#2 Stone Cold vs. Shawn Michaels – Wrestlemania 14
Ask anyone who their favourite WWE star of all time is and you’ll get numerous responses. Ask anyone who the most important or well-known WWE superstars of all time were and most people will say the names of Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin and John Cena.
Hogan was the embodiment of the golden era of the mid-80s – early 90s, Stone Cold was the embodiment of the Attitude Era from 1997 to 2001. Cena, whilst most associated with a less popular era than the previous two, is still the man you think of when you think of WWE’s PG Era from 2004 to Present day.
One thing to note about these three eras is that they all had a Wrestlemania main event to kick start the rise of the Superstar most associated with them. Hogan had his at Mania 3, Cena had his against Triple H at 22, and Stone Cold had his at Mania 14.
There are so many great things to say about this match that I am bound to miss something out. From a historical perspective, it stood as the ultimate indication that the WWF had turned a corner and were fully ready to embrace an edgier type of product.
Shawn Michaels had done a fine job holding down the fort while WCW threatened to put Vince out of business. However, there was just something about HBK that wouldn’t have allowed him to carry the company any further – and that’s not even considering his health problems at the time.
He was still a relic of a less successful era, and fans needed a fresh talent to get behind. Stone Cold had been ascending up the ranks since 1996 and he just happened to personify where popular culture was going across America at the time.
The WWF needed to fit in with shows like South Park and Jerry Springer, trash TV that stuck it to authority with one cold finger in the air. Stone Cold pinning Michaels was a symbolic act of sweeping the past away for good and ushering in a new way of doing things.
And of course, there was the inclusion of Mike Tyson. To say Tyson was a controversial figure is putting it lightly. Convicted of rape, having gone through imprisonment, biting the ear of an opponent in the ring – this guy wasn’t exactly Mr. T!
Bringing him in was a very risky move, especially considering the PR problems that the company had already experienced with the steroids scandal. Perhaps it was the decision to push ahead regardless that really struck a chord with the audience.
They knew the WWF had to do something brash in order to survive, and the company clearly weren’t afraid to do it. Seeing Michaels laid out on the floor with Mike Tyson raising the hand of the new champion Stone Cold Steve Austin must have paralysed the WCW with fear.
