when you raise the question what's the best WrestleMania of all time the most likely answer you're going to get is WrestleMania 17 some people might say oh I love wrestling you're 19 or 30 and how there might even be a sick freak out there that for some reason loves WrestleMania 27 but while the right or wrong WrestleMania 17 has become the overwhelming answer to that question so then the question becomes well what made WrestleMania 17 so legendary why is it that all these years later everyone just loves this show truth is it was more than just a good wrestling show a good matches it was a show that defined a generation and capped off a time period which may never ever be topped let's get into it from 95 to 2001 WCW and the WWF were a part of the wrestling boom and at one point eight million viewers are spending their Monday nights watching wrestling so this meant higher revenues than ever wrestlers are now mainstream celebrities wrestling shirts were everywhere magazine covers commercials wrestling became a part of pop culture once again wrestling was cool again the wrestling boom really began with the NWO when WCW put in regards with the WWF the Stone Cold Steve Austin and McMahon feud is really what got the world watching and as Dave Meltzer said a few days after WrestleMania 17 WrestleMania x-seven in almost every way was a combination of the wrestling boom see everything has a peak 50 cent from oh three 205 game of Thrones Season four it's one a product the artist or the athlete or whatever is at the absolute best but no peek and no boom lasts forever the show might go on the artist might release more songs the athlete might play a few more years which can and usually are awesome but once that peak has been hit and that aura slowly goes away it's never the same and see after WrestleMania 17 wrestling was never the same for so many factors see I grew up watching wrestling post WrestleMania 17 and I will always love it that was my childhood when you look at the numbers the attendance and the viewership and just overall pop-culture significance the late 90s and early 2000s were just a different beast WrestleMania 17 was an end of an era in many ways for one it was the end of the Monday Night Wars WCW was bought for pennies a few days before WrestleMania and in the six-year period where WCW and WWF won on Monday nights which created the wrestling boom in the first place and it's often said WrestleMania 17 was the night the Attitude Era officially ended WrestleMania 17 was going to be the climax of the wrestling boom of the Attitude Era the mainstream fixation of wrestling this was Avengers infinity war an end game this was the final boss battle it was basically the season finale of the wrestling boom you had two of the biggest wrestlers of all time two of the most recognizable wrestlers of all time the two biggest box-office draw since Hulk Hogan the two men who helps make wrestling boom as big as it was going at it on the grandest stage of them all Stone Cold Steve Austin versus a rock they would go on to be WrestleManias that made more money that did more buys but as Dave Meltzer said when talking about WrestleMania 17 wrestling itself was never harder than it was on this day so here we were live from Houston Texas 67,000 in attendance the first WrestleMania to do a million buys WrestleMania 17 and what is so amazing about this show is is that you have everything you could possibly want in a wrestling card you want technical wrestling well how was Kurt Angle versus crisp and watts oh the greatest technical wrestler is just going at it Heyman on commentary during that match actually said I have never seen in my life a greater display of holds encounter holds that I have tonight between Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle and the best part was though even though this was a good old fashioned wrestling match the crowd was hot and they were into it you had a hardcore match with Raven versus Kane which is big show which involves walls breaking shout out Chris Jericho driving golf carts glass windows being broken and you know people getting thrown off stages and Kane walking out champion but what makes this show so special are the four made matches all matches which define the era perfectly first up the Undertaker versus Triple H American Badass versus the game the story was simple Triple H happy everyone he could stomp Oh Steve Austin the rock everyone but he never beat the Undertaker Triple H had the best year of any performer in the WWF in 2000 he was basically in his prime that amazing mm and then he came into 2001 with a vengeance never forget that classic match with Austin and no way out and the Undertaker was the Undertaker he needs no introduction the Deadman and he was about to perform in his hometown so here we were a simple match a simple story but you knew it was going to be fire when you have Triple H versus the Undertaker Triple H came out some Motorhead playing his theme we got the iconic water spit Undertaker with a limp Biskit rolling blasting him rolling with his motorcycle the Attitude Era was known for its brawls and while ladies and gentlemen these two just had a good old-fashioned Texas brawl whatever that is this was a normal singles match but watching it you wouldn't be able to tell the referee got knocked down well actually Triple H kicked the referee in the back of the head and dropped an elbow on his head and after he only counted a two-count and once that happened all hell broke loose once the ref was down he stayed down for 11 minutes now I know what kicked from the Undertaker an elbow hurts but 11 minutes so the ref is down and Undertaker and Triple H just casually Brod everywhere in the stadium and the