics,

And I'm gonna give everything
I've got

To win this title.

- Arawat sabejew was
the world champion from 1994.

He also pinned me
in 38 seconds

Three years prior.

He was good.

I took him into overtime.

As the overtime
started getting longer

And longer, further into it,
he was getting really tired.

- And sabejew now claims
he's got an injury.

- He was so tired he kept
asking for injury timeouts.

He's faking injuries,

And I knew I had him.

- Some suspense, but I think
sabejew knows, in his heart.

And he does.

[cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

- 27-year-old kurt angle

From pittsburgh, pennsylvania.

Get used to that name
because he is just now

Emerging on the world scene,

And has just now captured
his first ever

World freestyle
wrestling title.

- This sport's
the toughest sport

In the world.

I don't regret
one minute of it.

It's the hard--you work harder
than any other sport,

And when you win,
you might not get the money

Like those football players
or basketball players

Or baseball, but you get
a lot more in here,

And that's what I love
about the sport.

The victory against
arawat sabejew

Put me on the map.

It let everybody
in the world know

That there was
a serious contender

For the olympic gold in 1996.

- Kurt,
you're on a new mountain.

What is your new horizon?
- Oh, olympics next year.

Win the olympics.
Retire.

But I didn't have
a guaranteed spot

On the olympic team.

I still had my work cut out
for me with the usa wrestlers

At the 1996 olympic trials.

It wasn't gonna be easy.

[cheers and applause]

- In 1995,
when I won the worlds,

That was a credit
to john dupont.

He made it possible
for wrestlers

To not quit early on
and get real jobs.

He would give you a house
at foxcatcher.

He would give you money
for food.

He would give you
all the equipment you needed,

And he would take care of
all expenses--

Traveling expenses,

But I could tell you that...

[soft dramatic music]

He wasn't right.

♪ ♪

- Anyone that jumps in
the sport of wrestling

Just to jump in
the sport of wrestling

And throw millions
of dollars at it

And put people
on their property

To train full-time

And hardly know them,
that's not sane.

♪ ♪

- I always knew
he was eccentric.

'91, '92, '93, he was
fairly reasonable.

'94, he was
starting to change.

In 1995, he was,
at that point,

Really, what I felt like,
losing it.

We'd get together
for breakfast,

And he would talk
about the little demon

On his shoulder
that was talking in that ear.

- There was a time
where john dupont

Thought I was in his walls.

♪ ♪

So there were
a lot of things

That were going on that showed

There was--
he needed some help.

♪ ♪

- And '95 is when he started
packing a gun.

[gunshots]

He never
made me nervous about it,

But it made a lot of people
really nervous.

♪ ♪

- It was just really
a regular day.

♪ ♪

In the afternoon sometime,
dave and I were having lunch.

♪ ♪

As we were finishing up lunch,
we heard a car pull up,

And dave went out,

And I heard a shot,

And I heard dave scream.

And by the time
I got to the door,

Dave was down in the snow,

And john shot him in the back.

♪ ♪

And then I grabbed a phone
that was right by the door,

And I went out, and I said
"I'm calling the police."

And I was just trying
to get him to stop.

And he pulled a gun
and pointed it at me,

And I just had
to step back inside,

And then he pulled it,
and he shot dave

In the back,
a second time, third shot.

♪ ♪

When I touched him,
it was just soft,

So I just put his head
in my lap

And told him I loved him.

And he died very quickly.

♪ ♪

- I was in pittsburgh
at the time.

I left dave a message
around 1:00 p.M.

That I was coming
to the farm the next day

And that I would stop by
to see him.

And literally
three hours later,

I saw on cnn that dave
was shot and killed.

- No one is sure or saying
why john dupont

Would have killed
dave schultz.

♪ ♪

- It just crushed me.

♪ ♪

- Dave and I would have
a lot of conversations.

I mean, in November,
before he was killed.

You know, he said,
"I'm gonna get out soon,

"but, you know, I got things.

"things are okay
down here and safe.

"all the rumors that you hear
about john being crazy,

"you know, it's not
as bad as people say.

It's"--you know,
and then three months later,

You know, he shot--shot dave.

- Schultz who won a gold medal
in the 1984 summer olympics

Lived with his family
in a home on the estate.

It is at that home
that police say

Dupont drove up
and shot schultz

In the driveway.

- Dave was one of
my best friends,

And I just wanted him
to know that I love him,

And I care a lot
about his family,

Nancy and the kids,
and I just pray to god

That they're gonna be okay.

- Dave will be missed
so much by his family,

Friends, and the wrestling
community around the world.

♪ ♪

- I don't know that anybody
will ever know why.

That's the sad part.

Nobody will ever know why
he shot dave.

There's all kinds
of speculations,

But what was the real reason?

I don't feel we'll ever know.

- After dave was killed,
there was this gap,

Because we were--
it was January,

And the olympic trials
were in June, right?

And all the funding
had come from this guy,

So we have probably,
I don't know,

17 to 20 elite-level athletes

Who are counting at least
a stipend every month.

- I called foxcatcher

And told their attorneys
to take me off the payroll.

I couldn't take blood money.

♪ ♪

And nancy schultz
heard about that,

And nancy called me
right away,

And she said, "well,
I'm starting a wrestling club.

"the dave schultz
wrestling club.

Would you like to be
the first member?"

♪ ♪

I was like, "wow, me?"

♪ ♪

I said yes.

- And kurt
was the first one to say,

"I'm gonna wrestle for the
dave schultz wrestling club."

And it was a huge
turning point for me, you know?

It showed me that he
respected dave's memory,

And that he had some faith
in me

And who was helping me
to put together the program.

Kurt stood up immediately
and said,

"let's wrestle for the
dave schultz wrestling club

In dave's honor."

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Well, in 1996
at the u.S. Open,

That was the beginning stages
of the olympic trials.

And I had a wrestler
that was pretty tough

Named jason loukides.

We were wrestling,
and I dug for an underhook

To get my arm
under his armpit,

And he hit me
with this arm throw.

So, as he threw me
with an arm throw,

I went to put my hand up
to block the ground

So I wouldn't roll over
my back.

I couldn't get my hand
over in time,

So I put my head up to stop me
from landing on my back,

♪ ♪

And I landed right down
on my face.

All I heard was
a bunch of cracking

And crunching in my neck.

♪ ♪

I knew I did something.

Little by little, I was
scoring a couple points here

And there, and I believe,
with about 20 seconds left,

I scored my fifth point.

♪ ♪

It got me into the finals.

The problem was I didn't know
how bad my neck was injured.

♪ ♪

I went to a chiropractor.

He said, "you know you have
four broken vertebrae, right?

"you're in a position
where you could do

"some real damage
to your body,

Like paralysis."

It makes you think,

I could up being paralyzed
or even dead

If I land wrong.

[soft dramatic music]

- Before I wrestled
the olympic trials,

They were gonna have
a doctor there present,

And he was gonna stick me
in the neck

With 12 different shots
of a type of novocain

To numb my neck.

Feeling the novocain
and feeling how it made me

Completely pain-free,
it gave me confidence

That this might work out.

I just never
considered quitting.

Never considered giving up.

It was, "what do I need to do
to get back in the game?"

And I did that.

Nobody was gonna stop me.

♪ ♪

My opposite in the olympic
trial finals was dan chaid.

♪ ♪

- I wasn't sure who would win.

You would think that they
wouldn't be fond of each other.

Somebody's dreams
are gonna be crushed.

- So the first thing he did
is he went right for my neck.

♪ ♪

Put both of his hands
around my back of my neck,

Was pulling me down,
trying to inflict pain.

♪ ♪

But because of the novocain,
I couldn't feel it.

It wasn't working.

[grunts]

His mindset was go
for the neck, go for the neck,

And every time he did,
he left himself open.

♪ ♪

[whistle toots]

- Tactically
and strategically,

Kurt, he was smart.

♪ ♪

- The whole game plan
backfired on him,

And it benefitted me.

[buzzer blares]

[cheers and applause]

I just made the olympic team
by beating dan chaid.

It was good.

It was something
that built my confidence,

That made me realize
maybe, you know,

You're more ready
than you think you are.

♪ ♪

We got to the olympics.

I'm still having some pain.

But I was--
I was ready for the olympics.

I knew--I knew
I had a great shot

At winning the gold.

♪ ♪

I remember my first match
being against a mongolian.

[cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

The cuban, I won 1-0,
double overtime.

♪ ♪

The next round,
I had a russian.

♪ ♪

I took him down.
Won 4-3.

♪ ♪

I didn't have to have
a pretty performance.

I just wanted the gold
any way I could get it.

The gold medal represents that
there's nobody better than you

On this planet.

I wanted that gold medal.

- Kurt had to
wrestle, probably,

At that point,
the most famous iranian

Of all time, abbas jadidi.

♪ ♪

- Abbas jadidi, who I believe,
even including me,

Was by far the best wrestler
in the weight class.

♪ ♪

- Kurt, he was the underdog.

For sure, he was the underdog.

[cheers and applause]

- Kurt angle
having lots of reasons

To be motivated
for this competition.

He wants to do it for his mom.

She's raised him.
He still lives with her.

His father died
in a construction accident,

And he's wrestling also for
david schultz who was slain.

- Kurt wrestled well.

The later the match went,
the better he got.

♪ ♪

- So now we're in overtime.
It's 1-1.

And he's getting really tired,

And a little voice
in my head said,

"you need to do something.

You have to take him down."

- And a shot by angle.
He's got the angle on jadidi.

He could score a takedown.

- I got both of his legs,
and I had the takedown.

One ref gave me a point.

The other two
didn't give me it yet.

They were waiting for me
to move up

Onto his hips a little higher.

If they don't give me it,

They'll at least
award me it

Because the match
was dead even.

- It's still 1-1.
No points given yet.

♪ ♪

Time runs out.

[cheers and applause]

- The way that it was
the refs' decision,

It looked like it could have
went either way.

- This is as tight
as it can possibly get.

It is now in the hands
of the referee

To make a decision.

Kurt's mom very nervous.

Sometimes she leaves,

She gets so nervous
and anxious,

But she's gonna
stay here for this one.

- My heart went down
to my stomach.

First thing I thought was,
"four more years.

I have to do this
four more years."

'cause I can't
just stop at a silver.

- What will be the outcome?

They can't decide.
There it is!

Kurt angle
of the united states!

- And it's gonna be
kurt angle!

[cheers and applause]

- Kurt angle of
the united states!

[cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

- Oh, my god!

♪ ♪

- First thing I thought about,
got on my knees,

And I thanked god,
and I thought about my dad,

And I thought about
dave schultz,

How proud
they would have been of me,

And, oh man,
dave would have--

He would have ran out
on that mat

And lifted me up
on his shoulders.

What a tough year.

I mean, dave gets killed,
and foxcatcher breaks down,

And you don't have a club,

And then nancy schultz
gives you

The dave schultz
wrestling club.

Everything that we
went through that year,

My broken neck, and all this
work you put in, it's done.

You don't have
to worry anymore.

You don't have
to stress anymore.

No more waking up at 4:00 a.M.

No more staying
till 1:00 in the morning

At the weight room.

It was done.

♪ ♪

It was incredible.

♪ ♪

I worked for this moment
all my life.

I can't believe it.

♪ ♪

It's the best feeling
I've ever had.

- I saw you kneel.
- I thank god.

- I saw you kneel.

I saw you kneel
on the mat and pray.

Were you talking to your dad?

- Oh, yeah.
My dad's always with me.

♪ ♪

Dave schultz.

I knew they were with me.

This is the best thing
that's ever happened to me.

I can't believe this.

All I wanted to do
is win a world championship

And an olympic gold medal,
and I did them both.

If I died tonight, I'd be
the happiest man in the world.

I love you, mom.
I did that one for you.

♪ ♪

[cheers and applause]

- Please welcome kurt angle.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

Now, I understand you're giving
that to your mom, though, huh?

- Yeah, I figured she
deserved this more than I did.

She's done so much for me.

She raised me from when I
was just a kid, you know?

And--

- You know--you know
what's funny about that?

My mom too!
What are the odds?

- To be honest,
nobody's going off

To win the olympics to, like,
be a millionaire, you know?

No one ever thinks that.

But you at least think
that, you know,

You should have, like,
a path for a career

For the rest of your life,

And usually, people just end up

With olympic medal in one hand

And their [bleep]
in the other.

[soft dramatic music]

- When you win something,
or you're awarded something

That you dream about
since you were a kid,

And you felt like
there was nothing

Else more important than that,

And you finally accomplish it,

You wake up the next day,

And you say,
"what am I gonna do now?"

♪ ♪

- It has been said
that anything

Can happen here in the world
wrestling entertainment,

But now more than ever,

Truer words
have never been spoken.

This is a conscious effort
on our part

To open the creative envelope,
so to speak,

In order to entertain you
in a more contemporary manner.

