Competition breeds innovation and excellence. This is a motto WWE knows all too well and the countless iconic rivalries that spread across the 5 decades. Vince McMahon has used it to put on the greatest wrestling matches in history.
Whether it was Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair bringing the women’s division to the place where it deserves to be, or Kane and The Undertaker redefining gimmick matches as horrific and scary rather than funny and comical. Just like Dwayne Johnson and Steve Austin.
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On the same level, The Rock and Stone Cold trail blazed an entire generation of wrestlers. Even to this day, 20 years later, top-name wrestlers like Roman Reigns and Becky Lynch are called shadows of Dwayne Johnson and Steve Austin. And to celebrate their amazing rivalry, WWE aired an episode of WWE Rivals featuring The Rock and Stone Cold.
Steve Austin reveals his standards while talking about WrestleMania XVII
After winning his third and final Royal Rumble, Steve Austin was scheduled to face The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania 17. It was the same WrestleMania where the iconic ladder spot with Edge and Jeff Hardy took place. As well as a banger Undertaker streak defense against Triple H. There were a few sprinkles; Vince and Shane McMahon in a street fight as well as Kane, Big Show, and Raven battling inside and outside the ring for the WWE Hardcore Championship.
READ MORE: Ex-WWE Star Ends Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson vs Stone Cold Debate With Single Statement
But despite all the amazing moments during the PPV, the one everyone waited for till the end was Rock vs Stone Cold. Nothing could ever take away from the spectacle both the megastars displayed. Many consider this main event to be the greatest one in the history of WrestleMania.
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In the WWE Rivals episode, talking about the build-up for the match, Stone Cold referenced their face-to-face interview. He said, “The backstage interview that myself and the Rock did with Jim Ross as a mediator. I needed that championship. I thought the Rock was coming up there (pointing at a level in the air). But I needed to stay here (pointing to a level above the one mentioned before). That was a shoe line for me and he never knew that.”
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Let us know your thoughts on the massive WrestleMania X-Seven main event, that changed the face of pro wrestling forever, in the comments below.