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#5: Steve Austin sells his soul
When “Stone Cold” Steve Austin stepped into the ring with The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania 17, we were only a few weeks removed from WCW going out of business.
Vince McMahon had the intention of buying the WCW brand, but on the final WCW Nitro broadcast, Vince’s son Shane McMahon announced that he beat his father to the punch and bought the WCW brand.
Vince bragged that he had put WCW out of business and the main feud that pushed WWE over the top in the rating war was the one between Vince McMahon and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Austin was at a crossroads at WrestleMania 17 when he was coming into the main event as the challenger for the WWE Championship. He promised to do whatever he had to do against The Rock to win the title, and by the end of the match, he proved that he wasn’t bluffing.
Vince McMahon came down to ringside during the match and pulled The Rock off of Steve Austin when he tried to pin “The Texas Rattlesnake” after a People’s Elbow. It was obvious that McMahon was attempting to cause a distraction to make Rock lose, but nobody realized that Austin would have anything to do with it.
The world was shocked when McMahon handed Steve Austin a steel chair to hit The Rock with. Austin would go on to hit Rock with multiple chair shots before he scored the pinfall and became WWE Champion.
The show ended with Vince and “Stone Cold” sharing beers and giving WrestleMania a rare ending with the heels walking out on top.
Stone Cold and Vince McMahon have been at loggerheads with each other ever since their storied rivalry began and it was an absolute shock to see the duo on the same page.
