#53: Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio, WWE Smackdown (11/7/2002).
This is a 2 Out of 3 Falls Match for Angle and Benoit’s WWE Tag Team Championships.
One of the highlights of the Smackdown Six era was the rivalries surrounding the newly created WWE Tag Team Titles. Smackdown General Manager Stephanie McMahon wanted her brand to have the best tag team division the business had ever seen, so naturally, the Smackdown Six were involved. In the tournament finals at No Mercy in October, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit bested Edge and Rey Mysterio in one of the greatest tag team matches of all time to become the first champions.
This is the rematch for the championships, under 2 Out of 3 Falls rules. And it’s on free TV. This should be awesome. This is the first time I’m watching this since it aired, but I remember it being really good.
Despite being the champions, Angle and Benoit still can’t quite seem to get along. They recently beat the hell out of each other at a Halloween party on the previous Smackdown – the same Halloween episode where Stephanie McMahon noticed the rap skills of a young John Cena, and saved him from being fired.
Angle and Mysterio start things out for their teams. Mysterio with a side headlock and a drop toe hold to Angle. Side headlock follows, and an arm drag to Angle. He chases Mysterio, and Angle sends him to the outside. Benoit is embarrassed for him. Big clothesline from Angle next, and Mysterio is up quickly. Big leg scissors by Mysterio, and he tags Edge in. Angle tags Benoit in, with force. Shoulder tackle from Edge, and two arm drags follow. Huge strikes in the corner to Benoit.
Side headlock from Edge, and Benoit escapes. Angle grabs Edge’s hair, and Benoit takes advantage with a hard irish whip that sends Edge into the turnbuckle chest. Hard back suplex follows, and Angle tags in. He knocks Mysterio off the apron, and drives his knee into Edge’s neck, choking him against the ropes. Nice suplex by Angle gets a 2 count. Benoit is back in, and he chops away at Edge in the corner. Edge boots Benoit away, and elbows out of a German Suplex attempt. Faceplant DDT by Edge follows.
Mysterio tags in, and he hits a springboard leg drop to Benoit for 2. Drop toe hold sends Benoit face first into the turnbuckle. Mysterio and Edge double team Benoit and Angle, and Edge places Benoit on the top rope. Edge launches Mysterio into Benoit into a hurricanrana to Benoit off the top rope. Angle breaks up the pinfall. Edge clotheslines Angle to the outside. Edge lifts Benoit up for a powerbomb, and Mysterio dives off the top with a seated senton to pin Benoit for the first fall!
Angle is in immediately, and attacks Mysterio. Belly to belly suplex gets a nearfall. High back suplex follows, and it gets Angle 2. A rough tag to Benoit, and he goes on the offensive to Mysterio. Irish whip/* into the corner, followed by knees to the gut by Benoit. He brings Mysterio to the top rope, but he’s countered by a top rope bulldog by the Luchadore. Angle and Edge tag in, and Edge is a house of fire! He attacks Angle, then Benoit.
Back body drop to Angle, and he sends Benoit to the outside. Belly to belly to Angle by Edge! He sets up for the Spear, but Angle avoids it, and Edge runs into Benoit, who hits him with the title belt. Angle locks in the Ankle Lock. Benoit knocks Mysterio to the outside, and Edge taps out. The champs take the second fall. The next fall takes the match.
Angle and Benoit fight over the glory of the second fall next. After the commercial, Benoit trips Mysterio and Angle gets a nearfall. Angle drives his boot into Mysterio’s head, then sends him to the outside. Benoit goes on the attack on the floor. Mysterio counters a face lock, and hits a spinning heel kick to him. Edge tags in, and he goes right on the attack to Angle in the corner. Hard chops to the chest by Edge, followed by harder strikes to the back of the head.
Boot to the face of Angle, who counters with a belly to belly suplex. He tags Benoit in, who hits a back body drop to Edge. Back breaker follows, and that gets a 2 count. Half crab submission is next. Edge fights out, and Benoit tags in Angle. He attacks Mysterio on the apron, and goes right on the attack to Edge. Another tag to Benoit, who stomps on Edge’s head, then drives his knees into Edge’s ribs. Edge with a back elbow out of the corner, but Benoit is quick to attack the kidneys. Benoit hits a back suplex to Edge off the top rope, but may have hurt himself in the process.
Mysterio and Angle tag in. Mysterio with a dropkick to Angle. Angle goes shoulder first into the steel post. Bronco Buster by Mysterio, but Benoit is in and hits a high German Suplex. He knocks Edge off the apron. Mysterio counters an Angle Slam and sends him into Benoit. Angle blocks a 619 and launches Mysterio into the turnbuckle. Mysterio jumps off and goes for a hurricanrana, but Angle goes for a powerbomb instead. Mysterio is able to counter anyway into a sunset flip into the pin, and takes the 3rd fall...except, wait. Nope! Angle had the bottom rope. He and Benoit argue with the ref about this. During the commercial break, the ref orders that the match will continue.
Mysterio dives off the top rope and takes both Angle and Benoit out. Benoit is quick to irish whip Mysterio chest first into the turnbuckle. High back suplex follows, and a snap suplex for a 2 count. Angle tags in, and he and Benoit slam Mysterio’s knees into the mat. He stomps at Mysterio’s chest in the corner. Snap mare, and Angle tags Benoit back in. Gut wrench suplex by Benoit, and Mysterio kicks out. Angle is back in, and he kicks at Mysterio’s guts. Another throw by Angle, and Edge breaks up the fall this time.
Mysterio is able to hit a high DDT to Angle to slow things down. Edge tags in, and he comes off the top rope with a clothesline. A flapjack to Benoit, and a spinning heel kick to Angle. Angle is quick to get the Ankle Lock applied. Edge counters and sends Angle into the second turnbuckle. Mysterio with the 619 from the ring post to Angle! Benoit sends Mysterio back first into the barricade. Edge with the Spear to Angle, and Benoit hits the diving headbutt to break up the pin – but he hits Angle by mistake!
Mysterio hits Benoit with a dropkick to send him to the outside. Edge takes advantage and pins Angle to finally take the final fall, and win the tag titles. I could’ve personally done without the fake in the third fall, but that’s my personal preference. This is a cracker of a match, and again, the fact it was on free TV is outstanding. This could’ve easily been a PPV match, but here it is, on UPN of all places. I thought the story of Angle and Benoit’s inability to get along was well done, and Edge and Mysterio played great babyfaces in peril throughout. Like the No Mercy bout, the action was crisp, as these four just have fantastic chemistry together. I think Paul Heyman was trying to be cheeky and wanted to do four falls of this match on purpose, because he knew this would fucking deliver. I’d put it a step below the No Mercy match, but that is in no way a criticism.