Even though we call ourselves
sports entertainment

Because of
the athleticism involved,

The key word in that phrase
is entertainment.

- If vince mcmahon were to
give you a phone call tomorrow

And say, "kurt, tell you what,
I'll give you

"a three-year deal
worth 2 1/2 million,

3 million bucks,"
would you consider it?

- I think I'd say no, one,
due to the fact

That I am a wrestler,
a true wrestler,

And olympic champion wrestler.

- Kurt angle, 1996
olympic gold medalist

In atlanta, he won, you know,

With a broken freaking neck,
man.

So he had
a little legendary status

As being a badass.

So he was on the radar
early and often.

- I had the opportunity
to sign up

With the wwe back in 1996,

And I met
with vince mcmahon,

And he offered me
a ten-year deal,

Really, really good deal.

- What did I thought about
professional wrestling?

I didn't care for it.

He said he was--how much money
he was probably gonna make.

Well, I said,
"yeah, you can do that."

- First thing I said
is, "okay.

I'll sign this as long
as I never lose a match."

And vince was like, "okay.
Nice meeting you.

See you later."

He knew I didn't get it.

But then, I started watching
"raw" at the beginning of '98.

♪ ♪

I started watching these guys,

And they were doing some
of the most athletic things

I've ever seen.

- What athleticism,
what high-impact maneuvers

That you can only find here

In the world
wrestling entertainment.

- And there was, like,
a wrestler on there

That really caught my interest.

His name was
"stone cold" steve austin.

- If you want
to see austin-mcmahon,

Give me a "hell yeah."
all: Hell yeah!

- There's nothing like
when you're

In the entertainment business,
grabbing a crowd,

And having them hook,
line, and sinker,

And you
are dictating to them

And getting a response,

And they're buying
into your story.

[cheers and applause]

It's intoxicating.
It's so uplifting.

It's so powerful.

If you could bottle that stuff
and sell it,

You'd be a billionaire.

- I loved his character.

He was a lot of fun to watch.

So why am I so bitter
about these guys

Making all this money?

Why don't I try it?
Why can't I do it?

They already
offered me a deal.

So call them back.

So I called vince mcmahon
back in late 1998.

He told me
to talk to jim ross,

Who was head
of talent relations.

And I asked him
if the contract still stood.

And he said, "nope, but you
can come up and try out."

And I said, "ugh, wow.

So I have to try out now?"
"yes."

♪ ♪

- Go.

- Timing is everything.

♪ ♪

The shine, if you will,
no pun intended,

Off that gold medal,
had faded a little bit.

♪ ♪

I believe he should have
signed his deal in '96.

- He said, "if you make it,

"you will get
the lowest guarantee

That any wrestler gets."
all right.

I guess I'll have
to prove to you guys

That I can--I can do this.

And eventually,
I'll make the big money.

- I remember seeing this guy,
and I'm thinking,

Okay, it's a good-looking guy.
Great physique.

Stud athlete
with a big-ass neck.

But can he
make the transition?

- Kevin quinn,
there's no doubt in my mind

You're a tremendous wrestler.

- No one is a guaranteed
blue-chipper in the business.

You know, you have
to have something,

Whether it's talent,
a look, an ability to speak.

- Some of the moves
I've seen you--

Oh.

- I've seen
so many amateur wrestlers

Come along,
legitimately tough guys,

That could never get it.

- Okay.
[laughs]

First of all, bruce--

- Now you're laughing at me,
aren't you?

- And so many guys come
from the amateur ranks

And, because of
the ego involved,

Can't stand
being on the bottom.

♪ ♪

- It was very difficult
to go against my instincts

And let people
throw me around.

- Out, oh-ho!

- Nobody ever did that
to me before.

♪ ♪

Now, I had to allow them to.

♪ ♪

One day,
I got out of the ring,

And I told my manager,
"I can't do this.

This is garbage."

I said,
"this is self-mutilation.

"why would I want to do this?

"all I'm doing
is hurting myself.

This hurts."

I walked out, and my manager
followed me and said, "listen.

"just stay
till the end of the day.

Just do everything they do,
and see-see if you can do it."

And I did.

I stayed
till the end of the day,

And I was able
to hang in there.

I was sore as hell,

But I showed up
the next day and decided

I was gonna commit myself
to this.

♪ ♪

- He approached our process...

Without ego.

He had won a gold medal
in the olympics,

And came in
with all this cachet

And all this incredible
accomplishment behind him,

And he came in
with great humility

And said,
"I just want to learn.

I'm going back to day one."

And you checked
your ego at the door.

- Seldom when you find that
in a great amateur wrestler,

They're gonna want
to go in there

And show you what
they can do

And how they can
beat somebody up,

But kurt angle got the idea.

He was a great student.

- I started picking things up
relatively quickly.

Ah!
Yeah!

And I think they saw something
in me they never saw before.

So I got a contract.

♪ ♪

It wasn't handed to me.
I earned it.

♪ ♪

- Vince wanted to present kurt
as really what he was,

This incredible athlete
with incredible accolades,

Gold medalist,
been through it all,

Done all this.

But he wanted to present him
in a way

Where he sort of saw himself
as a real wrestler.

You know, the wwe superstars
were sort of beneath him.

You're gonna walk in here,
and you're gonna be a heel,

And kurt was
absolutely certain

That this would not take place,

So they started to create
these vignettes around kurt.

- I do respect
the athletic ability

Of the superstars in the wwe,

And I'm sure some of them
could have competed

On the olympic level,
but I believe you have to have

A little extra something
to win the olympic gold.

With my intensity,
integrity, and intelligence,

I can share with the people
my great achievements

And inspire a new generation
of athletes in the wwe.

- Vince told him again,
"when you come out,

You're gonna get booed
out of the building."

And kurt was certain
that wouldn't happen.

And when that music hit,

They booed him
out of the building.

[upbeat music]

- The only olympic
gold medalist to ever grace

A wwe ring, kurt angle!

♪ ♪

- It was my first match,
my debut in wwe.

Vince mcmahon said,
"listen, I'm gonna

"throw you into the ocean.

You either sink or swim."

He told me
to grab the microphone

And tell these fans
you do not boo

An olympic champion.

I was like, "holy [bleep]."

You do not boo
olympic gold medalists.

I'm the best in the world.

- Here's this guy
who's so squeaky clean

That you could see,
with the right spin on it,

He could be very arrogant
and "I'm better than you."

- I remember his red, white,
and blue suit and his medal,

And it just had this
authenticity and this power.

- I came here for you.

