Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle (WWF, 4-1-2001)

WWF WrestleMania X-Seven, Houston, TX

One of those Mania matches — Rollins vs Cesaro is one this year — where they really didn’t have much for two guys so they said, “Fuck it, go have a good match, I guess.” They did give this just enough juice for them to have beef (Benoit had made Angle tap but not officially) and some story, but the main point really was “just go have a good match.”

This is one of the many great matches these two had, where Angle goes out of his way to make Benoit look like he’s some greatly-skilled amateur wrestler. Benoit was a marvelous pro wrestler, but let’s be real, Angle was an Olympic gold medalist. In any shoot, it wasn’t gonna be close.

But that’s part of the beauty of it, of course. Angle gets out-wrestled by Benoit early here, until Kurt is growing increasingly frustrated. He’s pissed off, can’t get the better of it again, making faces, retreating from the ring, and eventually Angle’s the guy who turns it into a brawl.

Having taken over with the brawling, sending Benoit into the steps and the like, Angle decides the time is right to look like he can easily out-wrestle Benoit, throwing some pretty suplexes. Angle tries hi best to chop with Benoit, but Benoit was his own tier of chopper at this point.

They do their stuff where they get fixated, as JR notes, on making the other guy submit. They go for the ankle lock and the crossface, both of them taking from the other if the opening is there. They’d more famously do this at Royal Rumble 2003.

Angle taps on a crossface, but the referee has been poked in the eye or whatever so he’s not there. Heyman, an Angle cheerleader, fully admits Benoit had it won. Angle Slam that they couldn’t call Olympic Slam, but JR slips it in anyway. Benoit kicks out and comes back to hit the swan dive headbutt but Angle kicks from that.

Crowd fully into it at this point, as they’ve built to the hot pace perfectly. Then they deflate them just the right way with Angle countering a pin attempt, pulling the tights, and getting the win.

It’s a great match, and really something that sets up their future matches, doesn’t end something as is usually the case with WrestleMania matches. This one doesn’t QUITE go to that extra elite level, but it’s just below that.

Rating: 4.5/5