During a recent edition of The Kurt Angle Show podcast, Kurt Angle talked about his failed drug test and suspension from WWE in 2006 shortly before he left the company:
“Dr Black, that’s who called me. He was a WWE Doctor. He called me and he said, ‘Listen, you failed a drug test’. I was taking painkillers but I had a prescription for those at the time. Dr Black told me I got hit for this drug. I told him I had a prescription, and he said it was overdue so you’re suspended, and I told him to go f**k himself and hung up on him. Then Vince McMahon calls me and says, ‘Listen, you can’t tell Dr Black to f**k himself. Call him back and apologize, and you’re suspended for 30 days’. I called Dr Black and I apologized to him and I ended up being suspended for 30 days. It was something that I had a prescription for but I just allowed it to go past due.
“Vince (McMahon) told me I was suspended. ‘Take the month off, go home, and rest. You need it anyway. Just bide your time and sit at home and take it easy’, and that’s what I did. When you do get suspended, they do have you wrestle a couple times before (you get sent home). The reason is, they want to make people. I wrestled Randy (Orton) at Vengeance and then Rob Van Dam at the ECW taping, and I did jobs for both of them before I exited. That’s one of the things you have to do when you’re suspended. You have to lose graciously and bow out.”
“I knew I would return. I had something to prove. I wanted to get back there cause I felt very bitter about the suspension and knew I wanted to come back. The problem with me was I was never happy. When I was home resting, I wanted to be on the road. When I was on the road working, I wanted to be home. Like I said before, my behavior became so erratic. It was out of line with everybody. It was the toughest time of my life. It’s hard for me to say this, but I was really close to death. I really was. I knew I was unravelling and I knew something needed to happen soon.”