You do not boo me.

- People hated kurt.

You know, it was loud,
very loud,

But I think, for him,
he was in a place to--

He could sort of learn
to love that.

[crowd booing]

- The fans responded,

And they started booing me
even more.

It was the birth
of the heel kurt angle.

[cheers and applause]

The next night, we were back
in pittsburgh again.

♪ ♪

- And kurt pulls me aside
and says,

"look, this is pittsburgh.

Like, I'm--I'm, like,
mr. Pittsburgh, basically."

Said, "I'm beloved
in this town."

Says, "they're just
gonna cheer me.

It's just not gonna
work here tonight."

And I looked
at kurt and I said,

"kurt, they're gonna
boo the hell out of you,

"because you have now,
you know,

Made yourself
better than them."

[crowd booing]

- I can't believe this.

You cheer a pimp
over an olympic gold medalist!

[crowd booing]

- They boo him.
I mean, cascade of boos.

Kurt comes back and was like,
"that was unbelievable!"

- And it just clicked.

- Take those medals,

Turn those
some-bitches sideways,

And stick them straight
up your olympic ass!

[cheers and applause]

- And the buildup to all
of our matches

Were always fun because I
would talk [bleep] to him.

You see, kurt angle,
this isn't the olympics.

You're not facing
the romanians.

You're not facing
the bulgarians.

You're facing the rock.

He would talk [bleep] to me.
- Just bring it.

- Oh, boy!
- Audiences loved to hate him.

- And I'll
tell you what, rock.

Your chances
at winning the title

In front of these
sleezy hometown losers

Just went from slim to none.

So what do you think
about that?

[crowd booing]

- From the psychology
of wrestling

To being a character
to being entertaining,

It just all came to me
very quickly.

- Most amateur guys are taught
don't show any emotion.

When they come from
the amateurs to the pros,

We don't want that.
We want emotion.

And kurt got that.

- And that's why I'm glad
I'm here in this town.

Because if there was ever
a town

That could relate to losing,
it's detroit, michigan.

- Oh, boy.

- It's really hard
to find somebody

That can be a kickass guy,
that can be a villain

And make you laugh.

He could do all those things.

And it just came
naturally to him.

- I am very proud
to be here tonight

At madison square garden.

[crowd booing]

In a building
this famous, it deserves

To have a true champion
performing in it.

And we all know that if we wait
for patrick ewing

And the new york knicks
to bring home a title,

We'd probably be
waiting forever.

- He was a wrestler.

He spent his entire life
training,

But at the same time,

Kurt just had
a natural charisma

And a natural delivery.

- What in
the blue hell is that?

- It's got calcium.

It helps you
build strong bones.

And above all, it's delicious.

- Kurt got comfortable
in his own skin

And started doing
these just hilarious things

That you wouldn't expect
from an olympic gold medalist.

- Attacking kurt--wait, no!

For god's sakes!
For the love of god!

- Oh, my god!

- What kind of human being
has kurt angle become?

- I remember walking through
the airport one morning,

And, hell,
I think I had a hangover.

I looked over, and I saw
this little bitty cowboy hat.

I got you something,
you little rascal.

- You did?
- Yeah.

So I said, "man, kurt would
look amazing in that hat."

Because he's got
this, you know,

22-inch neck,
you know, this--you know,

His neck is like a cobra.

- Hey guys, how's this look?

♪ ♪

I feel like a real cowboy.

Yippee ki-yay.

I got on people's nerves.

I notice
that the city of chicago

Is a little short
on winners, and a little long

On fat, sweaty pigs.

[crowd booing]

It was a lot of fun.

It's true.
It's damn true.

- He won inside and outside.

- Kurt angle on
the road to "wrestlemania."

- It's true.

- And he won
in the mainstream world.

- 1-800-call-att
for collect calls

Is giving some undeserving fan
a chance

To go to "wrestlemania"?

- And then he won
in the wwe world.

[rockets exploding]

- His ascension
was like a rocket.

- I remember coming
in this building

The first time I came here.

First time I met vince mcmahon.

This was, gosh, '96,
right after the olympics.

I was overwhelmed.

[chuckles]

Hey, vince.
How are you, man?

- How you doing, man?
- Good to see you.

- It's good to see you.
- Hey, guys.

Out.
Out.

- Vince mcmahon had it planned
from the beginning.

♪ ♪

He knew I was gonna be
the top heel in the business.

I thought he was crazy,
olympic gold medalist

Being a top heel
in the business.

But vince had plans for me.

- Kurt and I are feeling
pretty damn good about this.

- Vince mcmahon's been in
this business for decades,

And he knows when
things are gonna be huge

And when they're
not gonna be huge,

And he pegged
my character right away,

And I became, I believe,
one of his favorite characters

To work with, and that was
a huge honor for me,

And the relationship
started to grow rapidly.

I actually loved him.

Loved him like a father.

- On behalf of every person

In this arena,

Thank you, kurt angle.

[crowd booing]

- As long as I could
produce for him,

He would continue to have
better things planned for me.

And every week, my character
as a heel would step forward.

I was gaining momentum.

And I was--within months,

I was the top heel
in the business.

[cheers and applause]

- Wait a minute!
A slam on the bottom!

- He's pinning him!

- No!
No!

- Angle's done it!

Kurt angle
is the wwe champion!

- The winner of this bout,
and new world wrestling

Entertainment champion...
- I can't believe it!

- Kurt angle!

- He's done it, jr!
- Whoo!

- Kurt angle
is the wwe champion!

♪ ♪

- To be champion,
that's a huge honor.

♪ ♪

I think vince
just felt I was ready,

And since he thought
I was ready,

I believed I was ready.

And I guess I was ready.

♪ ♪

- At that time, the company,

It was like
the wild, wild west.

It was the attitude era.

[cheers and applause]

It was [bleep] crazy,
and it was awesome.

- Oh, my god!

That's milk!
It's milk!

Milk-o-mania is running wild!

- So kurt came along
at a time where he just

Wanted to entertain the crowd.

- It's milkman madness!
My god!

- But then, the b side,

And also
the most important side,

Was the promise
of an amazing match.

- And the slam!
Oh, my god!

- Rock and angle
getting it on tonight!

- He had a natural propensity
to be a pro wrestler.

It just came to him.

He was like a savant.
A genius at this stuff.

- There's no one in the wwe
that can

Out-mat wrestle kurt angle.

- I became
a better technician.

I got into my zone.
I got into my craft.

[cheers and applause]

- He had chemistry
with everyone.

