| WrestleMania X-Seven | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Federation | ||
| Date | April 1, 2001 (2001-04-01) | ||
| City | Houston,Texas | ||
| Venue | Reliant Astrodome | ||
| Attendance | 67,925[1] | ||
| Buy rate | 1,040,000[2] | ||
| Tagline | Houston We Have a Problem...[3] | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| WrestleMania chronology | |||
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WrestleMania X-Seven, also known asWrestleMania 17, was a 2001professional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced by theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the 17th annualWrestleMania and took place on April 1, 2001, at theReliant Astrodome inHouston, Texas, marking the first WrestleMania held in theU.S. state ofTexas. Twelve matches were contested at the event, including one broadcast exclusively on theSunday Night Heat pre-show.
The card comprised a total of 11 matches. In themain event was aNo Disqualification match betweenThe Rock and"Stone Cold" Steve Austin for theWWF Championship. Theundercard includedTriple H versusThe Undertaker, the secondTables, Ladders, and Chairs match for theWWF Tag Team Championship and aStreet Fight betweenVince McMahon andShane McMahon withMick Foley as special guest referee. This was the WrestleMania debut ofPaul Heyman, in which it was the only time on commentary.
A record-breaking attendance for the Reliant Astrodome of 67,925 grossedUS$3.5 million.[4] Many in professional wrestling considered WrestleMania X-Seven to be the pinnacle of the company's famousAttitude Era, similar to howWrestleMania III was the pinnacle of the 1980s wrestling boom. The WWF bought out rival competitionWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) the week prior. In addition to its commercial success, the event has received acclaim from critics and fans, and is often regarded as the greatest WrestleMania of all time, and the greatest professional wrestling pay-per-view event ever produced.[5]
WrestleMania is considered theWorld Wrestling Federation's (WWF, now WWE) flagshipprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV) event, having first been held in1985. It has become the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April.[6] It was the first of the WWF's original four pay-per-views, which includesRoyal Rumble,SummerSlam, andSurvivor Series, which were dubbed the "Big Four",[7] and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along withKing of the Ring.[8]
On April 3, 2000, the WWF announced that WrestleMania 17, stylized as WrestleMania X-Seven, was scheduled to be held on April 1, 2001, at theReliant Astrodome inHouston, Texas, the first WrestleMania held in theU.S. state ofTexas.[1] Tickets went on sale to the general public on November 11, 2000,[9] with 50,000 tickets sold on the first day.[10]
In addition to the event,WrestleMania Fan Axxess was held at theReliant Hall which expanded upon the event by adding numerous activities including areas where attendees could buy special merchandise, see a production truck, and numerous WWF vehicles were on display.[11] WWF tapedSmackDown! at theJoe Louis Arena inDetroit, Michigan on March 27, 2001, as the final event before WrestleMania X-Seven and the following night after WrestleMania,Raw is War took place at theFort Worth Convention Center inFort Worth, Texas on April 2, 2001.
The event included eleven matches that each resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by writers of the World Wrestling Federation,[12][13] while storylines were produced on WWF's weekly television shows,Raw is War andSmackDown! along with its supplementary programs,Sunday Night Heat andJakked/Metal.[14]
The main feud leading into WrestleMania X-Seven involvedStone Cold Steve Austin challengingThe Rock for theWWF Championship.[15] The Rock and Austin had fought for the WWF Championship atWrestleMania XV andBacklash in 1999. Austin earned his opportunity to compete for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania X-Seven by winning the2001 Royal Rumble match when he last eliminatedKane, while The Rock became the first ever six-time WWF Champion when he defeatedKurt Angle atNo Way Out.[16][17] During their feud, Austin's wifeDebra, who was trying to get back into managing, was ordered by WWF chairman,Vince McMahon, to be The Rock's manager against her wishes as well as both The Rock and Austin's. As a result, Austin stated that he would hold both The Rock and McMahon responsible if any harm came to her. On the March 12 episode ofRaw is War, The Rock was placed in an excruciatingAnkle Lock submission hold during his rematch with Kurt Angle. When Debra went to check on The Rock, Angle also placed her into an Ankle Lock. Austin soon ran in to save her and knocked Angle out of the ring. Keeping to his word, he immediately gave The Rock aStone Cold Stunner as punishment. The following week onRaw is War, during a handicap tag team match involving The Rock,Chris Jericho,Kurt Angle,Chris Benoit, andWilliam Regal, Austin made his way down to the ring and ended up getting a Rock Bottom from The Rock in response to the Stunner from the previous week. On the March 29 episode ofSmackDown!, Debra was relieved from her managerial role by Mr. McMahon after failing to prevent a brawl between The Rock and Austin.
