5 Best Wrestling Matches of 2006

1. The Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle – No Way Out 2006

This match was astonishingly good. It was so much better than most people expected, mainly because this match featured a different Undertaker from the ones fans had been exposed to previously.

Prior to this match, Undertaker had been involved in a feud with Randy Orton, which, while entertaining, was composed mostly of gimmick matches. In those contests, ‘Taker didn’t show anything exceptional or unique, and stuck to what he knew how to do well.

In this match with Kurt Angle, however, it was the opposite. The Undertaker worked a technical wrestling match for the first time in years. He targeted Angle’s arm for the first ten minutes or so, which was great ring psychology because doing so made it harder for Angle to keep the Ankle Lock for a long time. He focused a lot more on submission holds and mat wrestling, which was abnormal for the striking-centric Undertaker.

He even reintroduced the Triangle Choke (the precursor to the Hell’s Gate), and managed to get the move over as a believable hold in only a single match (thanks in part to Tazz giving the maneuver immense credibility).

While Angle was his usual self here (‘usual’ meaning a technical genius who could wrestle a great match with anybody), the Undertaker transformed into almost an entirely different person. This is easily one of The Undertaker’s best matches, and served as a foreshadowing of the great Undertaker matches that would happen in subsequent years.