How many times did Kurt Angle break his neck?

Kurt Angle is a WWE Hall of Famer, an Olympic Gold Medalist, and a multi-time world champion. He is considered to be one of the best technicians of all time. Apart from wrestling, Angle has also worked as an on-screen authority figure in WWE.

Many people know that Kurt Angle won the Olympic Gold Medal with a "broken freakin' neck", but how many times has he broken his neck throughout his wrestling career?

The answer is five. Four of these injuries came during his WWE career. The first came during his national trials before the Olympics.

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How and when did Kurt Angle suffer his neck injuries?

When Kurt Angle was wrestling in the semi-finals of the national trials, his opponent dropped him on his neck. As a result, 'The Wrestling Machine' suffered multiple injuries to his neck. These injuries involved the bones as well as the muscles surrounding the neck. Thankfully, these injuries didn't stop the WWE Hall of Famer from qualifying for the Olympics and winning the gold.

The second neck injury came in 2003. Brock Lesnar whipped Kurt Angle to the turnbuckle at WWE No Way Out 2003. Angle's neck whiplashed and broke at that time. However, both stars still wrestled each other at WrestleMania XIX in a very physical match. Lesnar suffered a neck injury during that match while performing a Shooting Star Press. Eight months later, Lesnar broke Angle's neck once more while hitting him with a chair.

The following year, Kurt Angle broke his neck yet again during his match against Eddie Guerrero. On April 15, 2004 episode of SmackDown, Big Show chokeslammed the former Raw General Manager off a ledge. This led to further damage to the American Hero's neck.

Kurt Angle's latest neck injury came at WWE No Way Out 2006 when he faced The Undertaker. He left WWE in 2006 and joined TNA as he had multiple injuries and felt mentally unfit. He offered his thoughts regarding his WWE departure in an episode of the Kurt Angle Show.

"I just couldn’t keep myself together, that’s the main reason I left WWE in 2006. I just couldn’t keep my body together. My hamstring, my groin, my abdominal, shoulder, neck, everything was just -I was falling apart," said Kurt Angle.

Angle then returned to WWE for a short run as a wrestler and Raw General Manager in 2017. He lost his retirement match against Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35. He hasn't returned to the squared circle since then.

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