5 Best Wrestling Matches of 2001

#3. Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit vs. Triple H & Steve Austin – May 21st, 2001

This was a lightning-fast match, going under 14 minutes long. But damn did they ever back so much action into such a short period. Benoit & Jericho felt like perfect underdogs fighting against two dominant champions, and every pin attempt and submission felt like it could end the match. This was presented as the biggest match of both Benoit & Jericho’s lives, as the two legendary workhorses faced the two biggest stars in WWE at the time.

The timing and psychology were also perfect, and Jim Ross’s commentary was simply perfect as you could hear the raw emotion in his voice. Of course, the crowd was crazy loud for the entire match, going nuts for even the smallest of moves.

Even commentator Paul Heyman noted ‘the entire building is shaking’ which wasn’t hard to believe given how much the crowd was roaring as this match went on.

But most notably, this is the match in which Triple H tore his quad. As he broke up the Walls of Jericho, he started grabbing his leg and hobbling, barely able to put any weight on it.

Yet not only does he keep moving on that leg, but he continues the match as planned and gets put in the Walls of Jericho with a torn quadriceps muscle.

He continued the match even though his muscle was torn completely off the bone, even if doing so risked making the injury worse (which it did).

As a wrestling match, this is a bloody awesome spectacle of storytelling, emotion and psychology. There were so many unexpected twists and turns that it kept fans on the edge of their seats.

But it’s also remembered for Triple H’s quad tear, yet he continued the match as planned, and the pain of being in the Walls of Jericho must’ve been unimaginably excruciating. Say what you want about Triple H’s relationship with the McMahon family: he is incredibly tough and earned the respect of fans everywhere for enduring what was a career-threatening injury.