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Most fans who've closely followed Kurt Angle's wrestling career might have memories of seeing the Hall of Famer's older brother Eric Angle on WWE TV.
Eric Angle had a brief professional wrestling career when he signed with the WWE in 2000 and was booked with Kurt on a few occasions. Eric was on a developmental contract, but untimely injuries and an unfortunate medical incident brought an end to his career.
Kurt Angle and Conrad Thompson returned for another insightful episode of 'The Kurt Angle Show' on AdFreeShows.com. The pair discussed Judgment Day 2001 among other top wrestling stories from 20 years ago.
Kurt Angle opened up about Eric Angle's WWE stint and the real reason his brother didn't have an extended run in Vince McMahon's company.
Angle felt that WWE had high hopes from Eric as the promotion expected the older Angle brother to pick up wrestling quickly, just like the Olympic gold medalist.
Kurt Angle stated that Vince McMahon and co. probably compared the two brothers, and that put Eric at a disadvantage from the very start:
"Well, my brother was getting it; he just wasn't getting as quickly as I did. I think the company was comparing him to me. But he was getting it. He was learning. He was improving dramatically," recalled Kurt Angle.
Eric still showed steady improvement as a performer until an injury hindered his progress.
Eric Angle suffered a torn triceps injury and had to undergo surgery to get it fixed. Kurt Angle recalled that despite having surgery, Eric began to experience some discomfort in his arm.
Eric went to the hospital and requested the medical team to remove the cast and check his hand. Hospital officials told Eric that he didn't need to be worried as the pain was just a physical side-effect of the surgery.
"The unfortunate incident of him tearing his tricep. The tendon right off the bone of his elbow, and he had to have surgery. So when he had surgery, you know, the Doctor performer the surgery, and the next thing, my brother was in excruciating pain. He went back to the hospital and said that there is something going on in my arm; I need to take this cast off. They said, 'Don't worry. It's just from the surgery. The pain will go away. So, the next day, he went back to the hospital, said the same thing. They told him don't worry about it, go home and rest," Kurt Angle revealed.
Thank god they paid for his surgery: Kurt Angle on how WWE handled Eric's release
Sadly, the pain failed to subside, and Eric Angle himself sawed off the cast at a Home Depot outlet three days later. Eric Angle learned about an infection that had formed at the incision in his hand.
Eric Angle confronted hospital authorities, and predictably enough, they washed their hands of the entire incident. The hospital would later note in its report that Eric Angle developed an infection after he ripped off the cast.
Kurt Angle said that the hospital made up a story to 'save their a**'' and regrettably for Eric, his in-ring career abruptly ended due to the avoidable situation:
"So the third day, he didn't have a saw, and he wanted to saw off the casket himself. So he went to the home depot and sawed off the cast. When he did, he looked at the incision, and there was a huge infection; and he pushed on the incision, and all this yellow, red pus came out. He went directly to the hospital after home depot, and he said, 'Look, I told you there was an infection.' But the hospital, to protect their a**, and from liability, said in the report that my brother sawed off his cast and got an infection by sawing off his cast. You don't get an infection in ten minutes. He was at the home depot ten minutes prior to when he went to the hospital," Kurt Angle stated.
WWE released Eric Angle following the complicated injury situation, but the company paid for his surgery before letting him go:
"So, they did that just to cover their a**, and it ended my brother's career. He couldn't sue the doctor or the hospital. WWE let him go, and thank god they paid for his surgery before they let him go, which was pretty cool," Angle added.
You may be wondering: what did Eric Angle do after wrapping up his wrestling career? The oft-forgotten Angle brother resumed his career as a personal trainer:
"He is a personal trainer. He has been training people for years. That's what he did beforehand, and that's what he did afterward," Kurt Angle concluded.
Kurt Angle also had a watch-along and breakdown of his legendary Two-out-of-three falls match against Chris Benoit from Judgment Day 2001 during the latest episode of 'The Kurt Angle Show.'
If any quotes are used from this article, please credit The Kurt Angle Show and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling.
