[2001-04-01-WWF-Wrestlemania X-SEVEN] Steve Austin vs The Rock

[Microstatistics]

"I need to beat you Rock, I need it more than anything that you could ever imagine"

 

Nothing sums up the story of the match better than this

 

Anyways this is the perfect attitude era style match with excellent storytelling and great heat. Austin's facial expressions and his depiction of how his character degenerated over the course of the match were ridiculously great, without coming off as cartoonish. ****

[BigVanCrush]

"The fact is you've got the WWF Championship and I want it"

 

since you used my favorite quote from the video i decided to go with #2.

 

This match rules a lot. The video package is maybe the single best one WWE has ever done and sets the stage well. I like that the first third of the match is what you'd expect from an AE main event, but then the second third goes for finisher trading and both guys digging deep into their arsenals before the final third, which is Austin and Vince putting the screws to Rocky. The heel turn is still a baffling thing to me now but I like what it adds to the story of the match. Austin, mere months after returning, goes so far in his quest to get the WWF title back that he's willing to align himself with Vince McMahon to get it back. My only real complaint is how long the last bit of the match is before Austin finally wins. It seems like Vince coming out should have caused them to immediately go to the finish but he's out there for what feels like 10 minutes before the match actually ends. Still, that's a small blemish to me on an otherwise tremendous match. JR and Heyman are pretty goddamn great here, I think this might be JR's single best performance. Him selling the Austin heel turn will forever be burned into my mind. This is probably the best WrestleMania ME ever. *****

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF World Heavyweight Champion The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin - Wrestlemania XVII

 

I watched this match last night not expecting it hold up even though I have watched many times of the year. I thought I had just got caught up in all the hoopla and the spectacle, but nope this is a badass match and definitely one of the greatest matches to take place in pro wrestling history. The year 2001 was "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's reaffirmation that he was one of the greatest wrestlers to ever live. He burned out in a short amount of time, but by God did he burn bright. I am surprised in my previous reviews (I watched a lot of these matches two years ago) that I did use the term "Perpetual motion" because that to me sums up Stone Cold's 2001. He was perpetual motion. But it was not wasted motion or excessive motion. It was always motion with purpose and with urgency. The difference between urgency and desperation is a fine line and this match Stone Cold Steve Austin crossed the line into desperation. That in my mind is the difference between a babyface and a heel. To me, Austin's real value was always turning himself up to eleven. In 2001, I think this was something he was struggling with personally. Was he as good as he once was? Would he be as over? Did he take what he had to be The Man? Especially given how hot The Rock was. He was not coming back to a company that was hurtin'. He was not coming back to a company that desperately needed a top babyface they had The Rock. You bet your ass, Steve Austin the person had some doubts about himself. I think it was genius to turn this into a storyline because it was so believable. But do it in a way that is so pro wrestling. Take something thats a seven and dial it to an eleven by getting Mr. McMahon involved and that heinous attack at the end with a steel chair to really sell it. To me it was not just smart booking, it was smart in-ring storytelling. Thats what puts this match over the top. Every plot point in this match fuels Steve Austin's insecurities and self-doubt until it explodes into that fiery rage of the heinous steel chair attack on The Rock's prone, limp body. Honestly, no matter who is opponent was on this night would have taken a backseat to the drama of Stone Cold character, but I thought this was The Rock's best performance as a babyface and as a wrestler. I really enjoy the Rock. I dont think he is a great wrestler and I dont he is a bad wrestler. He is kind of strange because he feels so different and has become so successful at not being a wrestler, which is so odd. Here, Rock really shows that babyface fire. I love his reactions to Stone Cold's jaw jacking and flipping him off. He was matching Stone Cold's energy and thats what this match needed. I loved the jumpstart to the match. Austin jumps The Rock it is a borderline sneak attack because the Rock has barely taken off the championship belt. It is gamemanship. It is an unwritten rule that you sort of look your opponent in the eye and lock up. Austin is a desperate man and desperate men do desperate things. Austin proves that by picking up that championship belt and trying to nail The Rock. Austin is not a confident man. Also, I love the drama swirling around this match being changed to a No DQ match at the last second. Austin is perpetual motion in this match both on offense and bumping & selling. He wrestles this match huge remember this is at the Astrodome. The culmination of all his hard work. Taking WWF from almost going bankrupt to their first Dome show since 1992. Watch him go for that patented FU elbow. He is out of control but everyone wait at the top can see him throw his body around. I love those big Arena Rock motions. There is a part where he is taking Rock's offense and he is doing the best discombobulated selling you will ever see. Just flailing all over the place. Another moment that just dawned on me was he took a suplex he pops up to keep fighting because that's his nature, but then all the pain stuns him up against the ropes. I love that delayed register. More people need to use that. It makes sense when you first get hit, it is kinda rush and you wanna fight back. Then like a wave it crashes over you. Also, the transitions in this match are just money. They all happen because the wrestler in control takes their eye off the prize. Austin is fiddlefucking trying to get the turnbuckle pad off and Rock knocks his ass down. The Rock is jawjacking with the ref and Austin blasts him with the ring bell. They pull out all the stops here too. Double juice, lots of great throwbacks to Austin/Bret. I love the Sharpshooter sequence because they are both bleeding, but notice the little things. Austin needs to use the ropes to break the hold. Rock can break the hold with his strength. Thats the difference between a heel and babyface. People forget often that one of the main reasons a heel becomes a heel is becomes he realizes he is not good enough to best the babyface. Thats what is happening in this match. Austin was worried that he was not good enough but as the match progresses it is becoming more and more evident that this is not just a cause for concern, but actually the truth. Thus he has to resort low down, cheap tactics to win. Thats how you become a heel. The Rock hits the Stunner and this draws out Vince McMahon. It is clear that Austin at least wanted to try to win this fight on his own, but now the situation is getting too dire. McMahon who has a lot invested in Austin is out to insure that he wins. Austin is not too proud to beg. There are so many great moments in the finish stretch of this. McMahon's face after he pulled the Rock off Austin after Rock had Austin pinned from the People's Elbow and that famous McMahon gulp that leads to the chase scene that ends in a Austin steal of a Rock Bottom. The slow realization that Austin and McMahon have joined forces. Jim Ross was so crucial here because he is Steve's best friend. You can actually listen to him go through through five stages of grief as he is witnessing what is happening. You can see Austin become more and more unhinged with each kickout. The Stunner and kickout was especially good. The Rock is valiant here and comes close with a Rock Bottom, but the odds were too stacked against him. I think what makes this finish so good. It is one extra Stunner that does the Rock in or one extra chair shot. Austin goes ballistic in a way that you never see a wrestler go. Wrestlers usually one chair shot. If it is multiple, there is a pause in between swings. They need to line up make sure they hit the right spot, the opponent has to brace himself. There was none of that here. Austin was in a frenzy. He saw red. It is not singular climax we are so used to seeing wrestling. It is about the journey of the character, Stone Cold Steve Austin, as you can watch him lose all grip on his own sanity. So powerful. Then of course the moment none of us believe we would see, the anti-establishment asskicker shaking the hand of Corporate Satan. Desperate men do desperate things.  *****

[Makai Club #1]

For one of the biggest drawing matches in WM history. One of the most remembered feuds of all time, this really didn’t have a lot of build. I even watched the Raw and SD’s coming up to this show and it’s mostly these two feuding with Angle and Rikishi. Oh well, we are here now.  

Unbelievable match. Some excellent, excellent storytelling. It’s not even subtle to the point of being annoying, Austin is clearly the aggressor throughout the match. He tries and does anything to get the win. There are clear face and heel roles in this match and it sets the tone for the finish. I liked that there was little hiding it because when it happens, it makes total sense in that regard. Perhaps not to the overarching feud with Vince going back to 1997 but still. Rock’s bumping was really good at times, in others you could argue it was silly but that’s just Rock and it doesn’t annoy me too much. The brawling was intense as you could get and the false finishes were done to near perfection. I don’t think the match peaked to the point where I was going absolutely crazy for everything for it to be that 5 Star classic level of classic but good god, is this a classic. ****3/4
 

[ohtani's jacket]

If there's one thing 2001 has been crying out for it's a MOTYC. This match had the potential to deliver on that need since it was the biggest main event we'd seen to date, but I can't sit here and say this was a MOTYC. To me, it wasn't convincing. I couldn't believe that after such a long (some might say torturous) feud with Triple H, that Austin would be so desperate to beat the Rock that he'd sell his soul to the devil. And to a certain extent, I didn't even care. Okay, so you can't trust a rattlesnake. You couldn't really trust the Rock either. You couldn't trust anyone in the Attitude era with the way they slipped back and forth between a heel and a face. And I didn't like the execution of the angle either. Instead of being an instantaneous shock, it was a prolonged, drawn-out affair. Even the crowd seemed confused. At first, they wanted to cheer because Austin won the belt in Texas and then the allegiance with McMahon sunk in and they weren't sure how they were supposed to react. I know they were trying to play off Montreal but having Vince jump up and down and cheer like a gimp wasn't my idea of a killer angle. And the Rock kicked out too many times. 

Another problem I had with the match was the call. JR and Heyman had poor chemistry together. They spent too much time bickering and they belabored the same points over and over again. This wasn't an all-time great call by Ross. You'd expect him to be a hell of a lot more emotional over the finish but all he could muster at the end was the same line about "Satan himself" ad nauseum. The match itself was lackluster as well. The throwbacks to earlier Austin matches were a good idea in theory but they were too "on the nose." I don't think you should make it that obvious that you're playing off past history. I also hated the cutesy use of each other's finishers. I honestly expected more from Austin than aping that trend. I don't wanna come across like the match was bad or the work was terrible. But I don't think it was as good as the opening fall in the Three Stages of Hell match and that's a problem if you're looking at this from a MOTY viewpoint. I'm interested to see how this played out on RAW the following night but this main event sure as hell didn't make me regret my decision to stop watching the WWF. 

[BigVanCrush]

"JR and Heyman had poor chemistry together." is one of the worst takes I've ever seen on the internet. Congratulations.

[cactus]

The pre-match video package is the 6/9/95 of video packages. Incredible stuff that makes Limp Bizkit listenable!

The match itself is all the best components of the Attitude Era coming together perfectly. You got brawling, big kickouts, weapon shots, blood, using a lot of finishers, using your opponent's finisher, Rock, Austin and Vince McMahon. Austin having to use his old submission shows how desperate he is to win the title. They never go overboard with the finisher trading or the kickouts for me. They used exactly the right amount for a big stadium main event. The Austin turn might of bombed long-term, but as a standalone angle, it's shocking and executed perfectly.

★★★★½