Michael Sidgwick's 10 Favourite Wrestling Matches
9. Kurt Angle Vs. Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania 21
As a married 31 year-old with a young son, the majority of my wrestling viewing is completed by about half nine on a weekday, at which time I succumb to sleep to the disgust of my younger self.
That wasn't always the case. I watched WrestleMania 21 with seven other mates in my student days, largely because of the feel-good factor. I remained a hardcore fan, but my pals, like so many lapsed fans do, felt justified in watching the show because it rids wrestling of its stigma for one night of the year. Wrestling is lame - but WrestleMania is just a fun exercise in nostalgia.
It was with some mirth that I observed all seven of them react with the most conviction to the purest wrestling match on the card. A generation raised on the titillation and TLC of the Attitude Era, the first-ever Money In The Bank ladder match got a sizeable pop - but Angle and Michaels' slow-burning 27:25 classic held the attention of eight drunk students throughout its entire duration.
The near-falls which comprised the finishing sequence were met with breathless incredulity, and Michaels' incredible sell-job of the Ankle Lock generated a tangible degree of sympathy.
The sentimentality of WWE's sports entertainment was the reason those lads stayed up 'til 4AM - but pro wrestling is what they remembered.