He could just
adapt to everybody,

So it was so easy
to do stuff with him.

It's hard not to fall
in love with that character.

- Here we go!
Oh my!

- One of the matches
that I remember

The most, it was a cage match.

Kurt gets on the top
of that cage

And does a moonsault.

♪ ♪

- You gotta be kidding me!

Oh, my god!

- Call 9-1-1!
- Went for everything!

- That guy will go
to the end of the world

To put on a damn good match.

As I'm sitting there,
I'm thinking, "holy [bleep]."

I mean, you know,
pardon my language.

These [bleep] are crushing it.

- A lot of people have said
that "stone cold" steve austin

And myself were one of
the greatest matches

Of all time, at "summerslam."

- Kurt angle
going to meet austin,

And austin
retaliating in kind.

- That crowd that night
absolutely loved it.

Angle, with moonsault.
He got the moonsault.

- Kurt had great chemistry
not just with me.

I mean, he had great chemistry
with basically anybody.

That's how good he was.

- Eddie guerrero matches.

- Back body drop.

- Edge.

- The belly-to-belly throw.

- Brock lesnar.

- The all-american
from the university

Of minnesota against
the olympic gold medalist.

- Oh, man!
- Oh!

- Angle slam
delivered to lesnar!

- Shawn michaels,
2005 "wrestlemania."

- Oh, my gosh!

- An excruciating maneuver.

Tenacious.
Pugnacious.

Oh, my god!

- And then 2006, "no way out"
against undertaker.

- Reverse!
- Oh, my god!

- The match I had
with the big man,

And the story
we were able to tell.

- And look at kurt angle.

Off the top!
Oh my!

- It was incredible.

Those making sure
are what made me

The best in the business
during those years.

♪ ♪

- He was just meant
to wrestle.

Whether it's competitively
or professionally,

Kurt did it as good
as anybody ever did it.

- Kurt angle
with another championship!

- Any top guy
that's ever watched kurt

Knows what a badass he is.

- What a night
in the life of kurt angle!

- He is at the very, very top
of that list.

Hands down, bar none.

- Again, he had
this naivete to him,

This innocence to him,

But then,
he disrupted that with,

"I'm also
a bad mother [bleep]."

[laughs]

"and I will angle slam you
through the [bleep] mat."

- Look out!
- The angle slam!

The angle slam!

[cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

- You know, the irony of the
success and the bright lights,

It's very exciting
and it can be alluring,

But then there's a dark side.

There's also
an underbelly that so many

Of my friends,
my family members

Have gone through
and experienced.

Some gone through
an experience

And wound up
on the other side

Better and stronger for it.

Some not better.

- It's a scary situation,

And I was in that for a while.

♪ ♪

- ♪ my name is kurt angle,
and what the heck? ♪

♪ ♪

♪ I won a gold medal
with a broken freaking neck ♪

[cheers and applause]

Well, at that time,
I was on a roll.

- Look at this!

- Angle slam!
- Angle slam!

- Keep moving.
Just keep moving.

Keep moving forward.

That's what kept going
in my head.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- Guys on his level,

World class-level athletes,

They just had this fear
of failing.

That could manifest itself
into a great blessing

And more drive
and more accomplishments,

Or it can become
the kiss of death.

[soft dramatic music]

Guys like kurt,
who wrestled all their life,

You can't expect them
to be totally healthy.

It's impossible.

People have to understand,
these guys,

They're taking
their own falls.

- He is bringing it to kurt!

Kurt--what?

- Body drop by cena
to kurt angle,

And a clothesline.

And another one.

♪ ♪

- They're bouncing
around all over that mat,

And it's--mat's not
a posturepedic here.

- Kurt angle.

Nice hop toss
by the undertaker.

Dropping the big leg.

- So you do that
200 days a year

Or more, several times a day,
it's obvious

What it's gonna do
to your body.

- Ah!
- Whoo!

♪ ♪

Between the years
of 2003 and 2006,

I had a very bad
string of luck.

In early 2003,

I was on brock lesnar's back.

I had him in a chokehold.

And he was running
from one side

Of the ring to the other.

He turned sideways,
and I hit the turnbuckle,

And my head snapped sideways.

♪ ♪

I literally lost feeling
in my left arm.

I couldn't raise my arm.

It was just dead.
I knew something was wrong.

And I went to see a doctor,
and I was told what it was,

That I broke my neck.

♪ ♪

That was "stone cold"
steve austin's doctor.

He did stone cold's
neck fusion.

So when I went to see him,
he wanted

To do fusion right away.

- When I had to leave to go
get my surgery,

I was gone for 12, 15 months.

That's career suicide
for nine out of ten people.

So kurt had that same fear.
He's not a dummy.

- I was very tentative
about that

Because you would have
to take a year off,

And I don't want
to take that long off.

I remember one night,

I went over
to my neighbor's house,

And there's a really nice kid.
His name's johnny.

And he said,
"I hear you're not wrestling

Brock at 'wrestlemania.'"
and I said "yeah."

He said, "I really wish you'd
be able to wrestle brock."

He handed me
a directv magazine.

And on the cover
was brock lesnar

Versus kurt angle
at "wrestlemania."

And I was like,
this might never happen again.

So I called vince.

I said, "listen,
I'm doing 'wrestlemania.'"

- Kurt's a different breed
of athlete.

He's going to have the drive
to work through anything.

He won a gold medal
with a broken neck.

Injuries were nothing to him.

♪ ♪

- It's the way he is.

What are you gonna do?
Make a pit bull a poodle?

♪ ♪

- Vince mcmahon actually
is against me wrestling.

He said, "hey, I'm against
you doing this,

"but if this is what
you want to do,

Then I'm gonna support it."

And I said, "thank you, vince."

And he said, "I just want
to tell you one other thing.

You're not gonna like it,
but I'm gonna tell you."

And I said, "what?"
and he said, "I love you."

And I actually started crying.

♪ ♪

- This match, we have been
waiting for for months.

Two of the most decorated
athletes in wwe history.

- So I wrestled brock
with a broken neck

At "wrestlemania xix."

- This is "wrestlemania."
it's like the super bowl.

These guys are
world-class athletes,

And they're gonna go out and
give you everything they got.

- Oh!
- Wow.

What a slam by lesnar.

- That's how he can win.
- Look at that!

- Spinebuster!

- So then that's where lesnar
tried the shooting star.

- What the hell is this?

- What the hell
is lesnar doing, cole?

- And he missed it.

- Oh, my god!

- Brock lesnar went
for the shooting star press.

