Kurt Angle’s Top 10 WWE Matches

2. vs. Chris Benoit – Royal Rumble 2003

Just 4 months after his ironman classic with Lesnar, Angle was at it again this time with another familiar foe in Benoit.  Like Lesnar, Benoit was a perfect pairing for Angle and it didn’t take long after coming to the WWE in 2000 before they met up.  All in all the two met in singles matches on pay per view seven times with Angle holding a 4-3 advantage.  To say these guys were evenly matched is an understatement and that was no more apparent during their final pay per view encounter at the 03 Rumble for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Going into the match with their career win/loss record knotted at 3-3, the two seemed to not only be battling for a world championship but also for that elusive 4th win in their rivalry.  The match was everything the fans came to expect from a scrap between these two.  It was suplex after suplex and submission attempt after submission attempt.  Everything was done with absolutely precise detail and impeccable execution that it turned out to be a thing of beauty.  An argument can be made that this was the best technical wrestling match of all time.  And the end was just indicative of this program, with Angle never giving up on going after Benoit’s ankle and finally after it seemed like eternity eliciting the tap from The Crippler.

For a crowd that started off the match a bit quiet, halfway through they perked up and by the end were full out ecstatic about what they had just witnessed as evidenced by the standing ovation.  This was a coming out party of sorts for Benoit as just one year later he’d win the 04′ Rumble and go on to Mania to win his first and only world title.  Angle would go on to drop the belt to Lesnar at Wrestlemania XIX (see No. 7) but would remain a top draw in the company for the remainder of his tenure.  Once you produce brilliance like this, there’s no going back to the mid-card.