Kurt Angle made his WWE debut at Survivor Series 1999 at the age of 30.
During a recent interview with WFAN, the WWE Hall of Famer revealed that pills and other substances were openly being distributed among the talents when he first arrived in the company.
Of course, WWE now has a drug policy in place where the talents are regularly tested.
Angle has long struggled with addiction, which began after he fractured two cervical vertebrae and required neck surgery. He claims he was taking 70+ extra strength Vicodin a day at the height of his addiction. After his wife told him that she would leave with their children if he didn’t go to rehab, he got sober after completing a 30-day stint at the St. Joseph Institute for Addiction in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On wrestlers providing each other with substances when he arrived in WWE: “When I got there, they had a drug program and nobody talked about it, everybody kept it hush … It wasn’t like announced in the locker room, it was more of like a ‘hidden pleasure’ if you want to call it that.”
On things having changed since then: “The way the WWE takes care of the guys today is incredible, and they just make sure these guys don’t falter, and they don’t.”