10 Times WWE Were Forced Into A Money Match
1. Kurt Angle Vs. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin (Unforgiven, 2001)
WWE have had a tendency to be a lot of things over the years.
Insensitive, dumb, lazy, soulless, the list goes on.
Yet, in the wake of one of the biggest tragedies in all of human history, they proved that they were capable of giving the fans a much needed glimmer of hope at a time when they desperately needed it.
The attacks on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 sent reverberations around the world and the then-WWF opted for a live version of SmackDown in order to offer their condolences and entertain a country in need of some relief in the aftermath of this terrorist act.
Going one step further, these horrendous events gave Vince McMahon no choice but to give the Olympic Hero himself Kurt Angle a heart-warming and patriotic victory over 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin for the WWF title at Unforgiven, later that month.
Despite the match already being booked before these despicable events took place, WWF opted to get behind Angle as the American babyface the country definitely needed to see at this time and you can't imagine that this match would have been positioned as the colossal main event it eventually was if McMahon hadn't been forced to respond to the needs of his audience at that moment.
Austin won the title back soon after - which tells you all you need to know about WWE's original plans for their Unforgiven clash - but this momentary instance of American pride stands as one of the most significant matches to ever be forged from events outside of WWF's control.