5. Vs. The Rock - WrestleMania XV
The first meeting between the two icons at WrestleMania is without a doubt the weakest of the three matches, but this isn't to say it's a dud. Far from it in fact, as the two superstars continued to drag the WWF further away from the ailing WCW. The Attitude Era was in full flow at this point, and as such the match comes with all sorts of extras. Vince McMahon attempts to replace Mankind as the special guest referee, a decision overturned by Shawn Michaels (then commissioner). HBK also bans the Corporation from ringside, ensuring a one-on-one battle between Stone Cold and The Great One. The two start off with a lot of fast brawling, making their way up the aisle to add an element of chaos to the battle. The Spanish announce table is broken before the two finally make it back to the ring, and a wrestling match almost threatens to break out. There are numerous ref bumps, including a succession of referees taken out by Rock and Vince McMahon. Mankind eventually returns to even up the odds and retake his place as special referee, and somehow within all the madness Austin hits a number of Stunners to pick up the victory. There is a lot of mess surrounding the match, but it is still a heck of a lot of fun. The weakest of the three for sure, but still a lot to love here.
John Bills
Contributor
Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.
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