Kurt Angle is considered by many to be one of the best wrestlers to ever step in the ring. Angle made a name for himself in the Olympics then went on to become a top star in WWE. When Angle parted ways with WWE in 2006 he made his way to TNA Wrestling shortly after where he added a whole new chapter to his legacy.
During his time with Total Nonstop Action, Kurt Angle put on some exceptional performances, but it’s no big secret that Kurt had some issues with painkillers. In more recent years fans on social media have taken it upon themselves to refer to the former WWE Champion as “Perc Angle.”
While speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Kurt Angle talked about the nickname and what it means to the fans. However, he also set the record straight on how he approaching his in-ring performances.
“I know that fans, it’s almost like they want me to feel good about it, the fans are having fun with it because I was the best wrestler in the business. So they want to say that, Kurt Angle was Perc Angle. That’s why he was doing it, because he was all perked up. The thing is, I didn’t use painkillers while I was wrestling. I did them in the morning, and then at night I would wrestle, then I did painkillers after I got done wrestling. So I never wrestled high.”
Kurt Angle continued to address the misconception that he competed while under the influence of painkillers when he added, “No, listen, you can’t wrestle messed up. It’s going to be sloppy. You’ve seen people in the past that have wrestled high, people are like what’s wrong with them? So you can’t do that. It’s almost impossible, especially to have a good match. You have to be sober or you’re not going to have a good match.”