Kurt Angle Discusses His Two Worst Injuries In Pro Wrestling

SummerSlam 2000 will go down in history as the night of the first ever TLC match, but for Kurt Angle, he'll remember it as the night he suffered a severe concussion at the hands of Triple H in the main event.

Speaking on The Kurt Angle Show, the Olympic Gold Medalist tried to relive a night he doesn't remember. Angle suffered a severe concussion after a Pedigree on top of the announce table went south. Angle went to the back after the failed spot but came out to finish the match, even though he was severely injured.

"I did watch it back and you can tell I was completely out of it," Angle said. "You can tell [Triple H and The Rock] we're calling the spots for me if you look very closely. I don't have any recollection of the match, I remember up until the table spot and then my memory came back when I was in the hospital with an oxygen mask on my face. I have no recollection of what happened for about three hours that night and watching it back I wish it would've refreshed my memory but seeing it was like doing it for the first time."

"That was the first time I had that severe of a concussion. I did have a slight concussion beforehand, I think it was four or five months prior but this one was a heavy concussion. This one was pretty stiff."

Following the failed table spot, WWE started a campaign before each show that was focused on fans not to attempt what they see on screen. The spot was called "Don't try this at home" and the Olympic Gold Medalist believes that his concussion was the catalyst for the beginning of the campaign.

"I think that I was the poster child for concussions and the reason why we did the campaign for 'Don't try this at home'," Angle mentioned. "The company needed to do something about it and they did fortunately. I'm very happy with their concussion protocol now, they have done an excellent job of making sure these guys know if they do get concussed, they're not going to get passed to wrestle. They're definitely not going to go out during a match if they got a concussion in it and go back out and wrestle again like I did that night."

The 52-year-old also spoke about this concussion compared to the one he suffered at the hands of Brock Lesnar in the lead up to their WrestleMania 19 match. That match was also memorable because Angle thought Lesnar was dead due to a botched shooting star press.

"The chair shot that Brock gave me that broke my neck or this the concussion," Angle said. "Those two were the worst injuries I've had in pro wrestling."

As noted, Angle went to the back when he received a concussion but came back out to finish the match. Angle was asked if anyone pushed him to get back out after he went backstage.

"I can't answer that question," Angle said. "I won't answer that question. I'll keep that till the day I die."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Kurt Angle Show with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.