WWE WrestleMania: What every main event should have been

WrestleMania X-Seven

Actual main event: The Rock vs. Steve Austin

What the main event should have been: The Rock vs. Steve Austin

After the debacle the year before, WrestleMania X-Seven made up for it and is regarded by many as the best WrestleMania in history, even if it did include a three-minute battle royal that was won by The Iron Sheik.

All kidding aside, the event was fantastic and there’s not really much that anyone could change here, including the main event, which was the second WrestleMania meeting between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. This was the best of their three encounters and one of the best main events in WrestleMania history, perhaps even of the best matches in WrestleMania history, even if it wasn’t the match of the night. That honor goes to the Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match with The Dudleys, The Hardys and Edge & Christian.

As it was two years prior, The Rock came into the main event as WWE Champion and once again would not leave that way. Austin, who had earned the title shot by winning his third Royal Rumble, was obsessed with winning back the title, a title he hadn’t held for nearly 18 months. Austin and Rock put on a classic, going back and forth and trading finishers, but neither man could seal the deal. After a while, Vince McMahon, who himself had been involved in a fantastic match earlier in the night with Shane, made his way to the ring, and it seemed we were going to get a revival of the Austin vs. McMahon feud. But in a nice swerve, Stone Cold and Vinnie Mac were on the same side and worked together to dethrone The Rock. Nice touch to a great match. It’s fun to pull something off that nobody expects, and Austin turning heel certainly was a surprise.