The Top Ten 9.05.06: Kurt Angle Matches

Posted by Julian Williams on 09.05.2006

In lieu of his recent release, let's take a look back at Our Olympic Hero's greatest matches.

Greetings potsmokers and ‘roid heads and welcome to another WELLNESS-approved edition of The Top Ten. Sorry for being MIA last week, but the pressure of moving got to me and I needed some time to recoup. I'd like to thank Steve Cook for filling in for me last week and doing a great job, but what else would you expect from the originator of the top ten? I know that the topic for this week was suppose to be The Top Ten Table Spots, but due to Kurt Angle's recent release, I felt it only fitting to count down The Olympic Hero's greatest matches. Before we get into that, though, let's look at some of your thoughts on the chairshot column.

Reader Feedback

First up we've got Ben who reminisces in pain over the Shamrock chairshot:

So, I read your column every week, and more often than not I agree with
what
you say. And this weeks column def proved to me that you know your
shit...
#2, the shots on Shamrock, was the sickest thing I had ever seen, and
it's
definitely something my brother and I will never forget/stop
referencing.
Great column.

This one had a lot of people writing in as many of you guys remember this chairshot and recalled how absolutely sick it was. If you've never seen it, pick up a copy of The Best Of Raw Vol. 1 or try to browse around the web to see if you can find. Trust me, it'll be worth the hassle to find it.

Next up is Chad who gives his two cents on the list:

What up Julian,

I haven't been able to respond to your past couple of columns because while I enjoy Booker, I just don't really think he is that accomplished of a worker. I know he is a multiple time champion & I respect that, but he just isn't one of my favorites. And the Summerslam column, well to be honest, I haven't watched a Summerslam since 99', so I'm kinda in the dark.
However, I remember every single one of these chairshots & you couldn't have picked a better list in my opinion. I was so hoping that the "I Quit" match with Rocky & Mankind was number one & it was. That is awesome. I wouldn't replace a single thing. Putting the Batista shot in honorable mention was a smart move because even though it was gruesome, it still wasn't as good as the others listed above it. The Shamrock shot was also pretty sick and deserving of the #2 spot. Once again, great column overall man. Keep up the good work.

This was probably the first list I've done where virtually all the feedback I got agreed with the number one pick. I'm sure that there have been a lot of other sick chairshots that I've never seen, but I don't think anything can possibly compare to taking 10+ vicious chairshots to the head back to back to back. That's enough to haunt dreams and it further proves my theory that Mick Foley has to be clinically insane because no rational person would take such insane amounts of punishment.

Pete Gas takes some time out from gangbanging in the mean streets of Greenwich to drop me a line:

Dude, try to get find a copy of the tape of one of Brock Lesnar's early appearances on Monday Night Raw. He ran in on a match in which the Hardy's were participants and he took a chair shot from one of them (Matt, I think) that sounded like something I'd never heard before.
I've been watching wrestling for over 25 years and that is the best one I've ever seen.

I remember this one and it was absolutely brutal. A bunch of other people wrote in as well vouching for the insanity of this and I'd have to agree. Brock was an absolute beast because the chairshots he took from Matt and Jeff would put a normal man on his ass for a week and it didn't even make Brock get off his feet. Fucking unbelievable.

Robert C. reminds me of two of the best chair swingers in the business:

Hey Julian, once again great article. I have to mention another chairshot not from a match but between two opponents. I'm talking about Mike Awesome and Masata Tanaka. If you have seen any of their matches there is one chair spot where Awesome will hit Tanaka with a sicking chairshot (chair bent and everything) and then Tanaka will get up. Awesome will look dumbfounded and amazed. Then he will just hit him again with another chair shot just as worst as the other. Like I said if you seen any match between the two you know what I'm talking about.

And before I go, I recommend that everyone should see the first meeting between Samoa Joe and the Necro Butcher. You want chairshots has it has chairshots, blood, it has blood, and not too include a wrist clutch exploder from the apron to the floor. Basically a stiff contest all together and suprising anyone walked away from that.

