Ranking Every WWE Title Match At WrestleMania Worst To Best

22. WrestleMania XV - The Rock Vs. Steve Austin

Steve Austin The Rock WrestleMania XV
WWE.com

One of the all-time great wrestling rivalries, and a rivalry that would play out across three WrestleManias, the Rock and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin first tangled as true main event talent at WrestleMania XV.

Sure, they'd already had wars over the Intercontinental Title as Austin started to move towards the WWF World Title picture, but by 1999's edition of the Showcase of the Immortals, both men were now genuine top tier superstars.

A year can make a huge difference, and that was highlighted here perfectly. At WrestleMania XIV a year prior, the Rock retained the IC Title by DQ against Ken Shamrock, whilst Austin would defeat Shawn Michaels to win his first WWF Title later that night. Skip ahead to WrestleMania XV, the Great One walked into the event in the midst of his third reign as WWF Champion, and Stone Cold himself was a two-time WWF Champ by this point.

Ever the cocksure heel at this point in time, the Rock was great here, portraying all of the hallmarks that made so many people want to cheer him even when he was supposedly in villain mode. For Austin, he was riding a wave of popularity never before seen in the business as fans clamoured for the beer-swilling, finger-flipping, boss-Stunning everyman to finally shut the Rock's mouth.

The Bionic Redneck would of course get the win, and the match itself was decent if not great - with these rivals having far superior matches later down the line.

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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, 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 the 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, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.