Kurt Angle, a 1996 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, debuts in the WWF at the 1999 Survivor Series and wrestles circles around Shawn Stasiak, wins the European and Intercontinental titles within his first six months, brought prestige back to the King of the Ring, was involved in a hot love tri-angle with Triple H and the HEIRESS to the WWF throne, and then gets a one-on-one PPV main event title shot within his first YEAR in the WWF. That just shows you not just how good Angle is, but how quickly over he became in such an amazing short span of time in a period where the Rock and Triple H were at their absolute peaks as performers. He had the feel of a veteran superstar during his ROOKIE YEAR like nobody had ever possessed before him. And with being said, let’s take a look at Angle’s first big PPV main event against then-WWF world champ the Rock.

• WWF World Champion The Rock vs. Kurt Angle (w/Stephanie McMahon) – No DQ Match – (No Mercy, 10/22/00)

Oh yeah, Stephanie McMahon made clear her relationship with Kurt Angle was strictly business and that there weren’t any monkeyshines going on there. Immediately, Steph interjects herself to allow a Pearl Harbor job from Angle to Rock. Down to the floor, Angle slams Rock’s face on the announce table and then blasts a chair across the back. Boy, this has escalated quickly! Back in, Rock comes back with a clothesline and a Samoan drop for two. We look to the back to see Triple H watching on with his shoulder heavily iced after his match with Chris Benoit. If Stephanie gets hurt, it will be Angle’s head. Meanwhile, Angle and Rock fight up the aisleway. Rock grabs a life-size cutout of himself and punches *that* into Angle. Alright. Back to the ring, Angle remains in control and stomps the Rock down in the corner. Stephanie gets hands-on and chokes the champ in the ropes. Angle misses a corner charge and runs his knee into the buckle. Now you know where this is going. Rock works the knee and bashes a chair on it while he’s got Angle crotched on the ringpost. Dragon screw leg whip sets up a Sharpshooter. Stephanie distracts the ref to bring Rock off Angle. She keeps on running her mouth to the Rock, who gives chase. Stephanie winds up drawing Rock right into an overhead belly to belly suplex from Angle. Flying forearm gets two on the Rock. Angle hits the chinlock, but Rock fights out and tosses Angle to the floor. They brawl around ringside, culminating with Angle getting whipped into the steps. Now it’s the Rock slamming Angle’s face on the announce table. He spits a bunch of Aquafina at Angle, which just serves to piss him off and throw Rock into the ringpost. In the ring, Stephanie distracts the ref again (it’s no DQ?) while Angle tries to hit Rock with the WWF title belt. Oh, but Rock catches him for the ROCK BOTT-NO! Angle elbows out and manages to blast Rock with the belt. Cover, 1-2-NO! Rock crotches Angle up top and delivers a superplex. Slow cover gets two. Angle comes back with a release German suplex and heads up for a Moonsault, but that badly misses. Rock punches away on Angle and hits a Hurricane DDT for 1-2-NO! Angle goes to the eyes, but takes a belly-to-belly throw. Spinebuster sets up a potential PEOPLE’S ELBOW! Here comes Stephanie to stand in Rock’s way. She takes a ROCK BOTTOM! Could there be a PEOPLE’S ELBOW in store for Stephanie? No, Angle cuts him off with a clothesline to the back. Looks like he was a little late on that save. Triple H runs down and throws Angle to the floor. Rock turns him around and eats a PEDIGREE! Now that the damage is done, H picks up his wife Neanderthal-style and takes her to the back. Angle crawls into the cover for 1-2-NO! Rock reverses a whip into a DDT for 1-2-NO! Angle tries to distance himself from the Rock until a “beaten and battered” Rikishi walks down to the ring. He tosses Angle back inside as Rock lays the smackdown on him. Angle low-blows Rock, but then charges into a ROCK BOTTOM! Again a slow cover from Rock only gets two. As Angle pulls himself up in the corner, Rikishi slides in to splash him, but he pulls the Rock in the way! Oops. Rikishi goes for a superkick, but Angle ducks and Rock gets wiped out. Double oops. He goes for another superkick on Angle, but he steps aside and delivers a OLYMPIC SLAM to Rikishi. Rock staggers around and takes a OLYMPIC SLAM as well for 1-2-3! (23:49) What you don’t see in this Dailymotion vid is Angle’s awesome post-match celebration where he cries in the aisleway. Not quite the epic that their No Way Out affair was when Rock regained the title, but still very good. Now I know what you’re saying. “Then why didn’t you put that match on here instead?!” Because this is a title WIN for Angle and it’s my column. ;D ***½

• Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit – Cage Match – (Raw is War, 6/11/01)

As if this match isn’t PRO enough, Stone Cold Steve Austin is helping JR and Heyman out on commentary. He hates every move Benoit does. Pinfalls, submissions, and escapes are all ways to win. Angle jumps Benoit right at the bell and gives him a couple overhead belly to belly suplexes. He tries one more and Benoit tries to bring him down into the CRIPPLER CROSSFACE. Angle rolls out, but charges right into another attempt. Angle gets him off that kick by sending him into the cage. Benoit fights back with chops, but gets launched off into the cage again. More chops, and this time Benoit hits a snap suplex. He holds for another, but Angle stops a third with knee strikes and a gutwrench suplex. He delivers TWO MORE and starts to climb out. Benoit pops up and meets Angle on the top rope for a GERMAN SUPERPLEX to the mat! Austin is speechless! He is without speech. Benoit tries to climb out, but Angle shoves him down and hits a flying elbow drop. Yes, a flying elbow drop. They exchange blows and Benoit reverses a whip to send Angle into the cage. How about one more time. Do it a third time. Benoit begins to climb, but Angle low-blows him down. ANGLE SLAM! Now Angle is heading out. Once he gets to the top, he decides to MOONSAULT ON BENOIT FROM THE TOP OF THE CAGE! Oh, but he completely misses and lands SUPER hard on the canvas. Benoit delivers a kitchen sink on Angle, but Angle grabs Benoit and drives his head into the cage again. Ouch, he lifts Benoit and sends him into the cage like a battering ram. Benoit shoves off a second and catches Angle for a German Suplex! He’s holding onto Angle! Count ’em with me! ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FIVE! SIX GERMAN SUPLEXES! Benoit starts to walk out, but sidesteps a charge from Angle who goes right into the cage. MORE GERMAN SUPLEXES! SEVEN! EIGHT! NINE GERMAN SUPLEXES! Now Benoit tries to climb out, but Austin gets up from the table and starts swinging a chair right where Benoit would land. So instead, he turns around and looks at Angle and decides since he can’t climb out, that he’ll give Kurt a SWANDIVE HEADBUTT OFF THE CAGE! Austin’s eyes are like saucers now. Benoit heads for the door, but Austin stands in his way again. He kicks the door back, causing Austin to fall backwards. That allows Angle to hook an ANKLELOCK. Benoit counters with an enziguri and heads for the open door, but Austin slams it back in his face. Meanwhile, Angle climbs out on the other side and picks up the win. (14:30) Austin gets in the ring and wears Benoit out with a chair and then heads up the ramp way clutching his WWF title. But you gotta know there’ll be HELL TO PAY! After this performance and the way things were going between Austin and Benoit, they probably could have just done that match over again for the King of the Ring main event and probably got the same buyrate. In reality, Benoit was on his way out to get reconstructive neck surgery that would put him out of action for a year right after the PPV, so you needed somebody like Chris Jericho (who seemingly never gets injured) in the match to pick up any slack. Of course, it adds to the drama of the match too. All the same, this match was pure excellence to close out part one of the Benoit/Angle feud with lots of cringe-worthy moments. Makes you wonder how in the world Angle didn’t take a year off shortly after this match as well, but that’s Kurt Angle for you. ****½

• Kurt Angle vs. Shane McMahon – Street Fight – (King of the Ring, 6/24/01)
  

