10 WrestleMania Main Events That Changed The Direction Of WWE
4. The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin - WrestleMania 17
Wrestlemania 17 is seen by many as the greatest Wrestlemania of all time, even the greatest PPV of all time. And a large part of its appeal and fanfare is down to the main event of the show. The Rock had defeated Kurt Angle at No Way Out to win his sixth WWE Championship and Stone Cold won the 2001 Royal Rumble to put the two superstars on a collision course. Both babyfaces, the build up to the Mania match was phenomenally done and was only added to further by Limp Bizkits memorable My Way. The stage was set: the companys two biggest heroes were set to duke it out at the Showcase of the Immortals to see who was the very best. Given the tense build and the back and forth match, you sensed something special was going to happen for there to be a decisive outcome. So it proved, as Vince McMahon would interfere to lead to a chairshot-heavy victory for the Texas Rattlesnake. Austin had aligned himself with the Devil, and the next night on Raw would see him also align with Triple H to form the Two Man Power Trip. From here, the direction of the WWE took a massive shift. The Rock went on hiatus to pursue his film career, the other top face, as in Austin, was now a heel, and you had the coalition of Austin, Hunter and Vince running through the roster. Whilst familiar faces like Kane and The Undertaker would stand up to this new power group, the change in direction for the company would also lead to more time in the main event scene for the likes of Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and even Team Xtreme. These new faces in the main event picture were great to see. Occasionally Jericho and Benoit had been in the main event scene for a cup of coffee but now they were getting actual solid feuds with Austin and HHH. This new heel triumvirate of Austin, Triple H and McMahon, along with Rock's departure, lent itself to allowing fresh babyfaces to move up to the next level. Key to all of this was what transpired at the WWF Title match at Wrestlemania 17.
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.
