WrestleMania X7 shocked the world – was it the right call?
Certain moments in wrestling history grab you and pull you in. They leave you feeling. That’s why we love wrestling, right? Those feelings are what keep us entertained and invested. WrestleMania X7 stands as one of the most iconic events in WWE history, not just for its incredible matches, but for a twist that no one saw coming: the shocking heel turn of Stone Cold Steve Austin.
The match promo itself, with backing music from Limp Bizkit, is one of the best promo videos for a match I’ve ever seen. It literally gives me chills. Austin saying, “I need to beat you Rock. I need it more than anything” gives a little hint of what’s to come.
I remember just before the match started they announced that it was now a no-dq match. The atmosphere in the crowd changed and you just had a feeling something was going down. I didn’t see this coming though.
In my opinion, this is the best WrestleMania of all time and this main event just cemented this for me. The WWE Championship hung in the balance, and both men were willing to go to any lengths to emerge victorious. The fact that this shocking heel turn took place in Austin Texas (Austin’s home state) made this even more shocking.
Stonecold booked his place at WrestleMania by winning the 2001 Royal Rumble match, eliminating Kane last. The Rock became the WWF champion at the February No Way Out PPV. It was after the No Way Out PPV was in the books that the two started their incredible feud towards the WrestleMania main event.
Over 67,000 fans packed into the Astrodome to witness one of the greatest PPVs of all time. The atmosphere was electric, and the Texas crowd was in for one of the biggest shocks ever.
The match itself was electric and the crowd was loving every minute. Both Austin and Rock were huge at this point and usually you have a heel in a feud but neither were. A strange situation, however being in Texas would obviously give Austin an advantage when it came to support from the crowd.
The match went on with some amazing action and towards the end, Vince McMahon appeared. This is when you know business is about to pick up! It resulted in Vince passing Stonecold a chair and Austin pummeling Rock with it, before pinning him and winning the championship. The crowd were stunned. The sight of Austin and McMahon, who had an incredibly heated rivalry, standing together and beating the hell out of The Rock was incredible.
Many people believe that this exact moment was the end of the famous “attitude era”. I somewhat agree with this (my opinion). The move to PG didn’t come until 2008, but this main event definitely saw a turning point in the product.
The night after this on RAW, a steel cage match took place between Austin and Rock for the WWF Championship. This was the moment when they all had nuclear heat or support. Towards the end, with all the shenanigans happening, HHH storms down to the ring and the crowd erupted, sensing that this is the moment when HHH turns face and goes up against Austin. Instead, HHH aligns himself with Austin to become the two-man power trip. That night, The Rock left for Hollywood and shortly after this, HHH got injured and Austin struggled to get nuclear heat as a heel.
People have argued to this day about whether Austin turning heel, in Texas, was the best idea. He was the most over, loved babyface in the industry and had been tearing it up for the past few years. Turning HHH babyface may have seen a different outcome, however, we can only speculate!
Stonecold turning heel, at WrestleMania X7, in Texas, was a shocking moment and it capped a tremendous PPV.
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below and thanks for reading!
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