12 Richest WWE Matches Of All Time

7. The Rock Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin (WrestleMania X-Seven)

Donald Trump Stone Cold Steve Austin Vince McMahon Bobby Lashley
WWE

There were no two men more responsible or visible as the faces (and heels) of WWE's late-1990s boom than Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, and having broken Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage's buyrate record in 1999, the pair walked tall on new ground yet again for their second 'Show Of Shows' show-closer.

WrestleMania 17 was the zenith of the company's commercial and critical rebirth, with 'The Great One's WWE Title defence against 'The Rattlesnake' scaling a million buys on pay-per-view for the first time ever. 1,040,000 homes tuned in to see 67,925 fill a stadium for the organisation for the first time since 1997. And the heavily-papered San Antonio Alamo Dome crowd couldn't compete with a feverish Astrodome audience that had - in every sense - invested in the product.

The world was watching in a way Vince McMahon honestly hadn't been able to promote for a generation, and turning Steve Austin heel on that very same night quickly looked like an inadvertent acknowledgment that the glory days were over. It was in actuality the rebirth of something else - WWE had reinstalled a lustre in their brightest brand, and WrestleMania almost always emanated from stadiums in the future as a result.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett