6. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble, 2003)
The best and most famous Angle/Benoit match was at the 2003 Royal Rumble, but Benoit was clearly a face there. In October of 2002, both men were vicious heels angling (no pun intended) for a shot at Brock Lesnar. When it became apparent that the Undertaker was going to challenge Lesnar, the two instead decided to work their aggression out on one another in the hope of deciding who would be next in line. These two could spin a Judy Bagwell On a Pole Match into catch-as-catch gold, so it's not surprising that this match was an instant classic. In the pantheon of great Angle/Benoit matches (read: all of them), this one is distinguished mostly by the inventive submission counters by both wrestlers, and obviously the dirty tricks employed by both men. Ultimately, Benoit would pull out a cheap win with a rope-assisted roll-up, but the Angle/Benoit story didn't end here. The two decided to form a dysfunctional, if brutally effective tag team shortly after this, and they would become SmackDown's inaugural tag team champions.