I can’t even remember how this feud got started. Something about Shane stealing Angle’s medals or something? Whatever the case, Angle storms Shane to start and rides him all over the mat. I’m talking about in a wrestling sense, people. By the way, Shane helped Angle continue in the KOTR tournament so he would have to wrestle twice at this PPV before their match even happened. Of course in the end, he cost Angle the KOTR against Edge. Shane connects with a dragon screw leg whip and an armdrag. From there, Shane trips Angle up, twirls on top of him, and slaps him on the back of the head. BIG MISTAKE. Angle challenges Shane in a wrestling stance down on the mat. Shane accepts the challenge and gets destroyed as Angle spins out and drills him with forearms. Angle’s got a cut over his eye possibly from Shane’s peppering right hands before the leg whip. He continues with the violence with several angst-filled overhead belly to belly suplexes. With Shane down in the corner, Angle yells at him saying, “There’s no way you’re in my league!” Angle drops to another wrestling stance and this time Shane kicks him in the gut. Shane O Mac fires back and shoots Angle off to the floor while he’s got him caught in a waistlock. That pisses Angle off even more as he gives chase. Shane catches him during off a charge by leaping back off the security wall with a back elbow. Now Shane leaps over JR and Heyman with a clothesline. Oh man, he just found a kendo stick from under the ring. Angle gets whacked a whole bunch. Shane avoids a ringpost charge by Angle and then clotheslines into the crowd. Angle tries to SNEAK ATTACK Shane with a choke, but he snapmares him back over to ringside. While they continue to fight at ringside, Shane armdrags Angle twice into the security wall. He spears Angle into the steps and covers him inside the ring for two. Whoa, Angle bridges up! Nothing can keep him down though except an elbow drop. Now Shane tosses some toys into the ring. Trashcans and the like. After he wails on Angle with a road sign, Shane ducks an enziguri and applies an anklelock. Angle easily kicks out of that. Shane avoids a corner charge and hits a Hurricane DDT and goes for Rock’s Sharpshooter. Angle doesn’t need to reach the ropes, because he swings a kendo stick back at Shane while he’s still in the hold! The Shane Shuffle scores a nearfall on Angle. Shane beats a trashcan down on Angle and heads up for a PHOENIX SPLASH, but there’s nobody in the pool. That gets two. Back to the floor we go, as Angle beats Shane up the aisleway. They head over to the KOTR set where Angle tries to overhead belly to belly suplex Shane through fiberglass. SICK. Doesn’t work the first time, so they figure out to do on the second time and Shane goes flying through fiberglass. Angle tries to suplex back through on a different sheet of glass, but fails and decides to just throw him through it instead. Such a crazy series of spots. With Angle so badly beaten and bloody, he places Shane’s lifeless body on an anvil case and wheels him to the ring. GENIUS! Cover, 1-2-NO! Shane makes a mini-comeback with a trashcan lid, but gets catapulted to the top rope. Angle beats Shane up top with a wooden board and sets it on the top turnbuckle as a platform to bring Shane down to the mat with a SUPER ANGLE SLAM! That’s going to be it. Cover, 1-2-3. (25:33) This match epitomizes the “Holy Shhh” chant and captures in a nutshell why you shouldn’t try any of this stuff at home. Both men beat the crap out of one another and successfully mixed a wrestling match in with violent elements of a street fight. An often overlooked classic in my view. ****½

• WWF World Champion Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle – (SummerSlam, 8/19/01)
  

