20 Best WWE Matches Since 2000
3. The Rock Vs. Steve Austin (WrestleMania X-7)
The Rock and Steve Austin's WrestleMania series is generally regarded as one of the greatest trilogies of all-time, and this was their finest hour.
No three men were more important to WWE's Attitude Era boom than Steve Austin, The Rock, and Vince McMahon, and each played a major role here. This was the wrestlers' second WrestleMania match, with Stone Cold coming out on top two years prior. The stakes were even higher here, though: Rock and Austin were bigger than ever before, and the sport's two biggest stars put on a classic.
The two icons benefited from a tremendous build. Stone Cold returned to the ring in October 2000, having missed a full year of action. He produced a gritty performance to win the 2001 Royal Rumble, and as Austin he battled Triple H at No Way Out one month later, The Rock took Kurt Angle's WWE Championship.
The forthcoming weeks saw Vince McMahon up the ante by forcing Austin's wife, Debra, to briefly become Rock's valet. Debra was inevitably hurt, Austin took it out on The Rock, and the intensity only amplified from there. Austin's narrative was simple - "I need to beat you, Rock" - and when they eventually met before a rabid Texas crowd, it felt like the most important night in WWE history.
It was a dramatic, hard-hitting, fast-paced match that ended with one of the most controversial finishes in WWE history. Vince McMahon strolled down to the ring, but instead of screwing Austin as he'd done a thousand times before, Vince helped the Rattlesnake to victory. Austin sold his soul to the devil, and while the heel turn proved disastrous, it doesn't diminish from this Attitude Era classic.