WWE: 10 Most Inventive Big Match Match Finishes Ever

10. The Rock vs. Steve Austin - He Kicked Out! By Gawd He Kicked Out!

Event: Wrestlemania 15 The Finish: Stone Cold kicks out of The Rock Bottom, a ref gets hit with a chair, Stone Cold hits a Stunner, The Rock sells like he was shot, a new ref runs in, Rock kicks out, the arena loses their minds, Vince runs and helps The Rock stomp a mud-hole in Austin, Mick Foley evens the playing field, he counters a peoples elbow, counters a Rock Bottom, Kick, Wham, Stunner, Austin wins the title, and the first thing we see is Vince McMahon's face crumble before our very eyes into a puddle of disappointing, dejected, "I can't believe it" goo, and everyone goes home blown away. The match between Stone Cold and The Rock needed to be suitably epic and end with a clean win, and it did. The events surrounding the big finish were exciting, dynamic, and kept fans - Smark and mark alike, on the edge of their seats. What makes it inventive? It's the first time in WWE Lore that someone kicked out of the Stone Cold Stunner, and it's fitting it was The Rock. The second Rock kicked out, all bets were off. The crowd and viewers at home had no idea what could happen next, and the cascading series of events following it put knots in the stomach of Rock and Austin fans alike before the final Stone Cold Stunner ended things once and for all in favor of The Texas Rattlesnake.

The Impact: it solidified the careers of two of the most popular professional wrestlers of all time and launched the Attitude Era into the stratosphere. The match's ending was everything that was beloved and maligned from that era. Exciting developments, ref bumps, Vince McMahon sticking his nose in Steve Austin's business, brawling involving steel steps and chairs, and more. The Wrestlemania 15 match wasn't technical classic, but it didn't need to be. With Austin being as popular as ever and The Rock with white-hot momentum headed into the event, the crowd would have popped if The Texas Rattlesnake and The Brahma Bull sat in the middle of the ring and read Aesop's Fables. Thankfully they not only brought their "A" game ring-wise, they brought it creatively, too.