We are probably at the “height” of the InVasion angle, which set up a nice three month Austin/Angle feud that ended poorly with Angle joining the WCW/ECW Alliance for some odd reason. They meet in the aisleway and slug it out to start. I’ve noticed Angle never starts a match slowly. It’s always attack at the bell. Austin tosses Angle in the ring and they continue where they left off with the trading of right hands. Crossbody block by Angle gets two, then Angle ducks low off a whip and gets caught. Austin decides to take Angle to school and works the knee. Angle seems unimpressed with Austin’s efforts to wrestle and takes him down for an ANKLELOCK! Austin reaches the ropes. On the floor, Austin draws Angle out to drill him with a clothesline. Back in, Angle starts slugging and takes a backdrop to the floor. Back in again, Austin hits a TRIFECTA of suplexes for two. Angle flips out of a fourth suplex and starts up the German suplexes, which Austin fears like the plague. COUNT ‘EM WITH ME! ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FIVE! SIX! SEVEN GERMAN SUPLEXES! ANGLE SLAM? No. Austin slips out and knees Angle down into the middle turnbuckle. They fight over a superplex, which Austin gets. Austin’s hurting too after that and hits a desperation STONE COLD STUNNER. Cover, 1-2-NO! He can’t believe someone could kick out of the Stunner and yells at Hebner about it. Once Angle gets to his feet, Austin delivers ANOTHER STONE COLD STUNNER, which bounces Angle out of the ring. On the floor, Austin slams Angle’s head not once not twice but three times into the ringpost. Austin wants to use the title belt, but Hebner pulls it away from him right quick. Austin flicks him off and drives Angle face-first into the ringpost again. GEEZ, dude. Make that a FIFTH toss into the post. Angle is busted open big time now. Austin unloads on Angle and beats him down to the floor. Awesome stuff here. In the ring, Austin covers for 1-2-NO! Back to the floor, Austin takes Angle into the ringpost for a SIXTH time! They head over to the announce table where Angle shoves Austin off a slam over the security wall into the front row. Angle is so beaten down though that while he’s draped over the wall, Austin grabs Angle and brings him onto the concrete with a suplex. Back to ringside, as Austin drapes his leg over the wall, he gets grabbed for an ANKLELOCK! Angle manages to pull Austin back into the ring and continues the ANKLELOCK! Oh, but Austin reaches the ropes and rolls out to the floor. Angle follows him out and delivers an overhead belly to belly suplex on the floor! How about a back suplex too while you’re at it, Kurt? There ya go. In the ring, Angle hits the Moonsault! Slow cover gets 1-2-NO! Austin slips out of a slam and grabs a Cobra Clutch! HOLY CRAP. Angle collapses on Austin to try and get the pin, but Austin rolls over. Angle’s arm drops once, twice, but NOT THREE TIMES! He dumps Austin off him to the floor. Austin comes up behind Angle and catches him for a STONE COLD STUNNER! Cover, 1-2-NO! The crowd cannot believe such is happening. Angle uses Austin to pull himself up. He goes for another Stunner, but Angle catches his kick and spins him around for an ANGLE SLAM! Slow cover gets 1-2-NO! Even with Austin in the ropes, Angle grabs an Anklelock. That’s no good. Austin walks and punches Hebner out of the ring. WHAT. Another ref comes down and counts Austin after a DDT for 1-2-NO! Austin low blows Angle and decks the new ref. Austin brings his WWF title in the ring, and a third ref gets nailed with the belt. ANGLE SLAM to Austin! Here comes Alliance ref Nick Patrick to count the pin. He counts one…and then calls for the belt and DQ’s Austin. (22:09) ANGLE WAS SCREWED! With Austin long gone, Nick Patrick receives the brunt of Angle’s wrath with the ANKLELOCK. Just an unbelievably awesome match. ****½

In case you didn’t notice, that makes THREE ****½ Kurt Angle matches in 2001 right there.

• Kurt Angle vs. Edge – Cage Match – (Smackdown, 5/30/02)
  

Edge took his hair, now Angle hopes to destroy Edge for realz in a steel cage. Angle’s wearing some headgear to hold his wig down. Lots of fast action to start. Edge tries to SPEAR Angle into the cage, but Angle moves and Edge runs face-first into steel. Angle hits a suplex and grabs a front headlock. Edge fights out and delivers an overhead belly-to-belly throw. Flying clothesline from Edge gets two. Angle EXPLODES to his feet and gives Edge a Hat Trick of Germans for 1-2-NO! He continues the violence by running Edge’s face into the steel like THREE times and then pounds on him down on the mat. All that leaves Edge busted open. Edge fights back with a catapult into the cage and catches Angle off guard with Edge-O-Matic for two. Backdrop and a Half-Nelson Bulldog gets two. Ref gets knocked down as they fight up to the top rope. Edge delivers a back superplex and starts to climb out. Oh, but Angle brings Edge down with a SUPER ANGLE SLAM! With Edge and the ref completely wiped out, Angle climbs out of the cage – only nobody knows it but him, the crowd, and…HULK HOGAN! He walks down and runs Angle into the cage before putting him back inside. WHAT. It’s not like Angle cheated to win? Commercial break. We come back to see Angle counter the EDGECUTION with an ANGLE SLAM for 1-2-NO! Edge avoids a corner charge and nails Angle with an ANGLE SLAM of his own! Cover, 1-2-NO! They trade anklelocks with neither man getting a tapout. Edge steps through the ropes and as Angle runs him into the cage, he falls and gets his knee twisted in the ropes right over by the door. With Edge in the way yet still tied up, Angle just decides to climb out. Edge gets loose and meets Angle at the top. Meanwhile, Hogan opens the cage door. As Angle stands on the cage door, Edge punches Angle causing him to crotch himself on the door! OUCH. Angle almost falls to the floor, so Edge grabs Angle by his hair and since Angle doesn’t want to be seen without the wig, he goes with the wig and gets pulled back into the cage. Edge shoves Angle to the mat from the top rope and baits him into a FLYING SPEAR. You see, Angle likes to run up the ropes and suplex you down, so it makes sense that somebody would finally counter that. Cover, 1-2-3! (14:21 shown) I think we could have done without Hogan here. But then we wouldn’t have this next match! Regardless, this was the usual goodness that we saw on a regular basis between these two at the time. ***¾

