Your favourite WrestleMania match in The Rock & Stone Cold Steve Austin trilogy

[AkydefGoldberg]

I've been reading The Rock's first autobiography - which besides the kayfabe stuff - is an enjoyable read on his early life, personally and professionally and talking of his admiration Stone Cold, followed up by naming him as one of his favourite opponents alongside HHH in his latest Youtube video, I thought I'd watch their first two WM matches that I hadn't seen in full.

Personally, my favourite was their last encounter as it was symbolic for it being their - subsequently Austin's - last match together, and the three Rock Bottoms given by The Rock was a pertinent statement to finish the match.

But the best match was probably WM17 but the first two matches were action-packed, breathless encounters and all representative The Rock v Stone Cold's feud.

[KaiserGlider]

Definitely Wrestlemania 17. One of the greatest matches of all time.

[PorkChop]

Gotta be WM17. The anticipation for that match was insane.

[SlightlyJames]

17 for me too. Had that Wrestlemania on VHS and used to watch it at least once a week, awesome show and awesome main event.

[Str8Shooter]

The obvious answer is Mania 17, it was the highest profile of the three matches and was the cap off on arguably the greatest Wrestlemania of all time. Plus it included a huge, if ill advised, moment with Austin turning heel and aligning with Vince.

The cool thing to me is how their three Mania matches sort of mirrored their careers. Mania 15 they were both still on the rise, Austin was huge already but would get bigger yet and the company would only get hotter. Then at Mania X7 it's them both in what many would consider their "prime", with the company at it's zenith of popularity. Then Mania 19 they're both on the way out, being Austin's last match because of injury, and Rock having another match or two before being gone for like 8 years.

[AkydefGoldberg]

Plus it included a huge, if ill advised, moment with Austin turning heel and aligning with Vince.

Watching it seeing Austin act heelish unbeknownst to everyone on what was to come made me realise how shocking it must have been for the audience watching live in the arena and on TV. Even some of the promos post-Mania with Austin calling Vince "Mr McMahon" and beating the shit out of JR was striking..

[Everlong]

Yeah, easily 17 for me. I love all three matches for different reasons, but 17 takes the cake in terms of anticipation. The two biggest stars in the world... it was the last time it really felt like we were getting a larger than life main event for the title at WrestleMania.

I remember at the time of the match, my school was really divided. Back at that time, EVERYONE (well, all the boys) watched WWF and/or WCW (at least WWF if not both). In the leadup to that WrestleMania, you were either an Austin kid or a Rock kid, and there were big arguments that would pop up. I, being a Rock kid (though I loved both) got a lot of grief when Austin won

[Kreashko]

For men, 17 is so overhyped it's not even funny. It had a shit ending with Austin turning heel. So for me, it's WM 15. That's the height of the Attitude Era and it truly holds a special place in my heart.