1. Triple H vs. Steve Austin (3 Stages Of Hell) - No Way Out 2001
To understand the background for this match, you need to rewind almost a year and a half to the summer of 1999. Triple H, Mankind, and Steve Austin faced off in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam in Minneapolis. Following the match, Triple H viciously attacked Austin's knee with a steel chair. This set the stage for a match between the two that fall at No Mercy. Not long after that match, WWE created a storyline where Austin was ran over by a car backstage. The reasoning for this was Austin needed time off to have much needed neck surgery. When Austin returned in late 2000, he went through a long process trying to figure out who the driver of the car was. After first believing that Rikishi did it to help out the Rock, it was ultimately revealed that Triple H had organized the entire affair. Triple H and Austin went back and forth throughout late 2000 and early 2001 costing each other the WWE Championship until eventually a match was scheduled between the two at No Way Out 2001. The match was deemed "3 Stages of Hell" and would consist of a singles match, a street fight, and a cage match. The winner would be the man to win 2 out of the 3 matches. The match was an all time classic, the best match of Triple H's career and probably in the top ten for Austin's career. Hunter was victorious and would go on to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania X-7 in the first of their three eventual WrestleMania matches. Steve Austin went on to win the WWE Championship from The Rock at X-7 and turn heel (big mistake) in the process.
