10 Classic WWE Matches (That Nobody Remembers As Classics)
9. Kurt Angle Vs. Rey Mysterio - SummerSlam 2002
The perception of a classic is often informed by how long it goes - that an epic match must have an epic duration. Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio accomplished in 10 minutes what most lesser performers require three times that to do - craft an absolute thriller in which the loser emerges as a winner in defeat.
The opening sequence shouldn't have worked as well as it did; Mysterio, the face, blindsided Angle with a stunning, sneaky, inverted hurricanrana before sending him flying with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors takedown. What it did wasn't portray Mysterio as a runt, but informed the dramatic narrative tension of the match. Angle was pitched as an absolute monster throughout. When he did manage to ground Mysterio, he knocked the wind out of him by reversing his wheelbarrow bodyscissors with a rainbow arc German suplex.
And thus began an intoxicating dance of escape and punishment that, against all logic, was both beautifully choreographed and intensely realistic. Mysterio practically elevated himself to the rafters with a springboard legdrop. Nobody went through a table, no ringside furniture was destroyed - fans chanted "Holy sh*t!" in the blood-pumping throes of a pure wrestling match.
The pace was so delirious that Michael Cole and Tazz didn't so much commentate as giggle throughout, utterly stupefied by the unbelievably intricate counters and high spots. Towards the finish, Angle somehow snatched the match-winning ankle lock out of a top rope hurricanrana attempt.
What they did in there at times was physically impossible.