There's a subtle beauty to Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock's final WrestleMania encounter, even if it understandably fell slightly short of their prior two clashes - this was not a battle between two creative and commercial juggernauts consumed by Attitude Era chaos but an encore performance of the period's epic season finale two years earlier.
'The Great One' hadn't yet fully stepped away for Hollywood (and that halfway house informed his outstanding heel schtick) just as Austin (as far as the fans were concerned) hadn't been forced out of action altogether, but in contrast to banter brawl they followed, both men still felt like they were in a version of their prime.
On the outstanding "Mania Of WrestleMania" proto-24 documentary made on this show, the extent of 'The Rattlesnake's plight was fully fleshed out. For the want of more words, he was f*cked, but got up one last time to lay down for the man that had helped enhance his incredible legacy. Rock knew all of that, and took a poignant moment centre-ring after the fall to tell him as much. Two larger-than-life icons had never looked so human.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, 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
