Kurt Angle says his quality of life 'sucks'

There's no doubt that professional wrestlers put themselves under an insane amount of physical turmoil in their pursuit of greatness. Some argue that they put in just as much, if not more, than their boxing and MMA counterparts.

And no superstar knows this better than Kurt Angle.

Speaking recently on the TKO podcast alongside former world boxing champion Carl "The Jackal" Frampton, Angle went into detail about the toll that his years inside the squared circle have taken on his body.

When asked whether he would go back and repeat his illustrious career if given the opportunity, Angle responded:

"I don't know. I mean, I'm hurting pretty badly. My knees, my back, my neck. Sometimes I think about, would I go back? My quality of life right now sucks. So I do have a lot of suffering."

The Olympic gold medalist also gave some insight into his physical troubles in the lead-up to his monumental Olympic victory, which gave birth to his wrestling persona and one of the most memorable catchphrases in WWE history:

"I couldn't get passed by any doctor... so I eventually found a doctor and he said, the only thing you can do, well you can't train. We'll just stick you in the neck with novocain... Every match I had at trials and the Olympics I got 12 shots of Novocain in the back of my neck."

The fact that the WWE Hall of Famer walked away as Olympic champion with a "broken freakin' neck" is the stuff of wrestling legend. But it seems as though Angle had to undergo much more aggravation and pain than most of us realized.

It's also possible that the apparent abuse of a powerful painkiller may have contributed to Angle's addiction he developed later down the line.

Here's hoping he can find a solution to his physical issues and begin to live a healthier, happier quality of life. He certainly deserves it.

You can watch the full podcast via the JOE YouTube channel below: