by James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

TNA star Kurt Angle says he could retire from pro wrestling today, but he lives for the business. He also knows he's going to be in a lot of pain later in life after stressing his body during his amateur and pro wrestling career.

When Angle made the transition to pro wrestling ten years ago, he says every bump felt like he was in a car accident. His body adjusted and now he feels nothing.

"Am I going to pay the price later? You bet I will," Angle said in an interview with the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia.

Angle said he keeps putting his body at risk because he loves wrestling and he has a passion for it.

"I could retire now," Angle said. "I have money. I'm happy. I continue to go on because I love it so much."

During his amateur carer, Angle willingly sacrificed his long-term health to win an Olympic gold medal in 1996. Angle broke his neck during the Olympic trials, then his short-sighted treatment led to several neck injuries in WWE.

"Couldn't use any steroids. Doctor came up with a method of using novacain and shooting me in 12 areas of my neck," Angle said. "I was making my neck worse, but I was willing to sacrifice my body in order to make the Olympics and win a gold medal."

Angle says the pain went away for an hour so he could wrestle his match without any feeling in his neck, but the pain came back ten-times worse after the medicine wore off.

"Really wasn't thinking about my neck," Angle said. "Thinking about what I had to do to win."

Caldwell's Analysis: It's scary to see what kind of short-sighted mentality Angle had in 1996 when he was pursuing an Olympic gold medal as if it were the key to breathing his next breath. It's scary now to see that Angle is so willing to sacrifice his body with countless "50 MPH car wrecks" in the ring just to keep wrestling. I dread to see Angle's condition when he turns 50 or 55.

Link: Kurt Angle Video interview on ABC 6.

RELATED STORY at PWTorch.com: Angle critical of X Division.

We suggest these recent related articles...

TV RATINGS: TNA Impact & ROH TV viewership - Week 19 on Dest. America - Impact surges post-BFG, ROH draws big audience

TV WRESTLING VIEWERSHIP - Week of Sept. 28: Full Break Down of last week's Pro Wrestling TV with DVR viewing

TNA NEWS: TNA announces TV tapings on January U.K. Tour