• Kurt Angle vs. Hollywood Hogan – (King of the Ring, 6/23/02)
  

Hogan revealed Angle’s baldness to the world. Therefore, a match between the two must happen. Regardless, Angle is still wearing the wig. Initial lockup sees Hogan shove Angle away so he can pose. Hogan elbows out of a waistlock and grabs a headlock. Shoulderblock puts Angle on the floor. Back in, Angle goes low and hits a clothesline. They head to the floor where Hulk controls. In the ring, Hogan delivers nine turnbuckle smashes and a windmill punch makes ten! Hogan asks the crowd if he should take off the wig and takes a low kick right to the REAL 24-inch python. A pair of back suplexes get two for Angle. Hogan blocks a suplex into one of his own, but then gets caught in a sleeper. Hogan escapes into one of his own, but Angle breaks loose with a back suplex. ANGLE SLAM! Cover, 1-2-NO! DOWN COME THE STRAPS! Oh, but it’s HULK UP TIME! Three right hands, Big Boot, and off comes the wig. Angle avoids a second Big Boot and heads to the floor. To bring him back in the ring, Hulk mocks Angle by putting on the wig and headgear. Now Angle grabs a chair and runs at Hogan for the surefire DQ, but no! Hogan moves and Angle bounces the chair off the ropes and hits himself in the face! Big Boot to Angle. LEGDROP? No! Angle slides out of the way and grabs the ANKLELOCK! Hogan can’t make the ropes or kick Angle off him, so he has no choice but to tap! (12:09) I just remember marking out HUGE for that finish at the time. Worth seeing just to witness Hogan TAPPING OUT to Angle. *½

• Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio – (SummerSlam, 8/25/02)
  

This is Rey’s WWE PPV debut. As you can hear from the commentary, Angle VOWS to break the little Mexican jumping bean’s ankle. Mysterio decides to surprise Angle by coming in through the crowd and giving him a springboard headscissors to kick start SummerSlam. Mysterio flips Angle all around the ring until Angle grabs the ankle. Mysterio breaks free and goes for the 6-1-9, but Angle ducks underneath and slings Rey out to the floor. Back in, Angle hits a suplex. Mysterio tries a wheelbarrow bulldog, but Angle counters into a release German suplex. Mysterio grabs hold of the ropes to block another one and makes this cool transition around Angle to sunset flip him for two. Clothesline by Angle gets two. He starts working the back a little bit. Mysterio tries a headscissors out of the corner, but Angle blocks with a side slam for two. Rey counters a nasty half crab with an inside cradle for two and quickly gets shut down again with a clothesline. Angle misses a punch down on Rey to stop a sunset flip, but catches Rey for a release belly to belly suplex. DOWN COME THE STRAPS! Mysterio counters the Angle Slam and pulls the top rope down to send Angle flying out to the floor off a charge. Rey regroups and wants to fly, but ref Jimmy Koderas stands in his way. Booooo. As Koderas leans under the top rope to check on Angle, Rey charges and flies over him to take out Angle with a somersault plancha! Back inside, Rey Drops The Dime for 1-2-NO! Mysterio tries a headscissors out of the corner, but Angle slams him face down off his shoulders and grabs an ANKLELOCK! Mysterio kicks him off into the ropes and hits the 6-1-9! WEST COAST POP gets 1-2-NO! Rey baits Angle up top and goes for the Spinning Hurracanrana, but Angle counters that into the ANKLELOCK! As Rey nearly reaches the ropes, Angle drags him to the center of the ring for the tapout. (9:21) As if Angle isn’t good enough already, now he even excels in combating against the Americanized lucha style. Great match to put Rey over as a smaller wrestler who can hang with the main eventers, which went against all kinds of norms in WWE. ***½

• Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit vs. Rey Mysterio & Edge – Tournament Finals for the WWE Tag Team Titles – (No Mercy, 10/20/02)
  

