Vince McMahon fired arguably the best performers in WWE out of fear for his life.
With the benefit of hindsight, World Wrestling Entertainment’s events were shaped by some remarkable Kurt Angle rivalries. Whether it was against the late Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Brock Lesnar, Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels, or The Undertaker, Angle was at his career peak during this time.
In 2006, Kurt Angle left WWE after he had a conversation with Vince McMahon, which alarmed the business mogul.
Kurt Angle’s Words Scared Vince McMahon, Which Led To The Olympian’s WWE Release
On Six Feet Under, Kurt Angle told The Undertaker that it was not his creative direction or boredom that bothered him. It was his addiction to painkillers.
Vince McMahon showed Angle five pages of his text messages to the former WWE CEO in ’06. The Olympian did not remember sending those texts at all. Kurt could even comprehend how or when it happened, and so he needed that change.
The reason why I left WWE wasn’t because I was unhappy with the way things were going. I left because I knew that if I stayed, I was going to kill myself. I knew I was going to OD on painkillers. So I got out in 2006,” Kurt Angle stated.
“I met with Vince McMahon. I’m in his office and I’m talking to him about my state of mind. Shane [McMahon] is in there too. So, Vince hands me five pages of text messages that I sent him […] I went outside and started crying, then I came back in and I looked at Vince and said, ‘I’m sorry, but if you don’t let me go, I think I’m going to kill myself–overdoes on pills.’ Vince put his hands up and said, ‘You’re released.’ He said, ‘Come back in six months and we’ll give you the same contract,” he recounted the days before his WWE exit in ’06.
But the very next day, Kurt Angle was ready for TNA, which bothered Vince because he didn’t know whether it was planned all along.