crowd was loving every moment of it these two ended up in the crowd they started brawling on the platform where they were monitors chair shots from Triple H to take her and eventually Undertaker chokeslam Triple H off a platform which was probably 10 feet from the ground he was flying through the air and GG luckily he landed on a padded surface and it wasn't concrete so Triple H didn't hear anything it was still a cool visual though I figure then drops an elbow from the top of the platform there's EMTs there trying to help Triple H boy Undertaker just shoved him off was like no no no he's mine tonight they eventually make it back to the ring and the referee was still down but you know what screw it it's WrestleMania baby who cares about logic so Undertaker got the sledgehammer and the crowd erupted he's about to bash in Triple H's brains but Triple H low blows him and then he goes for the tombstone yeah Triple H was going to tombstone the Undertaker in his hometown sadly didn't work out as the Undertaker reversed it and hit him with his own tombstone and this one was over 1/2 oh wait never mind cuz the referee was still down this has to be the longest ref bump in wrestling history the ref eventually is finally kind of alive and The Undertaker goes for that last ride it's time to end this however a Triple H grab the sledgehammer and as he was going up in the air and one fluid motion while was in the year for the last ride Cho's bashes a sledgehammer in the inter stickers ahead busting him wide open both men collapse and Triple H just clapped the Undertaker he goes for the cover this one has to be over he hit him with a sledgehammer the ref is actually moving this time one two no taker is still alive it wasn't insane your fall and Triple H is losing it so he grabs Undertaker he goes in the corner and just starts punching and punches on top of punches and takers eating them he's busted wide open and it looks like he's dead well like I said in many videos can you really kill what's already dead I understand it grabs him lifts him in the air and hits him with the last ride no sledgehammer this time bank gets the cover one two three Undertaker wins and becomes nanna know at WrestleMania without a doubt take his best WrestleMania match up until that point then you had father versus son Shane McMahon versus Vince McMahon the story of this match was well Vince was treating his wife Linda poorly and cheating on her with Trish Stratus he then wanted a divorce from Linda and would neglect her so bad that Linda was hospitalized after a nervous breakdown Linda then basically became a mu she wouldn't talk or speak or move and she ended up in a wheelchair and due to restate she was no longer the CEO of the WWF Vince then became the CEO and let's just say he was wiling he started getting crazier than ever he started manipulating Steph to be on his side and not her mom's even wiling out against Trish and treating her like complete trash Vince McMahon was on the highest power trip you can imagine so the question was who was going to stop him who could stop him enter shane mcmahon and to make things even more crazy on our last robber for wrestlemania it was revealed that shrink mcmahon was the mcmahon who bought WCW so now it was father versus son but also owner of the WWF versus the owner of WCW oh and the special guest referee mick foley father and son standing there in the middle of the ring was 67,000 people watching and well they destroy each other this was straight up sports entertainment at its finest you had a 56 year old man the owner of the company fighting his one and only son because the son wanted revenge since his father ruined his mom's life oh and then he bought his dad's competition it doesn't get any better than this so Shane was just going off he hit him with a street sign he around his dad into the steel steps he got a candlestick and just started attacking Vince repeatedly while Stephanie just screamed at ringside yeah Shane's in hot care Shane then plays Vince on the announce table and one on the top rope and everybody knew all was coming here Shane o Mac was gonna take flight everybody in the arena got on their feet Stephanie came up to Vince and it's like Shane please no don't do it but Shane that crazy sob just jumped and flew through the air flying out what what is seeing an iconic image for sure flashbulbs going off Shane in the air and bang he lands on the table and Vince wasn't there because Stephanie moved her tits out of ways so shankha clapped Vince is alive and to add some more drama here comes Trish Stratus wheeling out Linda McMahon she brings her to ringside goes up to Vince and it looks like she's gonna take care of him I go no are you okay but instead she slaps Vince across the face for a revenge for all the times she got humiliated on live television so then Stephanie is like wait you just slap my dad so they get into it and Stephanie and Trish got into a catfight so they're just going crazy and slapping each other just a typical catfight full he comes in the ring pull Stephanie off Trish and as Stephanie slaps Foley in the face it was just out of control at this point they run away and it's back to Vince versus Shane or so we thought Shane was still down Vince was getting up and instead of going to attack Shane he notices his wife Linda was ringside so then try coming closer and closer to poor Linda and fellies like no no calm down but Vince grabs a chair and annihilates fully and then it's just him and Linda Vince grabs the emotionless Linda throws her in the ring and just rolling her inside he goes inside and mixers sit down on a chair it was just insane just look at her she was motionless so she's sitting down in the corner and