YouTube Wrestling Match Review: Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle (No Way Out 2006)

[Warning: This review will contain spoilers.]

I own a lot of wrestling matches on DVD. Over 500 matches. As much as that seems to me, there are hundreds of matches I don't own and have never seen before. I've been watching wrestling since 1999, but I took a break from 2002 to 2007. During the years I have watched wrestling, I have only seen a handful of Pay-Per-Views that I don't own on DVD. So there are many classic matches I have never seen. I have two options to fix this problem. One, I can buy more DVDs or two, I can search for some of the matches on YouTube. Watching on YouTube is a cheaper option, but it is harder for me to watch matches online than it is to watch them on TV. When I'm on the computer, I can get distracted too much and I will surf the web while the match is happening. But if I am reviewing the match, I focus on the match more. In this column, I will review wrestling matches that are on YouTube and I will only review matches I have never seen before. I have always wanted to see Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle, but I didn't want to buy the No Way Out 2006 DVD. Luckily, this match is on YouTube.

Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle (No Way Out 2006)

I have The History of the Undertaker WWE DVD and in that DVD, Kurt Angle talks about facing Undertaker on Smackdown and says that he wants to face Undertaker at WrestleMania in the future. As of right now, that WrestleMania match has never happened, but this match might be the closest thing to that match. This match was the WrestleMania match they never had. It happened at the Pay-Per-View before WrestleMania 22. Kurt Angle's World Heavyweight Championship was on the line in this match. Many people say that this match was the 2006 Match of the Year and I think it's one of the best of the year. I would say the Edge vs. Mick Foley match at WrestleMania 22 is the best match of 2006, but this match is not that much worse than that match. Angle and Undertaker wrestled for 29 minutes and it was a match I enjoyed. It wasn't a match that I didn't want to end, but I didn't really get bored during the match. It was entertaining, but I think this match was more enjoyable to watch when it was live than six years later. I knew who was going to win this match before I watched it and I think that hurt the quality of the match. Undertaker and Kurt Angle don't really do any crazy spots that I have never seen before. Some of the spots in this match are awesome, but I think they would be even better if I didn't know who would win. I did like this match, but it's not one of the greatest matches I have ever seen. I have seen better Undertaker matches and I have seen better Kurt Angle matches, but this match is among their top 10 WWE matches. A problem I have with this match is that the match doesn't get very good until the last 10 minutes. I'm not saying that the first 20 minutes are bad, but the first 20 minutes are mostly storytelling to set-up the finish. You can't just skip to the end of the match...you have to watch all 29 minutes to fully appreciate the match and that means you have to watch several minutes of Angle working on Undertaker's legs. I'm not a big fan of matches like that. I don't hate storytelling, but I want to enjoy the entire match and not just the last 10 minutes of this match. But the last 10 minutes of the match are awesome and the match ended with Angle getting a clean win over Undertaker. It's very rare to see Undertaker lose cleanly.

This match is not a five star classic, but I did enjoy it and it should have been on the WrestleMania 22 card. What WWE should have done was have Kurt Angle drop the title so he could try to end the Undertaker's WrestleMania streak. The World Heavyweight Championship match would be Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton. It would be worse without Angle, but it would be better than the Undertaker vs. Mark Henry casket match. The only difference between this match and a WrestleMania match is that Undertaker would have to win, but that wouldn't change my rating for the match. This match at WrestleMania would probably steal the show because it's an Undertaker WrestleMania match and it would be in front of a Chicago crowd...stuff like that would make it better than the Edge-Foley match. It's too bad this match didn't happen at WrestleMania, but it's still a good match. I think the people who enjoy the match the most are those who saw it when it first happened. It's like that Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels WrestleMania 25 match. It's not that fun to watch when you know that they are going to kick-out of each other's finishers. That's another match I wish I saw when it first happened. If you haven't seen this match and you don't mind watching a nearly 30 minute watch, you should watch it at least once because it's worthy of being on a future Undertaker or Kurt Angle DVD.

Winner: Kurt Angle

Rating: ****1/4