SD match 5/31/01: Austin vs Benoit (yes, I know),absolute CLASSIC

[jadillac]

I just asked AI (Deepseek) to give me a "consensus top 10 Stone Cold Steve Austin matches".

It gave me 10. Several I've seen obviously.... but it gave me a gem I somehow never saw & just finished watching. A Smackdown match May 31,2001 between, Austin (heel) vs Benoit (yeah I know, I know)....in his hometown of Edmonton. At one point, Austin took 10 brutal German suplexes....in a row. Holy cow.

That's all I'll say to not spoil it.

5-star great match without question

 

[Prez2032]

wasn’t watching cause rock was gone but this just came up on ig and yo Austin with the new neck in 01 was the best worker in the business. that’s why that 02 fall off is crazy in retrospect

 

[FunkDoc1112]

wasn’t watching cause rock was gone but this just came up on ig and yo Austin with the new neck in 01 was the best worker in the business. that’s why that 02 fall off is crazy in retrospect

They're correlated Austin knew he was on borrowed time and so he said "what neck?" and started taking 800 german suplexes, long-term damage be damned. By 02 it all caught up to him.

 

[jadillac]

wasn’t watching cause rock was gone but this just came up on ig and yo Austin with the new neck in 01 was the best worker in the business. that’s why that 02 fall off is crazy in retrospect

This match and his matches with Angle. Omg.

The way he worked completely differently as a certified heel.

 

[Art Barr]

I posted this match a Lil while back.

In that best of raw match thread I wanna say.



Art Barr

 

[Art Barr]

This match and his matches with Angle. Omg.

The way he worked completely differently as a certified heel.

You mean the title change.
That is another one of his dark horse five star rated matches too.

Just like the six pack challenge is a five star match.. Most forget about.



Art Barr

 

[Redwood]

Austin's 2001 work is forever solidified. Whether comedy or in ring work