The Complete History of the WWE Championship - Part 10

Kurt Angle (October 22, 2000 - February 25, 2001)

Kurt Angle: Had a meteoric rise in the year 2000

Kurt Angle debuted properly in WWE at Survivor Series 1999. He had previously wrestled a couple of times on Sunday Night Heat in the spring.

Eleven months later, the 1996 Olympic Gold Medallist was a WWE Champion. It was a meteoric rise from a man who only turned pro two years earlier.

Angle took to pro-wrestling like a duck to water. Mastering promos and the character aspect to sports entertainment as well as the in-ring aspect, Angle quickly won European and Intercontinental Titles as well as the 2000 King of the Ring.

At No Mercy 2000, on October 22, he won the big one.

In a terrific match-up, he ended The Rock's fifth WWE Championship reign and embarked on a memorable title run.

He retained via screwjob at Survivor Series, when his brother, Eric masquerading as Angle was pinned instead, enabling the Olympian to surprise and pin the American Bad Ass.

However, he was much more impressive the following month, when he retained the strap in a six-way Hell in a Cell bout, outlasting The Rock, Stone Cold, Triple H, The Undertaker and Rikishi.

He retained versus Triple H in a decent encounter at the 2001 Royal Rumble, albeit one that was bereft of heat, as a heel versus heel bout.

However, his title losing match versus The Rock at No Way Out 2001 was even better than their No Mercy stunner. Angle's reign was a week longer than Rock's fifth title run and the longest since Shawn Michaels's third reign which ended in March 1998.

Angle: the main eventer, had arrived.