10: Randy Savage vs Hulk Hogan – WrestleMania 5
The Mega Powers Explode! This was the tag line of WrestleMania 5 as the once friends Randy Macho Man Savage and the Immortal Hulk Hogan would feud and no longer be team mates. Savage who had won the belt at WrestleMania 4 the year before in part thanks to the Hulkster, would lose to Hogan in another main event which continued the WrestleMania trend of being the one time of the year when the biggest stars in the company would face off in dream matches that we hadn’t seen before.
The match was filled with emotion and as Macho Man was going further and further into the dark side Miss Elizabeth gets shoved away by Savage mid match and Hogan and Savage equally turned to brawling and dirty tricks to try to get the advantage.
Hogan was able to shock everyone as he was able to kick out of Savage’s finishing with authority and it would be Hogan hitting his signature leg drop that would be enough to take the win.
9: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania 14
WrestleMania 14 is famous for being the point in which the WWE became fully focused and committed to having Stone Cold Steve Austin as the centrepiece of the company. Bret Hart was now a few months removed form the company after the Montreal screw job and this would be Shawn Michaels final match for about 4 years. With these big changes to the main event picture the WWE needed a new star and Austin was that star. The ‘attitude’ that the WWE would become famous for in this era was already underway and a big part of that along with Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels role with D-Generation X was the inclusion of Iron Mike Tyson as the ringside enforcer of this match.
Tyson who is one of the most famous people in the history of sports is also a figure of controversy in many ways, and at this time point was not allowed to compete in a ring. This even caused issues with him being allowed to be in the ring as a referee, and although he would be the man to jump in and count the three to put the belt on Austin, his involvement in the build up to the Mania is also something that helped the WWF turn the tide against WCW. Austin getting into a brawl with Tyson on Raw and fuelling the hate between Austin and McMahon all added to the mythos of Austin as the rebel.
The ending of the match came about when Austin was able to turn around a superkick attempt by HBK and hit a stunner, and as mentioned Tyson jumped in for the one, two, three. After the match Michaels protested that Tyson would help Austin as he was supposed to be part of D-X, but a cheap shot by Michaels would see him served with a right hand knockout from Tyson. As Austin stood victorious the Austin 3:16 era of the WWE had begun.
