[2000-05-06-WWF-Insurrextion] Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle

[soup23]

Angle has impressed so far this year but matches like this made me revisit his time in the company so far and made me come to the realization that they still have the reigns on him pretty deep. His longest matches was a barely 10+ match vs Jericho at No Way Out and the triple threat at WM2000. That WM2000 triple threat seems disappointing in retrospect timing wise but it makes sense given the development of Angle at the time and not looking back on things with a revisionist eye. Here it is clear he had some instruction to go after Benoit's bad eye and use that as a hold over until the finish. He hasn't been able to really improvise or fill the time within a match yet. The heel vs heel dynamic hurts this match crowd wise as Benoit has to act like a defacto face. Crash Holly is also on commentary which is really disconnected from everything going on in ring. The work on Benoit's eye was fine but we jump start to the finish quickly as Benoit misses a headbutt and Angle hits the Olympic Slam for the pin. I was surprised the Olympic Slam wasn't named yet. Big win for Angle that was clean. **1/2

[GSR]

Jeez, Benoit’s eye looks like hell after that match against Chris Jericho on Smackdown. Funny promo from Angle on his way to the ring, saying how he’s been in the UK all week long and the children here are pale, weak, unhealthy and uneducated. He couldn’t understand one word they were saying and thinks they need to learn the universal language, American! Before saying how so many times in the past the USA has come to the UK’s rescue, like in World War II when we saved you from the Germans! Crash Holly makes his way out after the wrestlers and joins JR and ‘the King’ on commentary. He says that he came here to fight an Englishman, but is having a little trouble finding one.

 

Shoulder tackle and snap suplex by Benoit for two. Drop toe hold, but as ‘the Crippler’ charges, Angle lifts him up and hot shots him on the top rope. Angle goes after that badly bruised eye and Benoit rolls out the ring to the floor. JR mentions that he could be competing with a cracked cheekbone and even a broken nose. Benoit starts to fight back with some forearms, however Kurt stops him in his tracks with a glorious overhead belly to belly. A lariat and ‘the Crippler’ reaches out for the ropes to break the pin. Benoit reverses a whip to the corner and Angle goes crashing chest first into the turnbuckles. Rolling German suplexes for a close near fall, while ‘the King’ tells Ross not to say German here in the UK. Don’t worry yourself King, it’s not the 1970s! ‘Crippler crossface’, Angle grabs the official’s hand and uses that to poke Benoit in the eye with, causing him to let go of the submission. Belly to back suplex, but he misses the diving headbutt as Kurt moves out the way. Angle’s back on that eye, ducks a pair of swinging blows and hits the ‘Olympic slam’ for the win.

 

I don’t know if it was because the match was heel vs heel, but the crowd seemed pretty flat here after Angle’s promo. Again, not sure if it was due to the state of Benoit’s eye, but this went less than seven minutes which seems awfully short for a PPV bout between these two. Nothing wrong with the work but if felt as though they were both on auto pilot. Nice clean finish with Benoit temporarily blinded after Angle went for the eye and then being surprised by the ‘Olympic slam’. I though Crash might have some involvement after talking about wanting someone to fight, but he stayed at the commentary desk throughout.