Kurt Angle Says He Will Need Neck Fusion Surgery
On a recent episode of The Kurt Angle Podcast, the former Olympic Gold Medalist spoke about his retirement match in WWE and what he would have liked it to be.
In Angle's retirement match, the former WWE Champion lost to Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35 in just six minutes. Prior to the match, there were several rumblings about who potential opponents for Angle, including John Cena, Chad Gable and others before WWE and Vince McMahon decided to go with Corbin.
The Olympic Hero broke down what went into the decision to have him face Corbin in his retirement match on a previous podcast and revealed he was hoping to face John Cena or his "son" Jason Jordan before his untimely injury. Fast forward to his latest podcast, the Olympian spoke about the potential of a Shane McMahon rematch in his retirement match after the two had a historic match at King of the Ring 2001.
"Shane would've been a great retirement match but I don't know if I want to go through a match like that," Angle said. "Anything goes in a street fight with Shane McMahon when I'm 50 years old? I don't know how my body would hold up with that thing.
"I thought Cena made sense, I started his career and I thought Cena could end mine so it made better sense. I would've done Shane McMahon, I just don't know if I would've been up for it."
While being known for winning the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal in men's wrestling, what makes the feat more impressive is that Angle won the medal with a broken neck. Throughout his career, Angle revealed noted that he suffered several major neck injuries and broken necks throughout his 40 year amateur wrestling / WWE career.
"My neck is not that great," Angle said. "I have a lot of motor skill problems in my hands, my fingers because of my neck. Numbness down my arms, I have a lot of pain in my neck. I've been putting off fusion surgery for gosh, 15 years. I might not be able to put it off for much longer, I'm eventually going to have to have fusion. I've had the quick fix surgeries just so I could get back in the ring again and the last one I did I think was 2015. I'm eventually going to have to have fusion, I've just been putting it off."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Kurt Angle Show with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.