WWE Backlash’s Top 10 Matches of All Time, Ranked

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6. Ultimate Submission Match – WWE Backlash 2001
Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle

Throughout the first half of 2001, Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle were engaged in a bitter rivalry. Both were known as terrific submission wrestlers, and so a potential clash between the two was very appealing. In a battle to prove who was the superior athlete, their first in-ring interaction on pay-per-view was WrestleMania 17. Due to a controversial finish, Angle was able to secure the win, but the feud wasn’t over yet.

Going into WWE Backlash, the big question on everyone’s mind revolved around who was the better submission specialist. Because of this, WWE chose to go a different route and provide fans a unique contest called an “ultimate submission match”. The rules were simple; whoever scored the most submissions in thirty minutes walked away the victor. It offered a concrete answer to who was the superior athlete as it pertained to submissions, and so both Angle and Benoit were eager to win.

At the end of the 30-minute  time limit, the two athletes had tied at three submissions a piece. This drove the match into overtime, where Benoit was able to win the contest by making use of his crossface submission. Confident as ever due to the victory, the Canadian Crippler continued to cross paths with Angle. Stealing his prized gold medals, he would keep them under his possession until Judgement Day the following month. On that night, Angle regained his medals and in turn, came out as the clear winner of the feud.

A year after this series of matches, Angle and Benoit were battling each other once again. Surprisingly, the dysfunction between the two would lead to them becoming the first ever WWE Tag Team Champions.