20 WWE Royal Rumble Undercard Nightmares

10. Kurt Angle Vs Triple H (2001)

Yokozuna Undertaker
WWE

A rare in-ring misfire from Triple H during the hottest streak of his entire career, his WWE Title challenge to fellow showstopper Kurt Angle was fatally wounded as a match thanks to 'The Game's other storylines and apparent refusal to present Kurt Angle as a serious threat.

Disappointment surrounded Hunter and Kurt, after the momentum of their spectacular 2000 love triangle storyline with Triple H's wife Stephanie McMahon was killed stone-dead in their passionless squabble four months earlier at Unforgiven. Since then, Angle had won the World Title but was presented as a paper champion, and Triple H had returned to his heel worst, vowing to rid WWE of Steve Austin.

Subsequently, this clash of villains no longer feuding with each other never came to life, with Triple H gobbling up a huge portion of the match on offence long before Kurt was proficient at playing a babyface-in-peril, and the two limping to an anti-climactic finish in which Hunter's rival Austin would floor him with a Stone Cold Stunner for a cheap Angle victory.

The only item of value was a simmering hatred between Stephanie and Kurt's new manager Trish Stratus. Their skirmish during the match briefly woke the crowd, but nowhere near enough to save the drab contest overall.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 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. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, 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