Tanaka eats chairs for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then he takes one to the face for a midnight snack. Only Mick Foley matches up to Tanaka in terms of taking brutal chairshots, it was definitely an oversight by me to not have him included somewhere on the list. I always loved the Awesome/Tanaka matches because both men seemed indestructible as they would hit each other with absolutely vicious moves and both men would keep kicking out. I've not seen the Joe/Butcher match, but I've heard great things of it, I definitely have to pick up a copy. It sounds like some bloody, stiff fun. That sounds like the tagline for a gay porn movie. Ohh don't act like you weren't thinking the same thing. Perverts.


And finally we've got Andrew who gives a few of his favorites:

Hi Julian

Nice list, I almost feel a concussion coming on just reading it. With such a deep recent pool of examples to choose from I thought the following brain cell-reducing moments could be fitted in somewhere:

Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka; ECW One Night Stand, June 2005.

Y'know, a list like this can't be complete without Tanaka, who I'm convinced has no neck due to the insane chair shots he took in his ECW run. This one is simply the most recent example, and probably the one seen by the widest audience, as Awesome waffled Tanaka with 3 or 4 brutal unprotected shots to the top of the head, using the much-favoured "overhand" swing of the chair.

Stone Cold Steve Austin to The Rock; RAW, December 1998.

Famous one this. It led to Mankind Mick Foley winning his first ever world title. It's also the match which is somewhat pivotal in the Monday Night Wars, as Raw was taped and Nitro was live, and on that infamous night of January 4th, Tony Schiavone made the comment that Mick Foley was going to win the title on Raw, and in his best sarcastic sneer said,"That'll put asses on seats. About 350,000 people immediately switched from Nitro to Raw, and they saw Stone Cold do a run-in (complete with musical cue) and hit a home run on Rock's head, allowing Mankind to get the pin. And I don't think Nitro ever won another Monday night rating.

Stone Cold Steve Austin to The Rock; Wrestlemania 17, April 2001.

Not just once, but over and over again, to every part of Rock's body. This is probably the most famous main event at the best Wrestlemania ever, and it ended with Austin turning heel, aligning with Vince and going nuts with a chair after Rock kicked out of two stunners. Everyone's seen it. Surely.

The Hardy Boys to Brock Lesnar; RAW, May(?) 2002

This long-forgotten incident would make the top of my list. It's on the Lesnar DVD and came right out of the blue at a Raw show (not too sure if I've got the month right). The Hardys were being used as enhancement for Lesnar at the time. Lesnar interfered in a tag match and threw both Matt and Jeff out of the ring. They came back with a steel chair each. Jeff went first with a baseball bat-style swing so vicious that Jim Ross on commentary totally crapped himself. It cracked Lesnar over the head, made a sound so loud the crowd went ballistic, and staggered Lesnar back 4 or 5 steps. Then before we'd even had the chance to digest the first one, Matt teed off with a second shot that looked and sounded as sick and ferocious as the first, and knocked Lesnar out of the ring. At the time I remembered thinking this was a dangerous way to treat your future number 1 heel but given that Lesnar was able to walk and talk after this, it put him right over as an unstoppable force. Oh, and the chairs were a wreck.
Great list here by ‘Drew. Tanaka, as I said before, definitely deserves to be on any list involving chairshots, The Hardy Boyz shots on Brock were brutality at its finest, and Stone Cold killing the Rock with what seemed like a million chairshots was the icing on the cake of his heel turn. The chairshot that Stone Cold delivered to The Rock to help Mankind win his first WWE title will forever stay in my head as the pop that Stone Cold received when he came out was one of the loudest I'd ever heard and it got even louder once Mankind got the win. That was a great moment, goosebump-inducing stuff.

Ok, that's all for the feedback this week. Thanks to all you guys that wrote in and be sure to keep sending in your thoughts and lists or just hit me up if you want to rant about various things in the realm of wrestling. I love a good rant. Let's get into some Olympic goodness with this week's list.

