Kurt Angle Opens Up About Lingering Health Issues

Wrestling legend Kurt Angle’s extraordinary in-ring career spanned several decades. He recently revealed the grim toll that professional wrestling has taken on his health. During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Angle spoke candidly about the debilitating consequences of his years in the ring, including the loss of feeling in his pinkie fingers, and how we won an Olympic gold medal with a broken neck.

"I always had problems with my motor skills in my hands. I broke my neck four more times in the WWE, and it got worse and worse. I mean, I have nerve damage in my neck. I lost three inches in both arms, and they atrophied because my neck was just so messed up. I've had five surgeries, and none of them have really worked. I'm going to end up having to have fusion, which will be down the line."

When asked by Rogan if Angle has tried STEM cells, he said that he tried them in Colombia, South America, but it didn’t work. Angle went on to detail the profound impact of these injuries on his physical abilities, highlighting the extent of his atrophy.

"I can't feel my pinkie fingers. I have a lot of atrophy in my arms. I don't have a lot of strength. I can curl for like 20-pound dumbbells. When I do triceps, I can only push the weights about 60 pounds forward. I don't have a lot of strength in my upper body. If you look at my chest right, you'll see there's a dip here [pointing to the left side of his chest]. That's from my neck. That’s a nerve that died, and I no longer have that muscle in my chest. I have a complete ripple through my chest. It will never come back [to its original state]."

The wrestling icon also expressed his fear that without surgical intervention, his condition would deteriorate further. You can check out the full conversation in the video below: