10 Most Influential WWE Matches Ever
9. Steve Austin Vs. Dude Love - Over The Edge 1998
This was the match which popularised the oft-dreaded use of the add-on to enhance drama.
It was an ingenuous artistic decision for this specific bout. The real conflict was between Steve Austin and Vince McMahon, who inserted himself into the match as Special Guest Referee in just one of several stipulations designed to strip the title away from the Rattlesnake's waist.
It also made inventive use of the staging area, as Austin and Dude Love threw each other off and onto the cars by the entranceway in a thrilling expansion of the WWF norm. The two men literally broke barriers in their pursuit of reinvention.
McMahon stooge Pat Patterson was also assigned to the ringside area in an attempt to mitigate the risk of a title victory, but his attempts to thwart Austin's pinfall victory were met with a chokeslam from Ringside Enforcer The Undertaker.
The match perfectly encapsulated the breathless carnage of the Attitude Era, in which standard wrestling fare was discarded to differentiate the WWF from WCW - which Vince Russo would later euthanise by copying this model to nonsensical effect ad nauseam.
Its influence has been ingrained into the WWE fabric well past the Attitude Era. Even something as relatively straight as AJ Style Vs. Seth Rollins at Payback 2016 was tempered by intra-match McMahon meddling.