20 Greatest WWE SmackDown Matches Ever

13. Kurt Angle Vs John Cena (June 27, 2002)

Kurt Angle Brock Lesnar
WWE.com

John Cena's famous blue brand debut is repeated ad nauseam when WWE particularly fancy profiling 'Big Match John' (much like the "Ruthless Aggression" catchphrase he unconvincingly spat in Kurt's face ahead of the contest), but they don't pay half as much lip service to the tight and technical match that betrayed what Cena would eventually be known for.

Then a hardcore fan favourite thanks to his OVW work as 'The Prototype', Cena's main roster elevation underwhelmed in presentation but hugely over-delivered in quality. Angle's own efforts in doing so much with relatively little didn't go ignored either - he was WWE Champion once again by the end of the year.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett