Kurt Angle Shares What He Appreciates About Paul Heyman, Talks Start Of His Addiction

On the latest episode of the Kurt Angle Show, the WWE Hall of Famer talked about his time as the SmackDown General Manager in 2004 when he replaced Paul Heyman in the role, his health at this time after suffering a neck injury that kept him on the sidelines, and more. You can check out some highlights below:

On Heyman giving him advice about being a GM: “Surprisingly, no because Paul is a guy that would definitely give advice to you but I didn’t ask him for it. What he did is he led by example you know watching him be at GM and the way he does it and how much knowledge he has for wrestling he’s so smooth and he’s so articulate you see him and you want to be just like him as a GM of Smackdown so Paul Heyman led by example man he does he commands.”

On his health at this time: “I felt like I didn’t let my neck heal long enough. The last two times I started doubting myself, I started getting anxious. That’s when I started dabbling into freaking Xanax because my doctor prescribed me. Here I’m already taking painkillers and now I’m taking Xanax with it. And so I was worried about breaking my neck all the time. It was just one of those things where I couldn’t get it out of my mind. So you know, having to do the general manager spot was a lot better for me and it was able to lower my anxiety and understand that as long as I’m doing this, I can let my neck rest and heal and hopefully I’ll do it long enough that it will heal entirely before I start backrest.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Kurt Angle Show with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.