5 Best Wrestling Matches of 2002

#1 Edge & Rey Mysterio vs. Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit – No Mercy 2002

As Tazz put it, this was a ‘phenomenal, outstanding match’

At this show, two of the top teams on the SmackDown roster clashed to crown the first-ever SmackDown-exclusive WWE Tag Team Champions. But there was more to it than that. Angle & Benoit hated each other going into this match, and if either one attacked the other, they’d be suspended for a year without pay.

So not only did you have two wrestlers that hated each other teaming together against a coherent team seeking glory, but you had a situation where the stakes were so high that Angle & Benoit simply could not risk attacking each other.

This is the most beautiful WWE tag team match I have ever seen. At first, it didn’t feel like a ‘good guys vs. bad guys’ match, but instead a natural competition between two sides wanting to be the best (which are always the greatest matches).

Not only did Edge & Mysterio hold their own against two of the best in-ring workers in WWE at the time, but they also got the advantage in some of the most inventive ways possible. Edge actually launched Mysterio onto Benoit, who was seated on the top rope, and Mysterio then took Benoit down with a Hurricanrana. It was a gorgeous site to see Mysterio moving around the ring like that, given how much of a veteran he already was at the time.

In another spot, Benoit had Edge locked in the Crossface, but Mysterio hit the 619 onto Benoit while Edge ducked, breaking up the vicious hold.

But the best part about the match was that it was filled with amazing reversals and believable near-falls. So much so that you could never tell when the match would end. This is in stark contrast to today’s WWE matches, which have such obvious ‘superstar comebacks’ that it takes away from the drama of most of the matches.