10 Reasons No Way Out 2001 Is WWE's Greatest February PPV Ever

4. WWE Championship Match: The Rock vs. Kurt Angle

The main event of the night pitted WWE champion Kurt Angle against The Rock for the right to defend against "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania. The result of the match was a foregone conclusion. After all, The Great One's mug had been plastered all over the promotional materials for the April 1 pay-per-view, right there beside Austin's. With the outcome so obvious, there was no drama to be had, right? Wrong. The all-time greats produced an extraordinary match that nearly stole the show out from underneath the classic match between Austin and Triple H that preceded it (more on that in a minute), using false finishes and the clever trading of signature maneuvers to provide drama. The involvement of Big Show late in the match even made perfect sense within the context of the story that had been told leading into the show, his issues with The Great One manifesting themselves in the bout. Even the botched finish, which saw Hebner fail to count three after one Rock Bottom, failed to hurt the match as Rock simply delivered another to put Angle away. The outcome was the expected one but the roller coaster ride the competitors took the fans on to get there helped the match secure its spot as one of the great February championship bouts.