#FiftyMatches: Kurt Angle, Pro Wrestling Prodigy

Kurt Angle v. Shane McMahon

Street Fight

WWF King of the Ring 2001
June 24, 2001

"Have you ever seen an athlete quite like Kurt Angle?" 

-Paul Heyman

In 1996, Kurt Angle was already recognized as one of the best amateur wrestlers in the world. He had won a gold medal at the 1995 World Championships. However, despite an amateur career that also included a Pennsylvania State Wrestling Championship as a senior in high school, two NCAA Division I Championships and four national championships, he was just another face in the crowd to most Americans. That all changed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

#FiftyMatches: One Injury Changes Everything

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin & Triple H v.
Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit

WWF Tag Team Championship

Monday Night Raw
May 21, 2001

"The entire building is shaking! This is the greatest chance in the lives of Benoit and Jericho!" -Paul Heyman

At the time, no one could have imagined that the days of dominance for the World Wrestling Federation were coming to an end. The company was still settling into the comfortable new reality of having an industry all to itself. World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling went out of business within weeks of one another. It almost felt like the WWF had planned all along to celebrate its final victory by putting on one of the most successful and well-received pay per views in history. After WrestleMania X-7, the WWF gleefully chugged onward. Alone.

#FiftyMatches: The Last Night Of The Attitude Era

It seems fitting that the first opportunity to post two matches for the same date is WrestleMania X-7. For me, and so many other fans my age, this is the peak of professional wrestling. The build for this show was incredibly well done. Some of the matches were literally a year or two in the making. The card was stacked with matches everyone wanted to see. It's a great show, perhaps the very best of them all.

Watching WrestleMania X-7 today can be a bit bittersweet. This was the end of the World Wrestling Federation as many had come to know it. I've heard some try to argue otherwise, but how can you? This is the last night of the Attitude Era. When it was over, nothing in professional wrestling was ever the same again.

#FiftyMatches: Nitro's Last Night

Sting v. Ric Flair

WCW Nitro
March 26, 2001

"Thank you Steve Borden. Thank you Ric Flair, for everything you've meant to this sport." -Scott Hudson

#FiftyMatches: "Stone Cold" Is Back

Triple H v. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin

2 Out Of 3 Falls

No Way Out 2001
February 25, 2001

"These guys are literally going to destroy each other"  -Jerry "The King" Lawler

Writing about the World Wrestling Federation in the year 2000, one storyline keeps popping up over and over again - The rise of Triple H.

In January 2000, he was an unproven champion still searching for a signature win. As the months passed, he earned the respect of fans. He held his own against The Rock, and dominated Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle. 2000 was the most successful year of Triple H's career, and he was in the perfect position for the biggest opportunity of his life inside the ring.

#FiftyMatches: Taking It To The Next Level

Dudley Boyz v. Hardy Boyz v. Edge & Christian

WWF Tag Team Championship

TLC

SummerSlam 2000
August 27, 2000

"How do you learn to fall off a damn ladder? You don't!" -Jim Ross

Feels like we were just here, doesn't it?

One thing these three tag teams definitely had not learned since their first encounter, less than five months earlier at WrestleMania 2000, was how to have a safer ladder match.

#FiftyMatches: Y2J And The Glass Ceiling

Chris Jericho vs. Triple H

Last Man Standing Match

Fully Loaded 2000
July 23, 2000

"...the end may be near for Chris Jericho." -Jim Ross.

There are few things that frustrate me in professional wrestling as much as the career of Chris Jericho.