Another major feud that was built up in the lead to WrestleMania was the one involving Vince McMahon and his sonShane McMahon. The feud started with Vince's disapproval ofMick Foley's job as then-WWF commissioner, as well as Foley's decision of holding a six-manHell in a Cell match atArmageddon 2000, taking into consideration about the well-being of the wrestlers involved in the match. Despite McMahon's attempts to overrule Foley's authority, Foley was given full support byLinda McMahon, Vince's wife and the WWF's CEO. Not pleased with this result, Vince immediately demanded a divorce from Linda. Shortly after Armageddon, secretly to Vince's delight, it was revealed that Linda was rushed to a hospital suffering with a nervous breakdown brought on by the impending divorce. With Linda hospitalized, the Board of Directors appointed Vince as the new interim CEO of the WWF, allowing him to officially fire Foley as commissioner. With Linda in acoma-like state, Vince started to have a public affair withTrish Stratus. Vince's daughter, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, was (at first) far from pleased about the turn of events. AtNo Way Out, Stephanie and Trish squared off, with Stephanie scoring the victory after arun-in by William Regal. On the February 26 episode ofRaw is War, however, during a match that placed Vince and Trish against Stephanie and William Regal, Stratus was turned on by the other three participants in the match and had sewage dumped over her. In the following weeks, Vince continued to demean Trish by having her do such actions as bark like a dog around the ring and stripping down to her lingerie. Despite this, Trish remained loyal to Vince and even begged for his forgiveness. On the March 12 episode ofRaw is War, Shane McMahon made his return to the WWF. Angry with his father's actions, Shane started to throw punches at Vince only to be stopped by William Regal. Shane explained his actions on the following episode ofSmackDown!, stating that anger was a result of frustrations over the manipulation of his sister, his mother's state and Vince's heinous treatment of Trish. On March 23, the WWF purchased the assets of their longtime rival promotion,World Championship Wrestling (WCW) fromAOL Time Warner.[18] With it, the purchase brought in an extra twist to the storyline. On the March 26 episode ofRaw is War (which was held atGund Arena inCleveland, Ohio), Vince McMahon made a live speech that was alsosimulcast on the final episode ofWCW Monday Nitro (which was held inPanama City Beach, Florida). In the speech, Vince announced that the signing was not final and that he wantedTed Turner to come to WrestleMania and hand-deliver the contract for signing. Vince then promised that with the purchase he was going to bury his rival forever, as well as any wrestler associated with WCW. However, Shane, who was at the venue forNitro, interrupted the speech and said:
Because, dad, the deal is finalized with WCW. And the name on the contract does say "McMahon"....however, the contract reads "Shane McMahon". That's right! I now own WCW! And, dad, just likeWCW did in the past, how it kicked your ass in the past and it will again, that's exactly what's going to happen to you this Sunday at WrestleMania!
— Shane McMahon on theseries finale ofWCW Monday Nitro, talking toVince McMahon who was atRaw is War.[19][20]
Oh my god! I don't believe it! I do not believe what we just heard!
Shane McMahon has bought WCW, and Mr. McMahon is in absolute shock!
To make matters worse for Vince, Mick Foley appeared shortly afterward that same night and revealed that prior to his firing, Linda had made multiple contracts for him to sign. One of those contracts was for Foley to referee a match of his choice at WrestleMania. Foley then chose the match between Vince and Shane, which was designated astreet fight.
The secondary feud leading into the event pittedThe Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker andKane) againstTriple H andBig Show. After defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin in aThree Stages of Hell match at No Way Out, Triple H felt that he deserved to be in the WrestleMania main event having defeated everyone in the WWF, including The Rock and Austin.[17] The Undertaker took exception to that and told Triple H that he had never defeated him. Before WrestleMania X-Seven, the two had never faced each other in a one-on-one match on a pay-per-view event.[21] During his entrance for aHardcore Championship match against Big Show, Triple H ambushed The Undertaker. Kane ran in and saved The Undertaker from a further attack, but was met with his own ambush by Big Show. On the following episode ofSmackDown!, The Undertaker tried to break into the limousine of Triple H and his wife,Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, upon arrival but ended up being arrested by the police. As a result, Kane requested a match against Triple H later that night, but lost when Big Show interfered on behalf of Triple H. In retaliation, Kane interfered in Big Show's Hardcore Championship match againstRaven onRaw is War, helping Raven pin Big Show to become the new Hardcore Champion. The Undertaker's arrest led to a restraining order from Stephanie. To circumvent this, the Brothers of Destruction interfered in Triple H's match againstTest, with Kane ordered to chase after Stephanie. With Stephanie held hostage by Kane on a balcony in the arena, WWF commissionerWilliam Regal gave The Undertaker and Kane matches at WrestleMania against Triple H and Big Show respectively, and The Undertaker told Kane to set Stephanie free. After being attacked during a Hardcore Championship title defense, Regal would later include Raven into Kane and Big Show's match, making it a Triple Threat Hardcore match for the Hardcore Championship.
At theRoyal Rumble, Chyna (kayfabe) injured her neck during a match with Ivory, causing her to lose the match and fail to capture the Women's Championship. In order for Chyna to again challenge for the title, Ivory required the match contract to include a "hold harmless" clause, meaning that if Ivory injured Chyna's neck again, there could be no legal recourse against Ivory. In doing so, the contract also included a provision to ban Ivory'sRight To Censor (RTC) stablemates from ringside.
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Englishcommentators | Jim Ross |
| Paul Heyman | |
| Bobby Heenan (Gimmick battle royal) | |
| Gene Okerlund (Gimmick battle royal) | |
| Spanish commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
| Hugo Savinovich | |
| BackstageInterviewers | Jonathan Coachman |
| Michael Cole | |
| Kevin Kelly | |
| Ring announcer | Howard Finkel |
| Referees | Mike Chioda |
| Jack Doan | |
| Earl Hebner | |
| Jim Korderas | |
| Theodore Long | |
| Chad Patton | |
| Mike Sparks | |
| Tim White |
Before the event airedlive on pay-per-view, aSunday Night Heat match was aired withSteve Blackman andGrand Master Sexay squaring off againstX-Factor membersX-Pac andJustin Credible. Near the end of the match, fellow X-Factor memberAlbert interfered by pulling Sexay out of the ring, allowing X-Pac and Credible to hit theirX Marks the Spot finisher on Blackman for the win.