♪ ♪

- Ended up being
a hell of a match.

And they were both
really sore afterwards.

I can remember.
It was pretty bad.

They were both busted up.

- Guys, can we clear, please?

- Clear this hall.

- I went back home
and decided,

Am I gonna do this?
Am I gonna get fusion?

Or do I find somebody else?

A man named dr. Joe
got ahold of my manager,

And he said, "listen,
I can fix kurt angle.

He will only be out
for six weeks."

And I thought this was bogus.

I was like, "this is
too good to be true."

He was gonna give me
minimally invasive surgery,

And he would cut out
the problem

And let the neck heal.

So I decided
to do that surgery.

Can't wait for...

♪ ♪

To get back in the ring.

♪ ♪

After six weeks of healing,

I went right back
to wrestling.

I don't believe
my neck fully healed,

So I broke my neck again.

I went back to the doctor.

He decided
to do surgery again.

Did the same thing again.

Clipped out part of the disc
and let the neck heal.

So, I got back into it again.

I'm gonna be tired
for tonight, man.

♪ ♪

It was the beginning of 2004.

♪ ♪

I made it all the way
to "wrestlemania"

Against eddie guerrero,
"wrestlemania xx."

[cheers and applause]

Landed on the back of my head.

♪ ♪

And I broke my neck again.

This is the third time
in a year.

Broke the vertebraes.

I was taken off the shelf.

Vince mcmahon said,
"that's enough.

"we're gonna let you rest up.

Take five, six months off."

So I did that.

Came back,
and I started wrestling.

I believe in early 2006,
I broke my neck again.

I broke four vertebrae,
and I don't remember

What match I did it in.

It was just a lot of confusion
going on in my head.

Lot of things going on
at that time.

It was a really
bad, bad time for me.

♪ ♪

But it got worse and worse.

♪ ♪

- When I broke my neck
at "no way out" in 2003,

I met with a doctor that
prescribed me pain medication.

Opioids.

I remember taking
the first one.

It definitely masked the pain.

I felt a little more
energetic, more euphoric.

And I liked the feeling.

So, you know,
I started taking more.

♪ ♪

I was taking about four a day.

Didn't take me long before
I doubled up to eight.

After that, it went
higher, higher, higher.

- I gave him a call,

And as we were talking
there for about

A hour to an hour
and a half, and, you know,

His voice changed from
being very coherent

To kind of starting to slur.

And I've been around
enough guys, and I've given

A few other calls like that.
And I asked him.

Said, "dude,
are you all right?"

And he
just kind of goes, "steve,

I'm telling you I'm fine."

I can't imitate
his slurring voice,

But he didn't sound good.

And I was-I was
honestly scared for him.

- Vince mcmahon saw
a change in my behavior.

- Can you turn
those off for a second?

- And he had jim ross call me.

He said,
"listen, you need to--

You need
to get off the stuff."

And I said,
"what are you talking about?"

And he said, "we know
you're doing something."

- Some of those guys
were really proud, man.

They don't want
to admit they got problems.

They don't want
to show any weakness.

It's a sickness.
They're overmedicating.

Then, they start
feeling very guilty,

And they feel very vulnerable,

And then,
stuff starts unraveling.

And it's just--
it's happened to a lot--

And it's not just wrestling.

Drug issues are not

A pro wrestling issue.

It's all of our issue.

♪ ♪

- [sighs]

This is tough.

♪ ♪

There was a point
where my sister

Was getting in
a lot of trouble.

She didn't have money.

She was living
in virginia beach.

She was taking a lot of drugs,
and I knew she was.

I adored her.
She was a great woman.

She just ended up
in three bad marriages.

Her value of herself
became nothing.

She just thought
she was useless,

And it drove her
to a point where

She starting using drugs.

She kept calling me for money.

♪ ♪

I kept...
[sighs]

♪ ♪

I kept sending her money.

She kept telling me
the bills were racking up.

♪ ♪

I found out later
she was using it for drugs.

So when I found out
that she was $35,000 in debt...

♪ ♪

I gave her an ultimatum.

I told her she has to move
up to pittsburgh,

Live with my mother,
or I wouldn't pay her debt.

So she moved.
She came back.

She didn't want to,
but she didn't have a choice.

So she moved back
to pittsburgh.

I paid off that $35,000 debt,

And she seemed to be
doing okay for a while.

♪ ♪

Then, she relapsed.

And so...

♪ ♪

I gave her another ultimatum.

I told her

That if she didn't get clean,

I wasn't gonna talk
to her ever.

She didn't get clean.

So for the next eight months,
I didn't talk to her.

And then she overdosed.

♪ ♪

I wish I would have
talked to her.

♪ ♪

I find out
that night that my sister

Died of heroin overdose.

♪ ♪

When you're taking a drug,

You're in denial
of anything else.

It's the only thing
that's on your mind.

You're thinking
about how you're

Gonna get it the next day
and, you know,

It takes control of your life.

By this time...
[exhales sharply]

I was already 40 deep
into painkillers,

So I started taking more.

♪ ♪

My mom would call me
all the time

To see how I was doing,

And I'd lie
to her all the time.

♪ ♪

Tell her I was okay.

The higher I got,
the better I felt.

Or, I should say,

The less I felt.

♪ ♪

Those painkillers
can hide a lot of pain,

Not just physical,
but emotional.

♪ ♪

Between my dad
and dave schultz

And my sister le'anne,

It's just, like,
nothing ever gets easier.

♪ ♪

- As he was
overmedicating himself,

Trying to manage his pain,

His personality
starting changing.

And you knew
he was carrying a burden,

And you could see that burden
was starting to wear on him.

♪ ♪

- There were
a lot of things

That were going
through my mind

That I had to get away from.

I was always running away
from problems.

You know, the pills
were my sanctuary.

I would say that every evening
I went to bed,

I would put about 18 pills

Next to my counter.

I'd be going through withdrawal
when I woke up.

I would throw those down

And chew them up
and swallow them.

♪ ♪

I'd do it in the morning
and after my match at night.

I made sure I didn't look
messed up or high

When I worked out,
or messed up or high

When I was doing the show.

♪ ♪

But when the show was over,
it was fair game.

- This guy who was
an olympic gold medalist,

One of the toughest guys
I know,

You don't think anything
can happen to him,

And you think he's bulletproof,
but nobody is.

♪ ♪

- I've seen way too many
good people--

It takes over your life.
It takes over your mind.

It takes over...

♪ ♪

All of your relationships.

It just--it sucks,

And it sucks to watch
from the outside,

And I can't even imagine
what it's like to experience.

♪ ♪

- I was taking pills
to feel normal.

Over time,
you build a tolerance,

And you have to have more
and more and more and more.

One led to two, two led
to four, four led to eight.

Before I knew it,
I was--within six months,

I was taking 65 of them a day.

- The hardest part
about being an addict

Is knowing where you're
gonna get your drugs next.

It would make you
do crazy stuff.

I mean, I started
stealing pain meds,

And just doing crazy stuff

That I never thought
I would ever do.

I had to have
my fix every day,

And I had to set up
a schedule.

I had a calendar
where every other day,

I would call a doctor
to get a script,

And then every couple weeks,

I would call my mexico contact

To get my painkillers
illegally sent to me,

And I had to keep up
on this schedule.

It was my--it was my
number one priority.

It was above my work.

It was everything.

- I have a lot of respect
for kurt, like a big brother.

And to see him, like,
shaking and--

It just made me angry,
and I just got angry with him.

And I was like, "man, don't
let people see you like that,"

You know?

Like, "man, you kurt angle."

♪ ♪

- When you get
ahold of these drugs

And they get ahold of you,
there's no way to quit.

♪ ♪

I mean, I was taking enough
to kill a horse.

I remember going in
to meet with vince,

And he told me, "listen,

"you gotta get
your ass straight.

"you're gonna die.
You can't keep doing this."

So the ultimatum was,

"we would like you
to go to rehab

Or leave.
Leave wwe."

♪ ♪

And that is the reason I quit.

[chuckles]

I decided to quit wwe.

I didn't go to rehab
'cause I didn't

Want to let go of the drugs.

- Kurt's downward spiral

Was hard for everybody to see.

When it comes to addiction,
it's really difficult,

Because unless
that person wants help,

There's not a lot you can do,

So you're sort of just
kind of watching it happen,

And you're helpless,

And vince
doesn't handle that well,

So it was difficult for him.

♪ ♪

- There's been a lot of rumors
as to why exactly

Kurt angle was released.

Can you set the record straight
right now?

- Some of it is confidential,
you know,

And I'd love to, you know,

Tell you exactly
what the story is,

But it really resolves--
revolves,

Rather--around kurt's health
more than anything else.

♪ ♪

- I didn't want to quit,
so I had to go somewhere else.

- Here's this
once-in-a-lifetime talent.

You know,
he's one of the best ever.

And now he's down at tna.

And I'm thinking,
"man, tna, you know,

They're not at our level."

- He's got angle.
Look out!

- He just grabbed him,
slung him right into the--

- When I left wwe,

I started drinking alcohol
in tna.

So now I was mixing
the pills with the alcohol.

- The debacle of a run
he had in tna,

He's lucky he's not dead.
Seriously.

- I was so out of control.

My life completely
spun out of control.

My first wife, she moved out
with my first two kids.

And then, I met giovanna.

- I basically knew
nothing about him.

The first time I met him,
he walked in,

And I was like, "oh, my god,
he is so handsome."

And after our first date,
we just were unseparable.

♪ ♪

- The friendship built
into something more,

But it was in
a dark point in my life,

So for her, it was hard.

- In the beginning,
he hid it very well,

And I was five months pregnant
when we got married.

I had a lot to balance,

So I didn't put
two and two together

Until things got worse.

I didn't want to stay
don't take medication.

Because I didn't really
realize how severe

His injuries were.

I know that he broke
his neck and all that stuff,

So who am I to say
you can't take a pill?

Happy new year.
- Happy new year.

I love you.
- [chuckles]

- It just got worse
and worse and worse.

Drinking
and mixing pills together.

That's not good at all.

Daddy's stealing,
of course, giuliana's food.

Now, I'm taking
these cocktails.

I was taking probably
six xanax a day,

Probably eight somas a day,
two morphine pills.

I was driving at night...

♪ ♪

On medication,
and 12 beers in me.

- Channel 11 news
reporter gordon loesch

Was there as kurt angle
faced a judge on dui charges.

- I got four duis
in five years.

I was lucky I didn't get more.

The drugs took over my life.

It was the worst feeling
in the world.

♪ ♪

- He was drunk,
and he was sitting there,

And he had a beer
in his hand, and he was

Just passed out watching tv.

And he's just
talking in his sleep,

And he's just drooling,
and he's just--

He just doesn't even know
what he's doing.

♪ ♪

- I actually got on my knees,

And I was like--I prayed,
and I said,

"god, what am I doing wrong?"

'cause I literally
still didn't believe

I was a drug addict.

I just thought
that I had some bad luck.

- When he was going to jail,
drinking and driving,

Like, that's serious.
He could kill himself.

That was the worst time
of my life.

I was scared.

It was all over the internet.
It was all over the news.

People were calling me.
I just had another baby.

♪ ♪

- Giovanna got a call

From me from jail,

And she was pissed.

- I was thinking about
maybe when he comes home,

I should be in a hotel

So he knows
what he could lose.

He called me again,
and I'm like,

"you know, I have to pick up.
I have to pick up."

And I--the first thing
I did, I said, "why?

"why'd you do this?

Why'd you get
in trouble again?"

Like--he's like,
"I'm so--I don't know

"what's wrong with me.

"I'm sitting here in jail,
and I'm, like, the lowest

"point of my life, giovanna.
I need help."

And I said, "yeah,
you do need help."

I needed to show him

This is what happens
when you make

The wrong choices in life.

You choose drugs over us.

♪ ♪

- I literally wouldn't see
giovanna and my kids.

I would start drinking early.

I would pop my pills,

And I would be
passed out by 5:00.

♪ ♪

- My husband,
how did he get from where

He was
to this point of his life?

And I know how much
of ashamed he was.

I know that.

He didn't want his kids
to see him that way.

- She was telling me
she's on her last leg.

This is it.

You know, "you either step up
and be a man and get clean,

Or I'm gone."

[soft dramatic music]

- Giovanna, she said, "listen,
if you don't go to rehab

"and get your ass straight,
I can't stay with you anymore.

"I don't want your money.

"I don't want to live here.

I just--I'm gonna
have to leave."

♪ ♪

I didn't want
to lose my marriage.

That was the most
important thing.

Because I didn't
want to lose my kids.

And I knew if I continued
down that road,

I was gonna end up alone.

That was when I decided
to go to rehab.

♪ ♪

There's nothing that compares
to the pain you feel

When you're
going through withdrawal.

How do I explain how it is?

It's like getting tortured,

The insides of your body
pounding,

And your skin's crawling.

