by Seth Mates

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In October 1999, a Ladder Match at No Mercy helped elevate Edge and Christian to the tag-team elite. In one match, the youngsters had reached the heavens of the tag-team world.

Fast-forward two and a half years, to tonight's Backlash Pay-Per-View here at Kemper Arena. Edge was already a successful singles superstar heading into his match against Kurt Angle. But according to Angle himself, tonight's match did for Edge what the Ladder Match had done two and a half years prior - it made him a top singles player in the World Wrestling Federation.

"This made Edge," Angle told WWF.com. "This made him a main-event player. This is what he needed. I give him all the credit in the world; he proved tonight that he could go with anybody. These fans, they love him, and they really get into the character of Edge and they enjoy him. He's proven to them that he's a big-time player."

An elated Edge was also thrilled with how the match went.

"I never knew it was possible to step up a level in credibility in losing, but I think tonight did it," he said. "I look at the thing as one big mountain that I'm trying to climb, with the ultimate pinnacle being the World Wrestling Federation Title. I think tonight was a step up that mountain. It may seem like a step back, but it wasn't. When we do a false finish and I see the crowd jumping up and down thinking that's it, I know we've done our job.

"I might have to say that was the best match I've ever had to this point -- even more than the TLCs. We had a straight-up wrestling match and we told a good story."

Just how much did Angle enjoy the bout? He told WWF.com that he considers it the best match he's had since his classic bout with Stone Cold Steve Austin last year at SummerSlam. And when you consider his unforgettable bouts with Triple H, The Rock and Kane since then, that's a huge compliment to pay Edge.

"Kurt's been involved in epics," Edge said. "To be a part of another one with him is the company telling me they think I deserve to be here. If I get in there and don't put on the type of match I know we can do, then I'm disappointed. But hopefully, I don't think that crowd was disappointed tonight."

Said Angle, "Edge and I have incredible chemistry, and the more we work against each other, the better it gets. And tonight, it peaked, which is nice."

The two men tore into each other from the opening bell - and Edge says he knew the were in for something special almost immediately.

I think when he hit me with the first German (suplex), we knew were onto something," Edge said. "And when we did the chop in the corner, because we were lacing each other, the crowd was picking up on the intensity of it. At that point, I was like, all right, we just keep rolling with this and we're going to be fine."

Added Angle, "I thought we had them at the beginning. When Edge came out -- the response felt like Rocky or Hogan or Stone Cold was out there."

The match featured a number of incredible and emotional false-finishes, and each man seemingly had the bout won time and time again.

"We wanted to make it truly unbelievably competitive, and the only way to do that is to have the type match where it could go either way," Angle said. "The false finished allowed us to do that."

As incredible as the match was, it almost ended a bit too early. At one point in the bout, Edge was set to give Angle a German suplex - a move common to Angle's repertoire, but not to Edge's. In fact, it was the first time Edge has ever performed the maneuver. When Angle landed, he came down right on his head.

"I German suplexed him right onto his head, and when he did the bounce over, we knocked heads after it," Edge said. "I think he was out. It's a testament to him being able to clear his wits that quick."

The match continued, as did the false-finishes. Ultimately, Angle pinned Edge following an Angle Slam.

"There's no shame in losing to Kurt," Edge said. "Everyone came out of the match stepping up a level, and that's what you strive to do every match. Tonight helped establish me to a new level, to be seen by the crowd in a new light maybe. I'm still overcoming the tag-team stigma; maybe tonight completely broke me out of it, hopefully."

Backstage after the bout, both superstars were greeted with handshakes, hugs, and words of congratulations.

Angle said the praise was reassurance for a job well done.

"We're the future," he said of himself and Edge. "We're now and we're the future. It was very important for us to prove that right now."

Added Edge, "Going toe-to-toe with Kurt and showing that I can compete at that level, which I've been trying to do. I think it's definitely a step forward in the right direction. Hopefully it's another step up that mountain for me. It's been a five-year climb so far; just gotta keep going. But I'll tell you one thing - it's going to be hard getting to sleep tonight."