10 Pointless Acts Of Wrestling Bravery That Were Totally Forgotten

4. Angle And Benoit Risk It All

Benoit Kurt Angle Cage
WWE.com

Another case of a match that has been lost to WWE's Chris Benoit-shaped 'delete all' button, the 2001 Monday Night Raw steel cage between 'The Crippler' and Kurt Angle was one of the best matches in the show's history, and featured several of the riskiest spots ever performed on free-of-charge television at the time.

Before gaining a reputation in later years for his boundary-straying bravado, Kurt Angle's incredible array of skills had generally been confined to actions in-between the ropes, save for special occasional aerial manoeuvres.

That changed for good during a breathtaking steel cage main event with 'The Rabid Wolverine', in which Angle and Benoit traded increasingly insane bumps in their quest for prominence on WWE's hyper-competitive 2001 roster.

Kicking off the lunacy with a Benoit german suplex from halfway up the steel structure, Angle attempted to take control with a jaw-dropping moonsault, but splatted onto the canvas as his opponent rolled out of harm's way.

Several minutes after that, 'The Crippler' soared from atop the cage to nail a diving headbutt, but that still wouldn't finish things, as interference from Steve Austin lead to an escape victory for 'The Olympic Gold Medallist'.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett