#3 Stone Cold vs. The Rock – Wrestlemania 15
So many wrestling fans seem to agree that Wrestlemania 17 is the greatest wrestling event of all time. The jury is still out on that one for some of us, but if nothing else, it was a further example of when main events are done properly.
When you have two mega stars in the company like Austin and Rock at the same time, you need to cash in on that as much as you can. That being said, for my money, their main event matchup at 15 was a better example of storytelling than their historic showdown at 17.
2001 was a loaded year for the WWF. Having conquered WCW with the sheer amount of entertaining talent on the roster at the time, there were probably a number of matchups they could have gone for. In contrast, 1999 was a time of steady but not fully completed progress.
The tables had turned in terms of the ratings, but with WCW not having quite destroyed itself completely by this point, there was every chance that the pendulum could have swung back towards them.
The main rivalry for the WWF was still Vince Vs. Austin, but there were only so many matches you could have gotten out of that. Aligning the Rock with the corporation was a stroke of genius, it enabled the rivalry between Stone Cold and the boss to continue but with the addition of a promising rising star like the Rock.
I personally think this match was better in a technical wrestling sense as well, and looking back with hindsight, although 17 was the one that fans remember, it might not even have happened had 15 not been such a success.
