Steve Austin vs Kurt Angle (WWF, 9-23-2001)

WWF Unforgiven, Pittsburgh, PA

This is a request via Ko-fi. This was the main event of the WWF’s first pay-per-view event after the 9/11 attack, and the show had a heavy patriotic feel. Austin had joined the WCW/ECW Alliance in July, then faced Angle at SummerSlam, with Angle winning by DQ but Austin retaining his WWF title. This was the rematch. It had become a pretty personal rivalry, with Angle as the babyface and Austin as an increasingly paranoid and psychotic heel. This show also took place in Pittsburgh, where Angle is from, so he had that going for him, too.

Austin was still using the very bad theme music. Angle comes right to Austin on the ramp as Austin is making his entrance, attacking with right hands before the match can even get started. Austin hiptossed on the floor, toward the ring, and Angle is just vicious here. Stomps to Austin and referee Earl Hebner is trying to break it up so the match can actually start.

Angle rolls Austin in, and Hebner just rings the bell right there because he’s incompetent. Right hand from Angle, Austin sent off the ropes, Angle makes the cardinal mistake, then Austin considers going for the stunner, but fears getting his foot caught in Angle’s ankle lock. Austin swings a clothesline, Angle ducks, more rights from Kurt. Austin off the ropes, back elbow ducked, but Angle hits the Thesz press on Austin, mounting him and pummeling away.

Clothesline from Angle. Austin put up on the top turnbuckle, Angle with a series of chops and a couple right hands. By a couple I mean four. Five. Six. More chops. Angle just brutalizing Austin up there, not even going for a superplex or anything. Angle slams Austin’s head off the Spanish commentary desk.

Back into the ring, Angle with more right hands in the corner, and places Austin on top again. Another right hand, Angle up for a superplex, Austin fights him off with rights to the ribs. Angle with more right hands to soften Austin, now back up for the superplex, and he hits it. Angle jars his own neck, which had recently been injured by Austin. Cover gets two.

Right hand from Angle, Austin reverses a whip to the ropes and grabs a sleephold. Angle breaks it with a chinbreaker. Angle clotheslines Austin out to the floor, where Austin grabs his belt and looks to get the hell out of Dodge. Angle gives chase, hits Austin from behind, and knocks him down on the ramp. Angle with stomps to Austin on the ramp, Earl Hebner giving them a lot of leeway.

Angle chucks Austin off the side of the ramp, down to the floor. Angle hops down — actually, he takes the long way around — and delivers more stomps. Angle with a bunch more chops and right hands against the barrier. Angle carries Austin back to the ring, then rams his head against the ringpost. And again. Another batch of stomps from Angle.

Angle rips up the protective padding around the ring, but Austin runs up from behind and hits Angle with a knee to the back. Austin smacks Angle’s head off the commentary desk, and again. Kick from Austin, and another to the stomach. Austin going for the piledriver that he hurt Angle’s neck with recently, but Angle backdrops and aggressively talks mess in Austin’s face. Austin busted open.

Chop from Angle, right hand, chop, right hand. Angle sets for a piledriver, Austin backdrops Angle this time. Chop from Austin, another, kick back from Angle. Angle sets for a suplex on the exposed floor, Austin blocking and reverses, dropping Angle face-down on the Spanish table. He does it a second time.

Scrapping from both, Austin dumps Angle on the table a third time, same style. Austin rolls back into the ring, but Earl Hebner is just letting all of this happen. This is not a no-DQ match or anything, I went and double-checked just in case I had forgotten.

Anyway, they go back into the ring and trade right hands. Angle with a side headlock, Austin sends him into the ropes and hits a kneelift into the stomach. Suplex from Austin, Angle holding his neck, and Austin starts driving the knee brace into Angle’s neck. Austin with a series of forearms across the back and neck of Angle, then stands on the neck to put more pressure on it.

Austin gives Angle’s wife Karen THE BIRD. Karen gives it back. Then Austin rolls back in. Angle makes a fight of it for a moment, but Austin gets a boot up in the corner and Austin hits a flying double axhandle from the second rope. Cover, two count. “Let’s go Angle” chants picking up.

Austin working a chinlock now. Angle fights up, right hands, off the ropes and Austin goes for the kneelift again, but Angle rolls through for a pin and gets two. Dumb Earl Hebner wins up out of position outside of the ring and has to count an Austin pin attempt from there. This idiot.

Austin with more shots to the back of the head. Angle turns it around and unloads on Austin’s neck now. Angle with the Germans, rolling through three of them. Both down, both hurting in the neck. Austin goes up for a back superplex, but Angle reverses his positioning in mid-air and gets a two count.

Another right from Angle, whip to the ropes reversed, and Austin hits the SPINE ON THE PINE. Austin with a flagrant low blow, as he’d be happy to get himself disqualified. Angle rolls out to the floor. Angle comes back, and he gets a low blow on Austin.

We’re at a war of attrition point in this match now. Austin down on the floor, Angle down inside. Austin comes back into the ring even though he could’ve gotten counted out. Angle with a kick to the gut, STUNNER! Two count. Angle drops the straps and challenges Austin to get up.

Austin does, misses a clothesline, but slides out of the Angle Slam and hits one of his own for two. Austin goes for the piledriver again, Angle blocks, Austin hammers away at the back some more. He wants that piledriver badly. Angle continues to block it, grabbing the leg, Austin continues to pound away to the back. Austin does hit the piledriver, and Angle, snot nose and all, is down and out. Cover, two, Angle gets a shoulder up, barely.

Austin goes for the stunner, Angle blocks and gets the ankle lock. Austin reaches for the ropes, can’t get there, and taps out!

Rating: 3.5/5. I liked their SummerSlam match better, at least from my memory. As a Moment, it always felt a little forced — Angle in his hometown, an American Olympic hero, two weeks after 9/11. And it was forced, a manufactured feel-good moment that led to a 15-day title reign for Angle before he dropped the belt back to Austin on RAW. It’s a good match at worst, but it feels especially now more like a novelty moment than anything. It also did no favors to the momentum of the Alliance vs WWF angle, but then nothing they did did that angle any favors. But there’s good work in the match, particularly the focus on the neck of both men. It’s just not one for either man’s history book, necessarily, though to be fair they both have pretty extensive history books.