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Almost 45, the Olympic Gold Medallist and TNA superstar has wrestled full-time at a blistering pace ever since entering the professional business in 1998. During his time with WWE and TNA, Angle has won multiple world championships and proved to be one of the greatest grapplers of all time. He enjoyed distinguished feuds and matches with the likes of Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Jeff Jarrett.
Looking forward to the next stage of his career, Angle exclusively told SunSport: "When I do retire, I won’t be coming back. But I do see myself, after my contract is up, going on a reduced schedule where I will be part-time and only doing particular PPVs and TVs. I definitely am going to still be involved in wrestling because even though, thank God, I’m financially set, I love what I do. It’s hard to walk away from it when you can still do it. I’m still kicking hard and in my prime, I haven’t lost a step.
"If this happens in TNA, then great. I’ll be there for the big shows and represent them the best way I can. Hopefully they’ll get a lot more success out of it, more PPV buys and more attendance. There are guys like Sting who help dramatically, and he’s on a reduced schedule. I look to him, as he is such an amazing wrestler, and an even better entertainer, as one of my role models. When the time comes, when my contract is up, I’ll definitely do a part-time schedule."
He has recently been in a storyline with newcomer Wes Brisco, son of WWE legend Gerald.
They met at TNA Lockdown and it is not the first time Angle has been asked to take responsibility for a debuting star’s first major match, for either company.
He said: "In WWE, I had John Cena, Spanky (Brian Kendrick), Matt Striker, even Rey Mysterio when he debuted. I was always the go-to guy. ‘Put him with Angle, make sure he looks good,’ they would say. They had a lot of faith in me, a lot of trust.
"TNA did the same thing with a lot of guys. Pope came in with me, Mr Anderson came in with me, Desmond Wolfe (Nigel McGuinness) came in with me. And now Wes Brisco. I’ve accepted that role of making sure the match is a good as it can be. I think I’ve done a pretty good job with that. As one of the top talents there’s a pretty big responsibility to make sure the guy you are wrestling always looks good."
Angle added: "I thought the match with Wes was good but it could have been better. You have to remember that Wes is very young and very new to the business. I always expect a five-star match when I’m in that ring, especially at a PPV. But I thought Wes did a great job."
Outside of the professional arena, Angle is continuing his campaign to save Olympic wrestling, in which he won a gold medal in 1996.
Angle – who attempted to make a comeback at London 2012 only to be thwarted by injury – told us of his fury on hearing that the IOC plans to drop wrestling from the Games from 2020 onwards.
He said: "Wrestling is not a sport you want to pull out of the Olympics. It’s got too much tradition. There are a lot of countries that participate in wrestling. There are over 150 countries that have wrestling. It’s not a dying sport, it’s a growing sport.
"There are a lot of countries out there that only have two or three sports, and their main sport is wrestling. Particularly some of the Eastern Bloc countries and in the Middle East. To take that away from is very disappointing.
"I’ve been in touch with the head coach of USA wrestling. They told me to do what I can and get everybody to sign the petitions. They have a meeting in May to try to talk they IOC into bringing it back. When you win an Olympic gold medal in your sport and when you take as much pride as I do in wrestling, not to mention the popularity of it, you have to be part of it. I care too much about it — I don’t want to see this sport die.
"The United States congress has got involved and has been in touch with Iran, and that’s a pretty neat thing, to see these two countries that are at odds politically to come together over wrestling."
Looking forward to the next stage of his career, Angle exclusively told SunSport: "When I do retire, I won’t be coming back. But I do see myself, after my contract is up, going on a reduced schedule where I will be part-time and only doing particular PPVs and TVs. I definitely am going to still be involved in wrestling because even though, thank God, I’m financially set, I love what I do. It’s hard to walk away from it when you can still do it. I’m still kicking hard and in my prime, I haven’t lost a step.
"If this happens in TNA, then great. I’ll be there for the big shows and represent them the best way I can. Hopefully they’ll get a lot more success out of it, more PPV buys and more attendance. There are guys like Sting who help dramatically, and he’s on a reduced schedule. I look to him, as he is such an amazing wrestler, and an even better entertainer, as one of my role models. When the time comes, when my contract is up, I’ll definitely do a part-time schedule."
He has recently been in a storyline with newcomer Wes Brisco, son of WWE legend Gerald.
They met at TNA Lockdown and it is not the first time Angle has been asked to take responsibility for a debuting star’s first major match, for either company.
He said: "In WWE, I had John Cena, Spanky (Brian Kendrick), Matt Striker, even Rey Mysterio when he debuted. I was always the go-to guy. ‘Put him with Angle, make sure he looks good,’ they would say. They had a lot of faith in me, a lot of trust.
"TNA did the same thing with a lot of guys. Pope came in with me, Mr Anderson came in with me, Desmond Wolfe (Nigel McGuinness) came in with me. And now Wes Brisco. I’ve accepted that role of making sure the match is a good as it can be. I think I’ve done a pretty good job with that. As one of the top talents there’s a pretty big responsibility to make sure the guy you are wrestling always looks good."
Angle added: "I thought the match with Wes was good but it could have been better. You have to remember that Wes is very young and very new to the business. I always expect a five-star match when I’m in that ring, especially at a PPV. But I thought Wes did a great job."
Outside of the professional arena, Angle is continuing his campaign to save Olympic wrestling, in which he won a gold medal in 1996.
Angle – who attempted to make a comeback at London 2012 only to be thwarted by injury – told us of his fury on hearing that the IOC plans to drop wrestling from the Games from 2020 onwards.
He said: "Wrestling is not a sport you want to pull out of the Olympics. It’s got too much tradition. There are a lot of countries that participate in wrestling. There are over 150 countries that have wrestling. It’s not a dying sport, it’s a growing sport.
"There are a lot of countries out there that only have two or three sports, and their main sport is wrestling. Particularly some of the Eastern Bloc countries and in the Middle East. To take that away from is very disappointing.
"I’ve been in touch with the head coach of USA wrestling. They told me to do what I can and get everybody to sign the petitions. They have a meeting in May to try to talk they IOC into bringing it back. When you win an Olympic gold medal in your sport and when you take as much pride as I do in wrestling, not to mention the popularity of it, you have to be part of it. I care too much about it — I don’t want to see this sport die.
"The United States congress has got involved and has been in touch with Iran, and that’s a pretty neat thing, to see these two countries that are at odds politically to come together over wrestling."