10 Defences Of Horrible Wrestling Moments
5. The WrestleMania X-Seven Finish
There was no good finish to the main event of WWF WrestleMania X-Seven. The actual finish saw Austin strike a deal with the devil, blast the Rock with countless criminal steel chair shots, and turn heel. This finish killed the business. The drop-off in popularity was staggering.
But consider every other permutation.
They couldn't book a disqualification nor a count-out finish in the main event of WrestleMania. So that's out.
The Rock was bound for Hollywood temporarily, and was destined to end up there full-time. He was gone, so he couldn't win as a face nor align with Vince McMahon as a heel. The Rock going over, that's out.
Steve Austin could have simply won as a babyface before leading the charge against the invading WCW, but with hindsight, how viable was that?
Fans often forget the way in which the WWF changed in the year 2000 under Chris Kreski's direction. The show in addition to being more narratively sophisticated was more irreverent in tone. It was quite fun. Genuinely amusing. The returning Steve Austin's moody, vengeful character collided drastically with the vibe. He was still over, but his work just wasn't as cathartic as it was two years prior.
In every alternate scenario, the boom was coming to an end regardless: the WWF through its very mentality was going to botch the Invasion irrespective of who was involved, and you'll all remember that the top stars weren't.
The build to 'Mania X-Seven underscored that the buzz was fading. Everything that happened was going to happen, albeit more slowly; the WWF at least sensed that Austin wasn't the same and attempted a bold move.