#3 King of the Ring 2001 – Street Fight: Shane McMahon Vs Kurt Angle
Shane had interrupted Kurt Angle’s “Olympic ceremony” on Raw after Angle had regained his medals, and taken an Angle Slam off a podium for his trouble. This led to weeks of attacks from both men. At King of the Ring, they had a street fight to settle their differences – but Angle had already wrestled twice, against Christian and Edge, in the King of the Ring semi-final and final respectively. Shane had made his presence felt in both of these matches, with his direct interference costing Angle the chance to become a two-time King of the Ring. What followed was a 26-minute street fight which resulted in a stunning visual which was immortalised for years in the “Don’t Try This At Home” videos.
Early on, Angle had almost full control, but we see signs of Shane’s improvement and dedication in-ring, with a dragon-screw leg-whip and European arm-drag early on. Shane regains control, and we see him leaping from the barrier over the announcers and announce desk to clothesline Angle at ringside. He also arm-drags Angle into the ringside barriers a few times – a uniquely impressive move, and one I’m surprised no one has borrowed in recent years. As Angle bridges out of three separate pinfalls, Shane delivers increasingly impactful moves to put him back down for another attempt. He catches Angle’s leg, and ducks an enziguiri attempt, instead transitioning into an attempt on an ankle lock. He also forces Angle to use a kendo stick to break a sharpshooter attempt. Shane even attempts a shooting star press! Unfortunately for Shane, Angle moved out of the way, causing him to land on the edge of the trash can Shane had put on him.
The two fight to the entranceway, and the now-infamous glass-wall suplexes. Angle throws Shane with a belly-to-belly suplex into the entrance wall, with the full intention of it breaking. It doesn’t the first time, with Shane bouncing off it and landing head first on the floor. So, Angle tries again – with Shane exploding the glass as he goes through it upside down. Angle follows Shane into the entrance and tries suplexing Shane through the glass from the inside. Angle tries unsuccessfully TWICE, with Shane bouncing off the partition. Instead, Angle picks him up, and simply runs a bloody Shane head-first through it the third time.
Angle, bleeding from the shoulder and with shards of glass in his back, uses an equipment trolley to wheel Shane back to the ring, and covers. But Shane kicks out at two. Shane manages to fight back with a low blow and shots from a trash can lid. He even hits an Angle Slam on Kurt for a two-count. Shane counters an ankle lock, but Angle catapults him onto the top rope. Angle hits Shane with a wooden board, and uses it as a bridge in the corner, delivering an avalanche Angle Slam to pick up the win.
This match will always be remembered for what happened (or didn’t) at the entranceway, but Shane’s ability and in-ring psychology development was outstanding to witness. Shane added an incredible amount to his repertoire and showed in this match that he isn’t just a street fighter and that he can wrestle.