Why did Kurt Angle leave the WWE in 2006

Everybody knows Kurt Angle's amazing career. He was a two-time Olympic gold medalist and WWE naturally wanted him. But during his first meeting with Vince McMahon, he told "The Chairman Of The Board" since he was an Olympian that he would never lose a match. After hearing this news any thought of signing Angle was nixed.

Fortunately, Angle and WWE found each other again and within his first year in the company, he won the King Of The Ring tournament as well as the Intercontinental and European Titles to become the self-proclaimed Eurocontinental Champion.

Angle went on to pick up the WWE Championship four times, and participated in several programs which will forever live on in pro wrestling history, before his time was up in WWE.

Near the end of Angle's first run with WWE, he had an outstanding match against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21. He won the epic confrontation over HBK and was drafted to Raw.

But it wasn't long before Kurt Angle made his return to SmackDown by becoming WWE World Champion on his first night back. He carried the title into WrestleMania 22 where Rey Mysterio picked his first World Title.

Angle was later moved to WWE's incarnation of ECW, but he didn't seem to mind because he wanted to make the brand credible. He was injured during a match against Rob Van Dam and pulled his groin, an abdominal muscle, and hamstring.

Bruce Prichard remembered this moment in Kurt Angle's career during an episode of Something To Wrestle With where Angle was the primary subject matter.

"Kurt was in rare form at that point and he was in no shape to wrestle. And it was a situation where we started to see the seeds of some other stuff going on with Kurt that people became concerned with as to how in the hell do you get to the point where you're tearing your hamstring, your groin, and your ab all in one match? That doesn't happen normally. So he was most likely on his way and had a lot of injuries leading up to that he might not have been taking care of properly before he got to the point of no return."

"The Olympic Hero" wrestled his last match for WWE against Sabu and then he went to see Vince McMahon. "Kurt was in a bad place, he needed help," Prichard remembered, as he spoke about the concern Angle's co-workers had for him.

Angle was self-medicating a lot, as he later told ESPN, and was taking 65 extra-strength Vicodin a day.

On August 25, 2006, Angle was granted an early release from his WWE contract due to the situation surrounding his health issues. He was working hurt and taking care of himself the wrong way. Angle wouldn't go to rehab as requested by WWE, therefore, a separation was decided on.

Angle later appeared in TNA and stayed with Dixie Carter and co. for an entire decade. His presence in Impact Wrestling alone might make the TNA library worth purchasing in WWE's eyes.

Kurt Angle was able to beat his addiction and go through a personal detox by locking himself in his house for ten days. He turned his life around and started to take care of himself differently. Until the end of his in-ring career in TNA, Angle was still putting on classic matches with stars he would later see once again in WWE.

Angle later returned to WWE before WrestleMania 33 where he was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. On the Raw after WrestleMania in Orlando, Kurt Angle was introduced as the new General Manager of Raw to solidify his return to the WWE Family.

Kurt's story of redemption included a few pitfalls. But he was able to overcome it all and seems to be doing much better loving life with his family including kayfabe son Jason Jordan. But if not for the darker times in Kurt Angle's legendary career, it might not have made the end result as satisfying.