It seems fitting that the first opportunity to post two matches for the same date is WrestleMania X-7. For me, and so many other fans my age, this is the peak of professional wrestling. The build for this show was incredibly well done. Some of the matches were literally a year or two in the making. The card was stacked with matches everyone wanted to see. It's a great show, perhaps the very best of them all.
Watching WrestleMania X-7 today can be a bit bittersweet. This was the end of the World Wrestling Federation as many had come to know it. I've heard some try to argue otherwise, but how can you? This is the last night of the Attitude Era. When it was over, nothing in professional wrestling was ever the same again.
Dudley Boyz v. Hardy Boyz v. Edge & Christian
TLC II
WWF Tag Team Championship
WrestleMania X-7
April 1, 2001
April 1, 2001
2001 Pro Wrestling Illustrated Match of the Year
Describing the journey the Dudley Boyz, Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian took to WrestleMania X-7 can be complicated or simple. I prefer to keep things simple. One year earlier, these three tag teams stole the show at WrestleMania 2000. They made their names in the industry, and over the coming months they got even better. That led to the opportunity to meet in a rematch, the first T.L.C. match, at SummerSlam 2000. Once again, they stole the show."How high will the bar be raised tonight?"
-Jim Ross
On both occasions Edge & Christian left as champions. Still, nothing felt settled. Fans wanted more. More importantly, they sensed all three teams had more to give. Fans wanted to see them rise to the occasion once again. When you take away everything else that surrounded and complicated this rivalry, that's really all this match was ever about - Six men on the biggest stage imaginable, trying to steal the show one more time.
Stealing the show almost sounds selfish. A lot of individuals boast about doing it in the ring. That's where Edge, Christian, the Dudleys and the Hardys were different. When you watched them, there was less selfishness and more selflessness. You felt like they were in it together, and you wanted to see them succeed. You wanted to see them do incredible things that you'd never seen in a professional wrestling match. Paul Heyman says it best on commentary. You admire all three of these tag teams, and on this night you sensed the opportunity to see something special.
It was almost to the point that you didn't care who won. You just wanted to see theses three tag teams get what they really wanted. Not the titles, but something greater - a match for the ages.
The first thing that strikes me about this match is the daring and courage of the performers. Even a simple move such as a double-team flapjack looks terrifying, because everything is maximum effort and maximum risk. Matt Hardy appears to be hurting mere minutes into the match, and there's a long way to go. Jim Ross and Paul Heyman try to spin this on commentary as the willingness to pay the supreme price for the tag team championships, but that's not what this match is about. The titles are a finish line. The journey is what really matters.
One of the few complaints about this match is the outside interference, but the precision and timing is fun to watch. I especially enjoy the Rube Goldberg-esque series of events that leads to Edge being knocked from the ladder just as his hand is touching gold. There are rough spots. Jeff Hardy awkwardly fights off Christian with one arm while holding a massively tall ladder in the other. It's amusing to watch. Less amusing is seeing Jeff fall to the canvas while attempting a tight-rope walk across a series of ladders. Fans were in a forgiving mood. No one seems to care that Jeff resets the ladder so he can end up hanging from the cable and Edge can spear him from another ladder set up in the corner.
This was not the last time these three tag teams would share the same ring during a championship match, but it was the last time they would have the stage to themselves. Future matches incorporated a fourth team or more. The added ingredients couldn't come close to producing the same results, nor should it have been expected to. This combination of tag teams was special, and WWF was wise to keep it that way. Not even house shows feature another triangle match featuring these same three teams. The best part about this rivalry is that it ended here. Edge & Christian were once again crowned the best tag team in the world, not that it seemed to matter. The match was the thing. You're disappointed when it ends, which is the way it should be.
For over a year, Edge & Christian, the Dudley Boyz and the Hardy Boyz owned tag team wrestling in the WWF, and fans couldn't wait to see what they'd do next. T.L.C. II is not perfect, but everyone got what they wanted - a match that no fan will ever forget.
The Rock v. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
WWF Championship
WrestleMania X-7
April 1, 2001
April 1, 2001
In late 1999, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was run down by a car backstage. He underwent long-overdue neck surgery and was out of sight for nearly a year. Filling the massive void left by his absence was not as difficult as you might think. Turned out, the WWF had just the man for the job. By the time Austin returned to action, The Rock was not interested in simply handing the top of the card back to him.
"My God, this is intense! This is WrestleMania!"
- Jim Ross
So, if you're Steve Austin, what do you do? You go back to what got you to the top in the first place. You kick ass. You raise hell. You plow through the opposition. You win the Royal Rumble and guarantee yourself a championship match at WrestleMania X-7. You're back on top. At least, that's what you think.
There's a bump in the road. Just over a month before you plan to reclaim the WWF Championship at WrestleMania X-7, you lose to Triple H. Now, there's doubt. There's fear. You begin to question your abilities, your recovery. Are you the same man you were before surgery? You become desperate. You've come too far to lose in your home state in the main event of the biggest show in WWF history. You won't be embarrassed.
You'll do anything to win.
There are times when I feel like I could write a book on this match alone. There are so many subplots, both real and produced artificially for the amusement of professional wrestling fans. Once again, Paul Heyman sums it up simply - "This is the main event." This is the very definition. I tried to think back to the last time there was such a hugely anticipated match at a WrestleMania, I suppose you can make an argument for Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI. This match has a lot of that same feel leading up to it, but it's an entirely different animal once the bell rings.
Two years after they delivered a really good, entertaining main event at WrestleMania XV, Steve Austin and The Rock meet once again. Austin is finally healthy. The Rock is much more seasoned in the ring. It's the perfect time for this match. The two biggest stars in professional wrestling are in their primes. They go full throttle for nearly 30 minutes, and it is one hell of a ride.
I almost forgot to mention the hype video before this match. Limp Bizkit will probably never find its way into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but thanks to "My Way", it's place in professional wrestling history is secure. By the time Austin and The Rock have made their entrances, you are so ready to see this match you can hardly contain your excitement, and they don't make you wait. They get right down to business, and they never stop.
It's amazing to see the effort Austin and The Rock put into this match. Think about the pressure they must be feeling. They are in the main event of possibly the best card of professional wrestling ever assembled. Just about everything on this show has met or exceeded expectations, but Steve Austin and The Rock understand that this is their night. After everything else that has transpired, they seem determined to be the only two people anyone will be talking about on their way home from the Astrodome.
Make that three people. I can't say I was surprised to see Vince McMahon walking to the ring during the final minutes of this match. I know my mind was racing wondering what he would do when he got there. Perhaps I was a bit naive as a viewer at the time. I know that looking back on this match today, I really wish the fans would've been able to see a true winner. Even if that meant Austin using a steel chair by himself, at least the contest is settled one on one. For a match as big as this one, it seems fitting.
Someone had other things in mind. Steve Austin recently stated on a WWF produced DVD on his career that he went into WrestleMania X-7 determined to turn heel, and adopt a villainous role in the WWF. He also seemed to understand that what he wanted at the time probably wasn't what was best. When "Stone Cold" Steve Austin shook Vince McMahon's hand, there was no going back. Ever.
This match is the end of the Attitude Era. It's the end of the glory days for the World Wrestling Federation. It's the end of the most beloved incarnation of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. It's the end, for all intents and purposes, of The Rock as a full-time professional wrestler.
It was all downhill from here, but it was one hell of a ride.
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