16: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs The Rock – WrestleMania 17
Many fans view WrestleMania 17 as the greatest WrestleMania of all time. It was in a sense the end of the attitude era as we knew it was the first Mania after the WWE had bought WCW and even bigger than this, the main event saw Stone Cold Steve Austin join forces with Vince McMahon. This one action burned fans who had for many years looked at Steve Austin as the anti hero who stood up against the man and kicked his boss’s ass as so many of them would want to.
The match itself was probably the best of the three WrestleMania matches between Austin and the Rock. Their first match at WrestleMania 15 is good, but before the Rock had fully developed as a character and in ring performer, and their next match at WrestleMania 19 would unbeknown to everyone at the time, would be Steve Austin’s final in ring match before hanging up the boots. This match despite the ending with Vince is the best of their matches and in front of the crowd that is hottest for the pair of mega super stars at the height of their careers.
15: Shawn Michaels vs John Cena – WrestleMania 23
After returning to the ring after a four year retirement Shawn Michaels was rarely put into the world title picture in any serious way. Having been the third man in the WrestleMania 20 main event alongside Royal Rumble winner Chris Benoit and World Champion Triple H, Shawn wasn’t the guaranteed main event fixture he had been before his absence.
His main event match at WrestleMania 23 marked Shawn’s final WrestleMania main event where he would be competing for a title, and with Triple H notable off the card with injury Shawn was given the nod for the match.
The match is arguably John Cena’s best WrestleMania match, and was another match where Shawn Michaels proved again that he is Mr WrestleMania, who will always steal the show and bring out the best in all of his opponents.
