#FiftyMatches: One Injury Changes Everything

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin & Triple H v.
Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit

WWF Tag Team Championship

Monday Night Raw
May 21, 2001

"The entire building is shaking! This is the greatest chance in the lives of Benoit and Jericho!" -Paul Heyman

At the time, no one could have imagined that the days of dominance for the World Wrestling Federation were coming to an end. The company was still settling into the comfortable new reality of having an industry all to itself. World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling went out of business within weeks of one another. It almost felt like the WWF had planned all along to celebrate its final victory by putting on one of the most successful and well-received pay per views in history. After WrestleMania X-7, the WWF gleefully chugged onward. Alone.

#FiftyMatches: The Last Night Of The Attitude Era

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.

#FiftyMatches: Nitro's Last Night

Sting v. Ric Flair

WCW Nitro
March 26, 2001

"Thank you Steve Borden. Thank you Ric Flair, for everything you've meant to this sport." -Scott Hudson

#FiftyMatches: "Stone Cold" Is Back

Triple H v. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin

2 Out Of 3 Falls

No Way Out 2001
February 25, 2001

"These guys are literally going to destroy each other"  -Jerry "The King" Lawler

Writing about the World Wrestling Federation in the year 2000, one storyline keeps popping up over and over again - The rise of Triple H.

In January 2000, he was an unproven champion still searching for a signature win. As the months passed, he earned the respect of fans. He held his own against The Rock, and dominated Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle. 2000 was the most successful year of Triple H's career, and he was in the perfect position for the biggest opportunity of his life inside the ring.

#FiftyMatches: Taking It To The Next Level

Dudley Boyz v. Hardy Boyz v. Edge & Christian

WWF Tag Team Championship

TLC

SummerSlam 2000
August 27, 2000

"How do you learn to fall off a damn ladder? You don't!" -Jim Ross

Feels like we were just here, doesn't it?

One thing these three tag teams definitely had not learned since their first encounter, less than five months earlier at WrestleMania 2000, was how to have a safer ladder match.

#FiftyMatches: Y2J And The Glass Ceiling

Chris Jericho vs. Triple H

Last Man Standing Match

Fully Loaded 2000
July 23, 2000

"...the end may be near for Chris Jericho." -Jim Ross.

There are few things that frustrate me in professional wrestling as much as the career of Chris Jericho.

#FiftyMatches: Reinventing The Iron Man Match

Triple H v. The Rock

WWF Championship

Iron Man Match

Judgement Day 2000
May 21, 2000

"The intimidating hour."

- Jim Ross

Just like The Rock throwing punches with his right hand, the World Wrestling Federation was sticking with what worked during the months following WrestleMania 2000. The company really had no choice. Mick Foley was now retired. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's return to in-ring action following neck surgery was months away. The Undertaker, as it would turn out, was close to returning from his own injury, but he was not back yet.

The WWF responded to this shortage of main event talent by hitching its wagon to its two hottest young stars. This was the third pay per view main event in a row featuring The Rock and Triple H, and in many ways it's the climax of their in-ring rivalry.