Eyes on #2...Wrestlemania X-Seven
Which PPV should I watch and review next for the Eyes On... feature for @Sportskeeda if there are others reply to the tweet!
— Rob Goodwin (@Gameplay_Goody) December 30, 2016
After the opening ‘Eyes On’ feature back in December, watching the debacle we know now as Capital Punishment, I was desperate to watch a cohesive PPV. One that wasn’t dampened with poor finishes or bafflingly irritating segments. With this in mind, I took to Twitter, and asked you, the readers, what classic PPV I should review next.
According to the Sportskeeda faithful, there was only one possible option...
The first full PPV I had ever watched, this was pure nostalgia wrapped in childhood memories. When I watched it live, I remember loving every single match; even The Gimmick Battle Royal. Re-watching it at your behest, however, I was worried that regarding it from a more mature and critical standpoint, it could potentially tarnish what I have considered my favourite wrestling event of all time.
Luckily, I had nothing to be worried about. The matches were as excellent as I remember; with the obvious exception of the Battle Royal and the disappointing Women’s Championship match, and the emotions that ran wild during this PPV, ran wild once again. It was and still is the Attitude Era (possibly WWE’s golden age) at its absolute finest.
With this in mind, it gives me great pleasure to present Eyes On #2...WrestleMania X-Seven.
Necessary Background Information
This PPV was already record-breaking before the first match, with WWE reporting that 67,925 people crammed themselves into the Reliant Astrodome in Houston, Texas. With this in mind, the company was under pressure to deliver a show-stopping event, and that’s exactly what it did.
With one of the hottest wrestling rivalries since Hogan and Savage, or Michaels and Hart, Wrestlemania X-Seven’s main event was centred around The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, feuding over the WWF Championship.
Having feuded for the Championship on two separate occasions, once at Wrestlemania XV and again at Backlash 1999, it’s a testament to the charisma of these two characters and the creative team at the time that this feud had not gone stale, or that the WWF universe hadn’t lost interest in it.
At this point, there were no hotter talents in the USA and the feud had reached fever point in the build up to the PPV.
Throw the enigmatic character of Mr Vincent Kennedy McMahon into the mix, and you had the recipe for an outstanding night. The Rattlesnake was inserted into the main event following his Royal Rumble win, whilst the People’s Champion was the current WWF Champion having defeated Kurt Angle at No Way Out in February.
The catalyst for this feud proved to be Austin's wife Debra, forced into the reluctant management of The Rock, against the wishes of both Rock and Austin, by Mr McMahon. Despite Austin’s express warnings about what would happen to The Rock if Debra was hurt, both found themselves locked in Ankle Locks courtesy of Kurt Angle.
Austin arrived, scaring off Angle before delivering a stunner to The Rock for allowing his wife to be subject to Angle’s finisher.
During a handicap tag match at a later RAW, Austin made his way to the ring, only to receive a Rock Bottom for his trouble. As a result of her lack of control over her husband and The Brahma Bull, Debra was later relieved of her management duties on the March 29th episode of Smackdown!
A feud between the Brothers of Destruction – Kane and the Undertaker – and Triple H and the Big Show, with various interferences from either side in each other’s matches, led to bouts being finalised for this event by then commissioner William Regal.
Kane would face The Big Show for the Hardcore Championship, and Triple H would face The Undertaker in an attempt to ‘beat the streak’, which then stood at 8-0.
The final background story revolved around the ever controversial authority figures of the McMahons. Looking back on it, this storyline had possibly the most awkward moments of the Attitude Era, if not the entire of WWE/F’s history.
After a disagreement led to Vince filing for divorce against Linda, the latter had a nervous breakdown and was left in a comatose state.
Vince then took great delight in having an open affair in front of her with Trish Stratus who, in a way that is extremely hard to watch now, was constantly degraded by being made to perform such heinous acts as; crawling around on her hands and knees whilst barking like a dog and stripping down to her lingerie, whilst performing what still looks to this day, the most awkward and unpleasant kisses ever with the boss.
Furious with his father’s behaviour, Shane McMahon was drawn out of the woodwork. During Vince’s victory speech, having bought out WCW, Shane appeared on the Titantron, explaining that he was the owner of WCW, not his father. It is still one of the biggest swerves in wrestling history, and is a real goosebumps moment.
This, of course, led to the Invasion angle which was incredibly successful, and is still lauded today as one of the greatest... oh no wait....
As a result of this treachery, Vince demanded a fight with his son at Wrestlemania. This was granted with two further stipulations being added afterwards: Mick Foley as the special referee, and the match being made a Street Fight.