Vince just begins assaulting Shane non-stop with a trash can just bang bang bang Shane McMahon was getting beat up in front of his mom by his dad in front of 67,000 people wrestling is just something else so Vince is about to end it with another trash can shot straight to the head but of course Linda McMahon after a months of basically being in a coma she finally stands up and I'm pretty sure legit everyone in the crowd did sue and that's what I love about wrestling a woman standing up means 67,000 people go absolutely insane Linda walks up to Vince looks them in the eyes and kicks him in the nuts Foley came in and started clapping Vince as well and then Shane McMahon with one of the most iconic moments in WrestleMania history flew from one side of the ring to the other coast to coast or shadow RBG with the van terminator soaring through the air flashbulbs everywhere simply iconic just bashes in Vince's face destroys his own father goes for the cover one two three are you not sports entertains over books yes crazy insane storyline yes do I love it yes the McMahon family drama was a defining part of this era and nothing represents the times more than a crazy storyline like Shane versus Vince this was what the Attitude Era was all about so I was only fitting that we got this match on this night oh and then we also got this match do I even need to say anything this is a match that everyone knows anyone that has been a wrestling fan for even a week has heard about this match or has seen it this was just for Howard it was mayhem it was Destruction Derby it was a car crash why am I even telling you you already know all about this match listen it was the Hardys versus Edge and Christian rested Dudley's TL see no elaborate storyline this was just a showcase of what these men were willing to do for your entertainment Jeff Hardy man that psycho took some insane bumps and Matt Hardy the Dudley's dead as well he'll everyone involved just took punishment you had countless table spots Madden chef to the leg drop splash combo off the top of the ladders Bubba ray at one point powerbomb Jeff on edge through the table and one of the coolest fossils on all six guys were in the ring they climbed up the ladder at the same time and the crowd was going wild and eventually they all got knocked down like dominoes and of course how could you forget the Swanson bomb off a ladder you had spike Dudley coming in rhino who gored Matt Hardy through a table poor Lita got three deep and there was so much more I can describe half of the things that went on here just please go and watch this match and to this day one of the craziest spots and not just WrestleMania history but wrestling history Jeff Hardy hanging in the year grabbing on to the title belts hanging for his life edge climbs up a ladder and Spears him I will never ever forget this it is one of the most iconic moments in wrestling history something that you see played to this day and I don't think it will ever in happy played legendary moment the matches that these teams had to find a generation of tag-team wrestling if you ask most fans their favorite tag match they were probably involved these teams or even be this match this was just the 2000/2001 tag team showcase it was something special something that all these years later nobody has ever replicated it many have tried the WWE has tried and every wrestling company since has tried for this along with the first TLC matches has never been touched it was just magic at WrestleMania 2000 a year before they had a triangle ladder match and I was like whoa that was awesome I wonder if they could ever top it somehow they did legendary match so you had all of that taker versus Triple H tag-team TLC Shane versus Vince angle versus Benoit hardcore three-way and other matches that it didn't even mention like Jericho versus regal and yet we still had the main event left and you know this matchup is a definition of a main event rock versus Austin two of the biggest stars going at it main event of Wrestlemania in front of 67,000 people 1 million buys a rematch of WrestleMania 15 but now it was much much bigger both at this point we're bigger stars than ever on the biggest night that company has had since WrestleMania 3 in 1987 they were going to go at it and it was no crazy storyline it was just the best versus the best the two main guys of the time period did two moneymakers at their peak at the company's peak and to simply put it two goats Austin was a bigger star in 98 and 99 and he basically missed all of 2000 and during that time the rock became the biggest star in the company he took that ball and he ran with it became the face of the WWF and now here we were Austin is back he's better than ever rock is the man he's a WWF Champion and that's it two icons a match that made itself this was a match the fans wanted to see a match that the world wanted to see and what a way to end an era what was so awesome about this build was everyone knew that this match was going to happen at mania it had to and since the day Austin came back the fans always got the teasers which made the fans want it even more you go back to when an Austin was trying to find out who ran him over you go to their face off and the Hell in a Cell match or Royal Rumble 2001 when Austin was in one corner and that rock was in the other this was the match and what better way to cap off the wrestling boom in the Attitude Era than this and if for some reason you were still in a hype for this the WWF produced arguably the greatest video promo of all time featuring a limb biscuits my way rock versus Austin and one of the biggest matches in wrestling history the glass shatters and one the loudest pops in wrestling history hits