We got one very controversial moment happening today. Some say it was the actual end of the Attitude Era (But in my opinion that happened the previous year when Vince turned on The Rock the first time at a WrestleMania) Today we deal with the biggest Mania in history, and the main event between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. This match, which would eventually be match 2 of a trilogy, was teased way back in December at Armageddon, but lets go back even further to give a cleared picture.
It's November in 1999, and Stone Cold Steve Austin cannot go on any further without having neck surgery. This did stem back from the ill-fated Tombstone Owen Hart gave to Austin in 1997. The story is written, and Stone Cold is hit with a car to write him off TV for 10 months. In his absence, one man took the role of Top Babyface (Good Guy) of the company, and that man was The Rock. The Rock would would fight wars with Triple H and the McMahons during the spring and summer of 2000. September comes around, and the Rattlesnake has returned with a vengeance. At first the storyline consisted of Austin whooping anyone's ass to find who ran him over, until it was revealed like a popcorn fart in church, that Rikishi had done the deed. He would say he did it for The Rock, until it was revealed as well that Triple H was the man who sent Rikishi after Austin, because duh. The two would wage a war against each other that saw Austin killing Triple H by dropping off a forklift in a car to his demise. But in two weeks The Game would arise once more. Moving on, to December and Armageddon. During a Hell in a Cell with 6 top stars, The Rock and Austin would have a "moment" where they stared one another down, and the crowd went crazy. The same thing would happen at the 01' Rumble between the two, making the match at Mania inevitable. Austin would win the Rumble, and The Rock would breeze through Kurt Angle to reacquire the WWF Championship. The match was set for the Biggest Mania ever in Houston.
Austin and The Rock would stroll down the long ramp to the moment in the making. The match was changed to a No DQ contest right at bell-time, which caught the commentators off guard. Someone was changing things and it would become evident who exactly was pulling strings soon enough. Austin would go on the offensive early and often, but The Rock would get his licks in too. Both men would use every move in their arsenal to put the other away. Austin harboring back to his old Ringmaster gimmick, would lock in a Million Dollar Dream during the match. But the turning point came as a disheveled and upset Mr. McMahon marching down to the ring. This confused many as both competitors had much disdain for the owner of the WWF. But McMahon would show his colors soon by costing The Rock the win. Austin would capitalize but be unable to keep Rocky down. Austin would grow delirious and savage with each kick out. Eventually the Rattlesnake would bash Rock with a chair over and over and over, until he finally secured the win. As the show went off the air, the one thing WWF fans never wanted to see in their entire lives happened. Austin and McMahon shook hands while Jim Ross had a conniption on commentary, screaming "WHY AUSTIN WHY!?!?"
In what I would say is the best match of the trilogy of matches between Austin and Rock, would also become the most divisive in wrestling as well. This is right before I became a fan of wrestling and started a life of learning everything there is to learn about wrestling, so this heel-turn didn't hit me as hard, as I saw Austin as a heel to start with. But from others I have heard, it was when they put wrestling down and never picked it back up, which I do find sad. But I have had my share of moments of losing my "religion" too (Mostly being forced Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns down our throats for a decade almost). This was huge as the thing that turned the war with WCW was Austin vs. McMahon and now it could be seen as slap in the face. Austin was the anti-establishment and the ultimate hero and no one wanted to boo their hero. This was far different from when Hogan turned bad as no one could stand him anymore and he had overstayed his All American gimmick. Austin was still beloved and did not need to do this, but it happened and it shocked the wrestling world to it's core, and it lands here at numb er 8 on our list. So you know things are getting good when we got this only at 8. So stay tuned for more tomorrow!!
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