10 Best Wrestling Matches With The Worst Builds
6. The Rock Vs. Steve Austin - WWF WrestleMania X-Seven
Fred Durst did a better job of promoting the main event of WrestleMania X-Seven than the creative team.
You could hear him scream the word "YEAH!" over the 'My Way' video package, as Rock and Austin begin the hockey fight, and if you feel nothing - even if you watch it every single day, 22 years later - it's time to find a new hobby.
The package deftly obscures what was a terrible story. Mr. McMahon installed Debra as Rock's manager in a passé twist. That Debra was hardly a good performer hardly elevated what was desperately stale for-the-sake-of-it twisty Attitude Era material.
Debra was retconned out of the story in the classic sit-down interview - "Bam - non-factor!" - which was tense, captivating and foreshadowed the finish. Beyond that, though, Austin and Rock simply stared at one another, when conveniently coming together, before coming to blows and trading and stealing finishers.
The finisher trades and thefts in the actual 'Mania event worked to far greater effect.
The idea was that Rock and Austin simply could not be separated in a fair fight. It was real, too: they were the tippy-top household name megastars who somehow happened to come along at the same time. The finisher theft trope conveyed the profound mutual respect between the two, and ramped up the impossible drama, but the core competitive rivalry was illustrated by the incandescent brawling.
The finish practically killed the business, but the match so was undeniable that the terrible idea was executed brilliantly. Austin looked like a psychopath in there.