Kurt Angle was featured in two hometown newspapers this weekend talking about his pain pill addiction, leaving WWE, signing with TNA, and more. Below are highlights of Angle's comments, his wife's comments, and WWE's reaction.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette highlights:

-Angle: "I was just uncomfortable the whole time. I felt like I had to go to the bathroom, but I didn't. I was cramping, sweating, head hurting. Every part of the body is aching. Skin is crawling. It hurts to touch. It hurts not to touch. It's impossible to get comfortable, just shaking all of the time."

-Angle on needing pills to get out of bed: "Not just a handful. A large handful. I'm telling you, excruciating pain, all of the time. Cold sweats. I felt like a shell, like I didn't have a body or a soul. I was just a skeleton ... until I took those pills. About 18 [in the morning]. I'd lie there for five minutes with my eyes closed, and then it would kick in, and I could open my eyes again. Like, okay, I was ready to get up. That would carry me for about four hours."

-Angle on his wife leaving him: "It was my fault. It was my abuse. It was me not caring about anything, not even myself. I was just doing my job, making a lot of money and thinking that was good enough for my family and that they should just shut up. I was happier on the road anyway, because nobody was there to stop me from taking my pills."

-Angle on his condition when he was separated from his wife and daughter for three months: "Near death."

-Angle's wife Karen: "I told him there was no way we'd work out [our marriage] unless he got through this."

-Angle on working for WWE: "I was on my knees, begging for a month off! Why? Because my neck was broken!"

-Angle on his current attitude toward pills: "But yes. I still crave it. I want it right now."

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review highlights:

-Angle on taking Percocet, Vicodin, Norco, and Lorcet: "I was a junkie... It tore my soul apart. I missed the first two years of my daughter's life... Call it stupidity or bravery ... I'm not going to rob the fans," said Angle. "People expect to see Kurt Angle, and they don't expect me to take it easy. I treat (professional wrestling) the same way as the Olympics. I don't know any other way."

-Angle on Vince McMahon: "I love Vince. He's a great guy. But he treated me like a superhero. He wanted me to rehab on the road instead of at home. My doctor said I couldn't do that. Vince said that I was an Olympic goal medalist and I could overcome anything. ... Then, one day, my Olympic medal didn't mean (anything)."

-Jerry McDevitt, WWE legal counsel: "The WWE cares greatly about Kurt Angle the person and Kurt Angle the performer. It is our hope that he applies that huge and creative heart of his in the right direction so that we can all see that happen."

-Dixie Carter: "TNA has a strict drug policy and does not tolerate illegal drugs or substance abuse on any level."

-Karen on when she knew Kurt was going to take getting better seriously: "You know he's serious when he gets that glare. When he started looking at dealing with the problems with that glare, that's how I knew he was going to make it."

-Angle on his wife: "There is no doubt in my mind that she is the reason I am still alive. She was trying to teach me things and get me help. I wouldn't listen."

-Angle on rumors about his marriage: "All the rumors were untrue. I heard that I was getting a divorce because I beat her, that she was cheating on me, everything. It was ridiculous. We're fine... I'm fine. I know a lot of people in Pittsburgh were worried. They thought Kurt Angle wasn't going to make it. I'm not going anywhere."

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