Wrestlemania X-7, in almost every way, was the culmination of the wrestling boom.
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Wrestlemania week is in full swing and while we are really looking forward to Irishwoman Becky Lynch - alongside Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair - headlining this year's show, admist the build-up we've found ourselves venturing down a wormhole of nostalgia.
For the Attitude Era generation, it is impossible to think of WWE's staple event without Wrestlemania X-Seven springing to mind. Even now, 18 years later, it still is arguably the greatest Wrestlemania of all time. First of the all, there was huge intrigue in real life as Vince McMahon had just bought WCW a week and a half before the pay-per-view. In the wrestling world, Vince was embroiled in a huge feud with his son, Shane, and the pair were set to face off at Mania. While this would become one of the major storylines over the months that followed, it was barely worth mentioning in what was an absolutely packed card.
Perhaps the most memorable match of the night was the fight for the WWE tag team titles, between Edge & Christian, The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz, in the first ever tag team tables, ladders and chairs match. To this day, major spots from that match feature heavily in WWE montages, particularly Edge jumping from a ladder to spear Jeff Hardy in mid-air as he dangled from the belts that were hanging above the ring.
I'm getting completely distracted from the main point of this piece but feck it, let's just watch that one more time!
Incredible. Anyhow, where was I? Ah yes, the main event. While the TLC match may have been a surprise classic, there was no doubting the anticipation for the Wrestlemania X-Seven main event: Stone Cold Austin v The Rock for the WWE title.
As the above Wrestling Observer Newsletter remarked, this show was the culmination of the wrestling boom and these two guys were the biggest stars of that boom.
The Rock was the reigning WWE champion and of course the People's Champion, Stone Cold had once again defied the odds to win the 2001 Royal Rumble and the crowd favourite was hellbent on recapturing the title. Something had to give.
While the match itself was a fantastic spectacle, it's actually the promo video that has lived longest in the memory of wrestling fans. We're all susceptible to hype vids, whether it be movie trailers or Sky Sports Premier League ads, but it's fair to say that nobody does promo videos better than the WWE. They are the best in the business. And their promo for The Rock v Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania X-Seven was the best of the best.
Speaking on this week's Something to Wrestle With podcast, Senior Vice President of WWE, Bruce Prichard described it as such: 'I think it is the best. You had so much to work with and it's like the song, the lyrics, were written for the match.'
That song was Limp Bizkit's 'My Way' and it is time to sit back and enjoy the next four minutes and one second of your life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srhd2fZyDB4
