10 Greatest Matches From WWE's SmackDown Six
3. Kurt Angle Vs. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble 2003)
With Kurt Angle as the heel champion, creative felt it necessary to give the Olympic hero a convoluted back story. He won the gold from the Big Show, took on Paul Heyman as a manager and two young collegiate wrestlers as his entourage, and was ready to cheat to get the win over the increasingly hot Chris Benoit.
Really, none of that was necessary when you’ve got this match up. Benoit and Angle are two of the best ever to step in a ring, and have demonstrated previously their astonishing chemistry. The story is: Angle has the belt, and Benoit wants it. That’s all you need. The match plays out exactly as expected, with the opponents knowing one another well, executing intricate chains of holds and counters. There are thunderous suplexes, the highlight being a German on Angle which flips him 360 degrees. There’s one of the most brutal flying headbutts you’ll ever see. And in the end, Benoit taps to the ankle lock.
The match goes to highlight how far above the rest of the card these two were, and Benoit gets a standing ovation at the end, which he looks genuinely touched by. His matches can be hard to watch in retrospect, but this one is a masterclass.