Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit's mat classic betrayed how little thought had been put into their respective roads to WrestleMania in 2001 - like many of the performers on the show, they were a little lost in the shuffle between the Royal Rumble and the 'Show Of Shows'.
Fortunately for fans, there were few places the pair looked less lost than between the ropes. Benoit had made Angle tap on television to place doubt in the mind of the former WWE Champion, resulting in a masterful technical display from the former Olympian and 'The Crippler' as they went hold for hold as few others could.
Wrestling matches in stadiums and domes have fallen afoul of crowd indifference over at times, but this had no such issue. The 67,925 were loudly gripped to the infuriating last - after a superlative spectacle, Angle rolled Benoit up with a handful of tights. A simple shortcut felt criminally vulgar in the context they'd created.
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