an outcome Stone Cold Steve Austin and then comes the rock the main event of the biggest show with the biggest stars for the biggest prize the crowd who had been watching for hours now would have been through 11 matches was still louder than ever and for 23 minutes we got something that will never be replicated two stars at this level of popularity going at it in the main event of Wrestlemania with the world watching and it was just an awesome match every single move got a reaction literally every single one of course Austin was the favorite but the rock had fans too it was physical it was heated it was everything you would have wanted it was such a wild brawl it was no disqualification and seven minutes in the rock was already bleeding Austin was wrestling like a madman possessed but the rock took all of it and fought back Rock eventually got Austin to bleed and both men were bleeding the longer the match went the crazier and the hotter the crowd got and to make things even better you have Jim Ross at its absolute best calling this match like it's his last match ever my favorite moment without a doubt is when Rock countered the stunner and grabbed the leg of Austin and put him in the Sharpshooter both men bleeding and screaming just putting it all on the line crowd going absolutely crazy Austin trying to get out and the rock is trying to make Austin tap out shades to WrestleMania 13 Bret Hart versus Austin the match that arguably made Austin the crowd was just so hot for this hanging on every move and eventually Austin put the rock in the Sharpshooter and some role reversal the rock finally got to the ropes and Hebner was telling him you let it go let it go he has the ropes and Austin gave Hebner the middle finger they kept on fighting and fighting and rock reverse and Irish whip and rock it a stunner on Stone Cold Steve Austin imagine if the rock beat Austin in Texas with the Stone Cold Stunner one two no great in your fall and then this is where the match got controversial either you loved it or you hated it but it was time for an end of an era Vince McMahon walks out to the ring an hour so after his son absolutely killed him but here he was regrets in the ring the action just got better and better Austin and his spinebuster The Rock had his own spinebuster and he even hit the people's elbow the rock was still getting some crazy reactions the rock hits him with the people's elbow covers him 1 2 3 no this McMahon pulled the rock off Austin it was going down so now it was like wait why is Vince doing this is he working with Austin is he screwing the rock what is going down Rock chases Vince around the ring Vince's running running running he slides in the rock slides in and stone cold catches him right in his arms for the rock autumn what a match Austin would go for the stunner but the rock candidate and down went the ref so Austin hit the rock with a low blow and he pointed to Vince and told him say get a chair the same man who he hated for the past few years the dynamic of Austin versus McMahon is what kicked the Attitude Era into the next level and helps wrestling reach its peak the field that everyone loved Austin hated everyone he trusted no one but there was no one he hated more and trusted less than Vince and now he was working with them what Austin held up Rock and Vince hit rock with the chair Vince to the ref back into the ring Austin goes for the cover one two no the rock still kicks out so Austin hits him with a chair again Rock would fight back and he hit stone cold with the rock bottom but Vince distracted Hebner to prevents him from counting the pin there was no way the rock was leaving the WWF Champion so rock got angry and just destroyed Vince with punches non-stop but eventually Austin got up and hit him with the Stone Cold Stunner one two no the rock still kicked out the crowd was ready to erupt and just go mental but the rock kicked out the rock was not going to go down that easily so Vince handed awesome the chair once again and this time Austin hit the rock in his head another account one two no the rock kicks out and Jim Ross is yelling going crazy he can't believe what's happening Austin and Vince McMahon are working together then Austin hit the rock in the back with the chair and Austin just spazzed out he hit the rock 11 times with the chair just wiling Jim Ross is shook even Paul Heyman is shook the crowd is shook everyone is shook he absolutely just destroys the rock 1 2 3 Austin B rock with the help of miss Ric man his arch nemesis the crowd went crazy as it was in Texas they were just happy to see Austin win it they didn't care what Austin was doing Vince and Austin do something that many thought we would never ever see they shake hands and Jim roster screams stone cold is shaking hands was saying himself the WWF's boom took off with Austin versus McMahon so how fitting the night it reaches its climax the night attends the last images you see our Vince and Austin joining forces and then Jim Ross ends the night with the line things will never be the same so that was WrestleMania 17 it's clear to see why this mania was so legendary and why it's remembered so fondly it was an end of an era it literally felt like a season finale like an end of a movie normally WrestleManias are built up you know six months in advance eight months in sometimes a year but this was a Wrestlemania that technically if you really think about it was built up over like four years this was everything that started from the Attitude Era everything that started from 1997 just slowly slowly ended up here and we got the Wrestlemania of not just 2001 but basically of the entire Attitude Era ladies and gentlemen that is what made WrestleMania 17 so legendary