4. Steve Austin To The Rock: "I Need To Win" (2001)
This entry gets more out of hindsight than the real-time build, but it's that hindsight that makes an unthinkable finish capable of digestion. The initial build was amiably pedestrian: Austin wins the 2001 Royal Rumble match to get a title shot, and Rock defeats Kurt Angle five weeks later at No Way Out for the WWF title. WrestleMania X7 would be the first 'Mania in a dome in nine years, and it made sense for the Attitude Era's tallest pillars to headline it. In between moments of hitting their finishers on each other on Raw and Smackdown during the run-up, Austin and Rock took part in a sit-down interview with Jim Ross on the March 22 Smackdown. Here, Austin made pointed assertions that he 'needed' to win this match. Once Vince McMahon shockingly assisted Austin with the win in Houston, and Austin morphed into an increasingly-paranoid villain, the subtle storytelling of Austin and his now-fragile mind proves to have been masterfully executed. If only the fans went along with it.