You're sweating
because you're hot,

But you're also sweating
because you're cold.

You can't think straight.

Your body's shaking
the whole time.

You feel like
you don't have any insides.

You're out of breath
all the time.

Your head's pounding.

Your body's pounding.

You're going to the bathroom.

You're throwing up.

It doesn't stop.

It is the absolute worst
feeling I've ever had,

And it seems like
it lasts forever.

And it was like death.

I actually wished
a few times I would die.

That's how bad it is.

I don't ever want to have
that experience again.

I don't want to go
through withdrawal.

I am scared to death of it.

It feels like
it's gonna last an eternity.

I can't explain it
any other way.

♪ ♪

The hard part was,
you start thinking,

What if I [bleep] up
when I get out?

What if I can't stay clean?

What if I am
a complete [bleep]-up?

What if I just go back
to the pills,

I start on it again?

And you start
doubting yourself.

- Soon as he came home,
he was like this.

Like, he didn't know
how to deal

With a baby crying without
taking pills and drinking.

He didn't know how to deal
with a nagging wife

Without taking pills
and drinking.

He messed up his knee a year
after he got out of rehab.

I told them many times,
"he's an addict.

He's not allowed
to take medication."

He said, "what if
you just give me one?

What if you just monitor me?"

I said, "no, you're not
allowed to take this."

He said, "how am I
supposed to heal?

How am I supposed
to go back to work?"

And I said,
"you're not allowed to do this.

"you're gonna find
a way to do this

"without taking the medication,
'cause you're not

Gonna do that to us again."

- The only triggers I have
is the pain that I have.

You know,
sometimes I say, "man,

I could really use a couple
painkillers right now,"

You know?

That's a trigger.

♪ ♪

I have chronic neck pain,
back pain, knee pain.

I do all I can
to maintain my body.

It's not a choice.

I have to do it,
or I'm not gonna feel right.

I can't take drugs anymore,

So I do a lot
of maintenance training--

Neck traction,
antigravity device,

Stretching, yoga.

These things really help me
every single day,

And they keep me healthy,
as opposed to,

Six years ago, I'd have
just taken a couple pills

And have been all right.

- It took a lot of work
for him to know the new him.

And I said, "you're not
going to feel the best,

"the way you used to feel,
but you're

"gonna tolerate your pain.

"you're gonna figure this out.

We are gonna figure
this out together."

I had to slowly get him
into being a husband again

And slowly get him
being a father.

[indistinct chatter]

♪ ♪

- I wasn't there
quite a bit for my--

For my first daughter kyra.

- Hi, kyra.
- Hi.

- When I was home,
I was always pretty high.

And I was only home
for four or five days a month.

So I really didn't get
to spend much time

With my first daughter.

What giovanna was able to do
for me that I couldn't do

For my first two kids
is be a good father

For my last three kids.

Yeah. Look, she's happy.

She's happy.

I got clean,
and I started spending time

With my children.

♪ ♪

You want to watch videos
of daddy wrestling?

I realized
what was really important

In my life--my family.

You want to see daddy
drive a milk truck?

You want to see daddy
with a cowboy hat on?

So I've learned that--

No?
[laughs]

To appreciate the finer things
in life,

And that's not the drug,

It's these little ones.

What's this?

- Cupcake and bread.

- Cupcake and bread?
- Mm-hmm.

- It looks good.

I've gotten so much enjoyment
out of it the last few years.

And I became the father
I never thought I would.

And I'm actually
a pretty good father.

[laughs]
I'm surprised.

♪ ♪

I have too much
on the line right now.

It's not about me anymore.

It's about my kids.
It's about my wife.

This is the first time
in my life

That I no longer put me first.

I don't want to be a screwup.

You gotta stay clean.

If you're an addict

And you have
a problem with drugs,

You gotta stay clean.

- I think kurt knows
the new him now.

And I think he's happy
with the new version of him.

I don't know many people
that will get here from there.

He missed out a lot on life.

But he's trying to make it up
with these kids.

- Say "dada."

Dada.

- [gurgles]
dada.

Both: Yay!

- You know, with the friends
that I've had

Who have dealt with addiction,

And, again, some successfully
and some not successfully,

I always felt, though, in my
heart and deep in my bones

That kurt was a man
with great resolve.

So I felt like with
the right people around him

And the right support
around him,

He was gonna overcome it.

And I'm very proud
of my friend

For continuing to push himself

To be the best husband
and father and friend

And all the things that he is
to many, many people--

The best he can be.

♪ ♪

- I was surprised
that I was getting inducted

Into the wwe hall of fame.

I thought wwe never wants
to speak to me again.

If I'd have done
the right thing

And listened to vince
back then,

I would have stayed
in wwe all this time.

- Oh, it's true.
It's damn true.

- For vince, in some way,
it was like a son coming home.

And then getting together
for the first times

And almost picking up
right where they left off.

Like, just the level of fun
that they were having,

It was really cool to see.

- And think about it.

I did have
the hall of fame career.

With the little time
I spent there, the six years,

Was a very impressionable
six years.

And I know how good it was
because I knew how good I was.

[cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

I want to thank
my five beautiful children.

Kyra, kody, giuliana,
sophia, and nikoletta,

You guys are my life.

[cheers and applause]

Last but not least,
I want to thank

The one person
that saved my life.

♪ ♪

She was there at my worst,

And she's here now,
at my very best.

That's my beautiful wife,
giovanna.

I love you to the moon
and back, babe.

[cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

- I saw him work so hard
to get where he is today.

I saw the strength.

♪ ♪

And I think he is excited of,
what can this kurt angle be?

What can this kurt angle do?

♪ ♪

- Here's a guy
who is a world-class athlete.

But he's also
the kind of guy who,

Whatever he wants to do
in the future,

He can accomplish it.

- Giuliana.

- It's never too late
to make changes in your life.

It sure as hell isn't too late
to save your own life.

And that's what
kurt angle did.

It's a great ending for this
story that could have very

Easily been one of the great
american sports tragedies

That we have read about
in our lifetime.

♪ ♪

- I think I want kurt angle
to be remembered

Not for the mistakes
he's made,

But what he was able
to accomplish

In his lifetime.

- The new wwe champion!

It's a celebration
for the angle family!

♪ ♪

- I just want people to know
that none of us are perfect.

And I want them to know
that I wasn't perfect either.

But I was able to overcome
many obstacles.

♪ ♪

'cause I'm a fighter.

♪ ♪

A fighter that never gave up
on anything.

[distant cheers and applause]

♪ ♪