The Top Ten Kurt Angle Matches

From his debut in late 1999, Kurt Angle seemed destined for great things. He had the look, the charisma, the mic skills, and the wrestling ability to become huge and he went on to become probably the most respected wrestler in modern day wrestling. Kurt's release is an unfortunate situation due to the overwhelming abuse that his body has taken, but even though we will miss Kurt Angle the wrestler, it's more important for Kurt Angle the man to take care of himself so that he will be able to grow old with his wife and kids. Although we miss Kurt's great abilities, we will always have his great matches to look back at. Here's a look at some of the greatest matches in Kurt's illustrious career.

Honorable Mention: Kurt Angle vs. The Rock vs. Triple H (Summerslam 2000)
This wasn't one of Kurt's best technical performances, but it showed just how much heart and courage Kurt possesses. Kurt had been concussed early in the match due to a spot on the announce table going wrong which resulted in him crashing head first through it. He had to be wheeled to the back and he could have easily called it a night and nobody would have thought any less of him, but he went back out to the ring despite the concussion. Not only did he go back to the ring, but he was able to participate in a very entertaining match and be a vital part of it. This match showed just how much desire Kurt had and how he truly has the heart of a champion.

Honorable Mention: Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (RAW, 6/11/01)
This was their famous cage match and it showed just how far Kurt would go to please the fans. The match itself was a great cage match, but Kurt pushed it into the realm of one of the greatest cage matches of all time by doing an absolutely unbelievable high-risk spot. The moonsault off the top of the cage will go down forever in WWE lore. It will be up there with Snuka's dive off the cage, Mankind getting thrown off the top of the cell, and HBK doing the splash off the ladder. It was just one of those memorable spots that will be impossible to get out of your memory. A great match that perfectly showcased how dedicated Kurt was to his craft.

Honorable Mention: Kurt Angle vs. John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels (Taboo Tuesday '05)
This match was the main reason I decided to order the Taboo Tuesday PPV and boy was I ever happy that I did after seeing this match. The match was non-stop action as you pitted two of the greatest ever in Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels in the ring with the king of the triple threat match, John Cena, and the result was phenomenal. Kurt brought the intensity big time in the match and it seemed on numerous occasions that he might finally get the belt off his nemesis, Cena. It wasn't to be on this night as Cena once again pulled it off, but damn this was one hell of a match that was certainly worth the price of admission.

Honorable Mention: Kurt Angle vs. John Cena (No Mercy '03)
Can you imagine a time where Kurt was a face, Cena was a heel and Cena was getting a bigger face reaction than Kurt? Well that's how it was in this match as Kurt gave Cena his first classic match with this encounter. This was a great back and forth as Cena tried to do his "ground and pound" style and Kurt countered with some excellent technical wrestling. It was a total clash of two styles, but it gelled so well together with these two. Too bad they couldn't recapture the magic of this match with the future one-on-one encounters in 2005 because this match was a total show stealer and showed the world that Cena was indeed ready for the big time.

Honorable Mention: Kurt Angle vs. The Rock vs. The Undertaker (Vengeance '02)
This was actually my favorite triple threat match of all time before Wrestlemania XX came along and blew all other triple threat matches out of the water. This match was absolute excellence and was so good in fact that it turned a lot of naysayers, who stated before the match that triple threat matches were played out, into believers that triple threat matches can be great when done correctly. All three men held their own in this match, but Kurt was definitely the glue and brought this match from the "good" level into the "fucking awesome" level. The E is including this match on their History of The WWE Championship DVD(which is coming out today by the way people) and it's for good reason because this match is a joy to watch. The perfect definition of a fun match.

10) Kurt Angle vs. Edge (Backlash '02)
Edge had always seemed primed to have a great solo career, but never had that match which catapulted him into the main event level. That all changed after this match with Kurt Angle as Kurt made it his mission to make Edge come off as a credible threat. This match saw so many innovative counters and reversals that you had absolutely no idea who would win it. It also includes one of my favorite finishing sequences ever as it seems that Edge is about to pick up the win with a spear when Angle at the last second smacks Edge in the face with his knee and then delivers an awesome Angle Slam for the pin. A brilliant match that turned Edge from a mid-card comedy act into a credible main eventer.

9) Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (Wrestlemania 17)
This was the first encounter between The Olympic Hero and The Crippler and this was just a taste of the excellence they would provide us in future encounters. They started off this match with some nice amateur sequences until Angle got frustrated with being one upped by Benoit and started brawling with him. From there, the match had a nice mix of technical excellence and stiff shots. The screwy ending that saw Angle low blow Benoit and then roll him up by grabbing the tights left a bad taste in some people's mouth, but I felt it fit in perfectly with Angle's character because once he realized he couldn't beat Benoit with his technical abilities, he had to use his cheating abilities to pick up the W. Great stuff here and this was just the beginning stages of one of the greatest feuds ever.

8) Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker (No Way Out '06)
Who the hell would have thought that a battered and beaten up Kurt Angle and a seemingly past his prime Undertaker would be able to put on such a fantastic match. I expected this match to be solid, but I had no idea it was going to be this good. Both men let everything hang out here and I liked the background of the match that neither man had ever tapped in their careers and the hype that one of them might actually tap out. Kurt's counters in this match were absolutely unbelievable. When he countered the Tombstone into the Anklelock, I'm not ashamed to admit that I jumped out of my seat and cheered at the top of my lungs. This match was just further proof of the awesomeness of Kurt Angle and showed why Undertaker should be regarded as the best men ever in the industry.

7) Kurt Angle vs. Shane McMahon (King Of The Ring '01)
Absolute and utter brutality. That's when I think about when I think about this match. These two went out there and beat the absolute shit out of each other for our entertainment. This was also important as I feel this was the match that turned Kurt Angle from a comedy act into a legit badass. Before this match, Kurt would get serious once and a while, but for the most part he would make jokes about his opponent and talk about his Three I's and his gold medals. With this match, he became Kurt Angle: Kickass machine. Suplexing Shane through glass TWICE and then delivering an Angle Slam from the top rope were just the highlights of the overall brutality in this match. This is a match that will be talked about for years because anybody who's ever seen it will never forget it.

6) Kurt Angle vs. The Rock (No Way Out '01)
Kurt and Rocky had a tough act to follow in this match as they were coming up after a classic three stages of hell match between Stone Cold and HHH. These two were undaunted, though, and went out to give us a classic match of their own. Rock had been in the hunt to regain the WWE title after losing it to Kurt at No Mercy the previous year. Kurt kept on eeking out win after win despite seemingly insurmountable odds. That gave Kurt all the confidence in the world when going in to this match as he constantly mocked The Great One. Kurt proved why he was championship material in the match by having several near falls on The Rock and kicking out of both The Rock Bottom and The People's Elbow. Eventually he would fall victim to a second Rock Bottom and lose the title, but this match was absolutely fantastic and was a taste of the greatness Angle would provide in the coming years.

5) Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero (Wrestlemania XX)
This was the perfect matchup as you had the moralistic Kurt(when he wasn't cheating of course) going against a man who prided himself in lying, cheating, and stealing. The storyline itself, though, was just an afterthought as everyone just wanted to see these two ring gods put on a show for us and they certainly didn't disappoint. Kurt was the badass wrestling machine that he's always been and Eddie used his smarts to outmaneuver Kurt whenever it seemed that Our Olympic Hero was going to gain the upper hand. The ending was classic Eddie as he used an unloosened boot to gain the surprise quick rollup on Kurt. Even though Kurt lost, he put on a hell of a performance and it's great that we got to see this fantastic match before Eddie's untimely passing.

4) Kurt Angle vs. Steve Austin (Summerslam '01)
Kurt was more over as a face at this point in his career than any other time I can think of as fans wanted desperately to see Angle dethrone the WWE Champion Stone Cold. Angle showed his guts and toughness here by kicking out of three stunners and having Austin beat on numerous occasions until the Rattlesnake had to resort to beating down refs so he could get DQ'd and not lose his title. The ending left something to be desired, but it was still an awesome match nonetheless and one of the best ever seen at Summerslam.

3) Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit vs. Rey Mysterio & Edge (No Mercy '02)
This was easily the best match of 2002 and that's saying a lot considering all the great matches that occurred in 2002. These four men went out to fight over the newly formed Smackdown Tag Team Titles and gave the fans one of the best tag team matches ever seen in the wrestling profession. Given the talent in the match, we shouldn't have been surprised but I don't think anyone expected this match to be as good as it turned out. Kurt was in rare form here and kept up well with the super fast pace of the matchup. We already knew Kurt was the man as a single wrestler, but here he proved that he could give us classic in the tag team ranks as well.

2) Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble '03)
Angle and Benoit were fierce rivals for roughly two years since their first encounter at Wrestlemania 17 and it seemed that each time they met, they quality of the match would just keep getting better and better. They had an awesome match at Unforgiven the previous year and nobody thought they could top that, but then they had this match and blew the Unforgiven match out of the stratosphere. This was a technical masterpiece that saw both men having counter after counter after counter and it's one of those few matches where you had absolutely no idea who was going to come out on top. One second it seemed Kurt was about to make Benoit tap to the anklelock and then the next second Kurt wound be screaming in pain inside the Crippler Crossface. This was just brilliant wrestling and further proof why Kurt and Benoit are regarded as modern day legends.

1) Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels (Wrestlemania 21)
The buildup for this first ever matchup between The Olympic Hero and The Heartbreak Kid was off the charts as you had both men going to the opponent's show to try to one up them or get some type of retribution. The Royal Rumble match where Kurt snapped after being eliminated by Shawn and tried to break his ankle in the anklelock is one of those moments I'll never forget because I felt that was an awesome way to begin a feud. This match had a lot of expectation going into it as you had two of the best wrestlers ever to lace up a pair of boots about to square off for the first time. Most matches would fold under that type of pressure, but this match exceeded what most of us felt it would be and that's saying a lot because the fans were expecting absolute perfection. This match being on the granddaddy of them made the aura around it even more special and I feel that this match will hold up as one of the best ever seen at ‘Mania and given its illustrious history, that's saying a whole hell of a lot. We wanted absolute perfection and we got it and it was further proof why Kurt Angle might go down as this generation's greatest wrestlers.

Drive-By Pimpin'

Check out all these great columns by my 411 brethren:

-Andy Clark's "Shimmy"
-Ari's "Column Of Honor"
-Sean, Alex and David's "Triple Threat"
-Bayani's "Truth B Told"
-Weyer's "Shining The Spotlight"
-Byers' "Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People"
-Larry and Geoff's "3R's"
-Fact Or Fiction
-O'Dog's "Forgotten Goodness"
-Sat and Rajah's "High Road/Low Road"
-Phill Feltham's "Quick Talkdown"
-Sarnecky's "Piledriver Report"
-Slimmer's News Report
-Carapola's "That Was Then" and "The Week in Hardcore"
-The Fink's Payload
-The World According To Ron
-Clarke's "Ask 411"
-Meehan's "Meethinks"
-Sforcina's "Evolution Schematic"
-Prag's "In Defense Of…."
-Wrestlers of the Week
-Sullivan's "Crystal Ball"
-Randle's "Wrestling News Experience"
-Double M's Rasslin Report
-News To Start Your Weekend
-Dunn's Rawtopsy, ECW Breakdown, Smackdown Breakdown and TNA Breakdown
-Cook's "News From Cook's Corner"
-Summerslam Roundtable
-Mike LaFave's "Getting Over"

And be sure to especially check out Hidden Highlights not only for the usual awesomeness provided by JT and JP, but also because this week I take on my good buddy Steve Cook in The Great Positivity Debate. Cook is kind of an institution here at the ‘Mania so I'm oviously the underdog. To try to even the odds, I present you, my loyal readers, with several pictures of scantily clad women for your entertainment, but mainly for your vote. Remember what Diddy says boys and girls:



So don't make him come and cap a 22 in your ass. You saw what he did to Biggie and ‘Pac. Ohh don't act like you weren't thinking the same thing. Anyway, here's some ass and titty pics for you. Vote for me and you'll get a lot more of these. That's my campaign promise. Enjoy.








































The Sign-Off

Otay, that's it for this week playas. Check me out next week when the topic will be The Top Ten Table Spots. No, really this time!