These four are part of the Smackdown Six that were lighting up the program at the time. The Unlikely Duo of Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle defeated Cena/Kidman (imagine THAT tag team happening today) and the missing two from the Smackdown Six: Los Guerreros. Rey Mysterio and Edge were just two of the top Smackdown babyfaces put together and they defeated Lesnar/Tajiri (guess who ended up taking the fall there) and D-Von Dudley & Ron Simmons. Everybody receives separate entrances because everybody in this match is cool like that. Angle and Mysterio start the match. Basically, Angle throws Mysterio around and tends to wonder what this 13 year old Mexican kid is doing in the ring. Angle wants Edge, but Mysterio wants Angle, so we get more Angle-Mysterio. Mysterio stomps on Angle’s foot to escape a waistlock and starts floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee all over Angle. Tag to Edge, he’s all over Angle too with dropkicks. Angle decides to give Benoit a try. Edge fires a kitchen sink into Benoit and goes after the ribs. Flapjack gets two, but Angle catches Edge with a knee from the apron. Benoit whips Edge into the ropes, but Edge ducks a clothesline and SPEARS Angle off the apron for good measure. Edge tries an O’Connor roll, but Benoit kicks him off into a hotshot from Angle into a Benoit clothesline. Angle tags and puts the boots to Edge. Kitchen sink gets two, and now Angle grabs a sleeper/body scissors to keep Edge grounded. Edge fights up, but charges right into an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Tag to Benoit, he sends Edge into the corner for the chest-first bump and follows up with a Hat Trick of Germans! Benoit knocks Mysterio off the apron, fires a snot rocket at Edge, and heads up top for the Swandive Headbutt. However, Edge meets Benoit at the top and brings him down with a superplex. Mysterio gets the needed tag, knocks Angle off the apron, and drills Benoit down in the corner with a dropkick. Rey Drops the Dime on Benoit while he’s stuck in between the top and middle ropes for 1-2-NO! Edge and Angle clothesline each other to the floor. Meanwhile, Benoit shoves down a wheelbarrow bulldog and grabs the CRIPPLER CROSSFACE! Ahh, Edge makes the save and gets pulled right back out again by Angle. Mysterio sets Benoit up for the 6-1-9, but Benoit catches him in mid-air. Before Benoit can do anything with him, Edge missile dropkicks Mysterio on top of Benoit for 1-2-NO! Mysterio heads up top and takes the Pop-Up Superplex from Angle. Benoit covers for 1-2-NO! Angle tags in and starts pounding on Mysterio’s shoulders. Snap suplex leads to a front headlock. Mysterio escapes, but runs into an overhead belly-to-belly suplex for two. Back to Benoit, he works over Mysterio with a backdrop and a back suplex. Mysterio catches Benoit charging at him in the corner and delivers a headscissors that takes Benoit into the ringpost. HOT TAG TO EDGE! He’s TCB’ing all over Angle and Benoit for a while. In comes Mysterio, he whips Edge into Benoit for a SPEAR in the corner. Now Edge whips Mysterio in for the Bronco Buster. Edge SPEARS Angle in the corner and sets him up in the corner to launch Mysterio onto him for a ALLEY OOP RANA! Edge covers Angle. Here comes Benoit with the Swandive Headbutt, but Edge moves and Angle gets nailed. Now Edge covers Angle for real and gets 1-2-NO! Angle pops up with a release German suplex and sets up for the ANGLE SLAM. Here comes Mysterio out of nowhere, who gets flipped over Edge into Angle. Benoit stops a SPEAR attempt and trips up Edge for the CRIPPLER CROSSFACE! Edge makes the ropes, but Benoit refuses to release the hold until Mysterio makes the save with a 6-1-9! As soon as Mysterio makes it to his feet, Angle runs over and delivers the ANGLE SLAM! DOWN COME THE STRAPS! ANKLELOCK to Edge! He kicks Angle away and hits the SPEAR! Cover, 1-2-NO! Benoit makes the save, but Mysterio dropkicks him to the floor so Edge can flip him out onto Benoit. Back to Angle-Edge, they trade anklelocks, ending with Angle getting the dramatic tapout. (21:36) Angle and Benoit will forever be known as the first team to ever win Smackdown’s tag team belts. Unless something unbelievable happens in the next four months, this is the greatest WWE tag match of the decade. What the WWE failed to realize in the 2000s was that you could have great tag wrestling without tables, ladders, and cages with the right talent. *****

Final Thoughts: Most of the WWE’s best matches of the first decade of the new millennium involved this man and this right here is PROOF. These matches all speak for themselves and now all you have to do is watch them. Part Two will include the latter half of Angle’s WWE run including another round of eight matches that I have NEVER reviewed like his classics with Brock Lesnar and Shawn Michaels. I cannot wait to share my thoughts on those matches with you.