10 WWE Undercard Matches That Outshone The Royal Rumble

6. Chris Jericho Vs. Chris Benoit (2001)

Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho
WWE.com

The 2001 Royal Rumble will forever be remembered as the night Kane set a new record for eliminations by a single wrestler and Steve Austin won his third Rumble. Outside of the titular match itself, Kurt Angle and Triple H had a decent WWF Title match, but real-life friends Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit managed to upstage everyone.

Their Intercontinental Title ladder war has been virtually scrubbed from the current conscious due to WWE's (understandable) hesitancy to push anything involving Benoit on the Network. He isn't even mentioned in the bookmark bubble for the match. All it says is something like, "Chris Jericho in an Intercontinental Title Ladder Match".

That's a shame, because this bettered anything else on the pay-per-view, and that includes the actual 30-man Rumble. When the show was over, the Intercontinental Title match was the one most rewinded their VHS tapes to watch. If only it could receive the credit it richly deserves.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.