20 Best WWE Matches Since 2000
7. Chris Benoit Vs. Kurt Angle (Royal Rumble 2003)
Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit produced a number of excellent matches together throughout their careers, but this stands as the very best. While Triple H and Scott Steiner had performed in a truly atrocious World Heavyweight Title match just before them, Angle & Benoit kicked the 2003 Royal Rumble into gear with an excellent counter-wrestling match and a supreme game of one-upsmanship.
This was two elite technical wrestlers struggling to get the better of one another, and countering each other at every juncture. The match's second half saw them trade submission after submission, and while such grappling exchanges aren't always as visceral as power moves and high spots, Angle & Benoit knew exactly what they were doing. Every move was executed with meaning and emotion, and just when it looked like one man had the other's number, there'd be a slick escape or counter.
Lots of submissions, lots of suplexes, and bags of psychology. It's just a classic tale of two fantastic wrestlers fighting on even terms, and though Angle emerged victorious, both men received a standing ovation by the end. Angle left as champion, but by this point, Benoit was the most organically popular babyface in the company, and it was thanks to performances like this.