The first match of the event was theWWF Intercontinental Championship match betweenChris Jericho and WWF commissionerWilliam Regal. During the match, Regal exposed one of the top turnbuckles to throw Jericho's shoulder into it before giving him adouble underhooksuperplex. Jericho attempted theWalls of Jericho submission hold, but had it reversed into aRegal Stretch. After Jericho managed to grab a ring rope to break the hold, he retaliated with numerouschops before throwing Regal into the exposed turnbuckle and finishing him off with aLionsault to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
Tazz andThe APA (Bradshaw andFaarooq) took onRight to Censor (The Goodfather,Val Venis, andBull Buchanan) next in a short match that ended with Bradshaw pinning The Goodfather after aClothesline from Hell.[23]
The third match was thetriple threathardcore match betweenRaven,Kane andThe Big Show for theWWF Hardcore Championship. Raven came out with a shopping cart full of weapons. Kane and Raven began fighting before Big Show made his entrance. During the match, the three wrestlers fought their way out of the ring and through the crowd into the backstage area. Big Show tried to lock himself, Raven and the referee in a security cage but Kane broke the padlock and afterward threw Raven through a glass window. Big Show and Kane continued to brawl ending with the two throwing each other through a wall. Raven tried to escape by driving off in agolf cart, but Big Show stopped him and caused him to crash. The golf cart also ran over some cords that allegedly almost knocked the power out to the entire building. Kane shortly followed with another golf cart, accompanied by the referee, and ran into Raven. The fight headed back into the stadium with Big Show attempting to press slam Raven off the entrance stage but both were kicked off it by Kane. Kane followed this with a divingleg drop off the stage onto Big Show, pinning him to become the new Hardcore Champion.[24]
The fourth match was theWWF European Championship match betweenTest andEddie Guerrero. During the match, Test went over the top rope, but got his foot caught between the top two ropes, forcing the referee and Guerrero to have to untangle him. With the help of his fellowRadicalz membersDean Malenko andPerry Saturn, Guerrero hit Test in the face with the European Championship belt while the referee was distracted and pinned him to become the new champion.[23]
The fifth match pittedKurt Angle againstChris Benoit. The match started with mat wrestling between the two, but Angle soon punched Benoit out of frustration and threw him out of the ring, so he could throw him into the broadcast table and the steel steps. Back in the ring, both men tried to submit their opponent using the other's signature hold with Benoit using theankle lock on Angle, and Angle using theCrippler Crossface on Benoit. Benoit eventually succeeded in forcing Angle to tap out to the Crippler Crossface, but the referee was knocked down and did not see it. Near the end of the match, Benoit tried to pin Angle after adiving headbutt but was met with a two-count. Angle then quicklyrolled-up Benoit, using the tights for leverage to win the match.
The following match sawChyna challenge theWWF Women's ChampionIvory. After an early bit of offense from Ivory, Chyna performed aChynabomb and looked to have the pinfall, but picked Ivory up after the 2-count. Chyna then performed agorilla press drop and nonchalantly pinned Ivory to win the Women's Championship.
The seventh match was thestreet fight betweenShane McMahon andVince McMahon withMick Foley as the special guest referee. Shane dominated his father during the earlier part of the match by attacking him with various weapons such as a kendo stick and monitors from the Spanish broadcast table. Shane laid Vince on said table and performed adiving elbow drop off the top rope but his sister,Stephanie, pulled Vince out of the way, causing Shane to crash through it.Trish Stratus then came towards the ring, pushing a seemingly comatoseLinda McMahon out in a wheelchair. Trish then slapped Vince, officially turning face in the process, causing her and Stephanie to get into a fight that led them out of the stadium. As referee Foley tried to wheel Linda out to safety, Vince hit him with a steel chair, and then pulled Linda into the ring to make her watch as he beat down Shane with a garbage can. However, Linda stood up and low-blowed Vince, allowing Foley to recover and attack him. With Vince prone in the corner, Shane placed a garbage can in front of Vince's face and hit aCoast-to-Coast dropkick, pinning his father to win the match.
The eighth match, dubbed "TLC II",[25] was theTables, Ladders, and Chairs match for theWWF Tag Team Championship between theHardy Boyz,Edge and Christian and theDudley Boyz, the defending champions. Respective associates of each tag team,Spike Dudley for the Dudley Boyz,Rhyno for Edge and Christian, andLita for the Hardy Boyz, interfered during the match. With Spike (who had just taken a chair shot to the head from Lita) and Rhyno (who had already been dispatched by Jeff Hardy) both laying on two tables outside the ring,Jeff Hardy set up a huge ladder beside them and performed aSwanton Bomb onto them through the tables with most of his body landing on Spike, taking him out of the match. Lita was taken out of the match whenBubba Ray andD-Von Dudley performed a 3-D on her. Jeff tried to unhook the belts but had the ladder beneath him pulled away by Bubba Ray, leaving him hanging in the air, and allowingEdge to jump off another ladder andspear Jeff to the ground at a height of 12 feet. Bubba Ray andMatt Hardy climbed the same ladder but Rhyno tipped the ladder over, sending Bubba Ray and Matt through four stacked tables at ringside and taking them out of the match. D-Von then set the ladder up again and attempted to grab the titles, but was held back by Edge. With Edge holding onto D-Von's legs,Christian sat on Rhyno's shoulders as he climbed up the ladder and unhooked the belts, making him and Edge the new Tag Team Champions. A total of 9 tables were destroyed in this match, and every performer involved except D-Von and Lita went through at least one table.[23]
The ninth match was agimmick battle royal, involving nineteen WWF alumni famous for their outlandishgimmicks. To further increase the nostalgia, former announcers"Mean Gene" Okerlund andBobby "The Brain" Heenan handled commentary for the match.The Iron Sheik won the match by throwingHillbilly Jim out of the ring. As revenge for being eliminated,Sgt. Slaughter reentered the ring and put him in theCobra Clutch.[22]
The penultimate match was betweenThe Undertaker andTriple H. For his entrance, Triple H hadheavy metal bandMotörhead perform his theme song, "The Game", live. The match started with the two fighting outside of the ring, with Triple H quickly being put through the replacement Spanish announcers' table. Later on, refereeMike Chioda accidentally had Triple Hcatapulted into him, and was then attacked by The Undertaker due to his dissatisfaction over a two-count. With Chioda knocked out, the two brawled outside the ring, through the crowd, and into the technical area. On top of scaffolding, Triple H used a steel chair to attack The Undertaker's legs, but The Undertaker retaliated with achokeslam off the scaffolding, followed by a diving elbow drop. Back in the ring, The Undertaker hit Triple H with aTombstone piledriver and went for the pin, but Chioda was still unconscious. Later in the match, Triple H tried to pin The Undertaker after hitting him in the head with asledgehammer while in theLast Ride position, but only gained a two-count. Triple H sent The Undertaker into the corner and stood on the second rope to hit him with more punches, but The Undertaker countered with a Last Ride, allowing him to pin Triple H and increase his WrestleMania winning streak to 9–0.[26]
The final contest of the night was theWWF Championship match betweenThe Rock andStone Cold Steve Austin, which had a surpriseno disqualification stipulation added just before the superstars were introduced. During the match, the two brawled inside and outside of the ring, with both men bleeding after hitting each other with the ring bell. The Rock attempted to place Austin in aSharpshooter hold, but Austin reversed it into a Sharpshooter of his own. After The Rock reached the ropes to force a break, Austin applied theMillion Dollar Dream, a submission hold best known from his former gimmick, The Ringmaster. Shortly after, The Rock used Austin's own finishing maneuver on Austin by executing aStunner. Vince McMahon then came to ringside to observe the match. When The Rock tried to pin Austin after thePeople's Elbow, McMahon seized The Rock's leg and pulled him off Austin, breaking the pin attempt. After chasing McMahon around the ring, Austin responded by using The Rock's signature move, theRock Bottom. Later, The Rock executed a Rock Bottom for a near fall. After The Rock attacked McMahon, he was given a Stunner by Austin for a close near fall. After The Rock kicked out of the Stunner, McMahon handed Austin a steel chair to hit The Rock with at Austin's request, revealing to everyone that Austin had sided with McMahon, a man he once considered hisnemesis. With this, Austin turnedheel.[23] Austin attacked The Rock with the steel chair, hitting him sixteen times, before pinning him and becoming the new WWF Champion, marking only the second time a heel has won in the main event of WrestleMania. The show ended with Austin and McMahon shaking hands and sharing beers.
The event was met with universal acclaim from fans and critics alike. John Powell ofCanadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section rated the event a perfect 10 out of 10 stars, with the main event between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in a No Disqualification Match for the WWF Championship rated 10 out of 10 stars. The Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWF Tag Team Championship between The Hardy Boyz, Edge and Christian, and The Dudley Boyz also received a perfect 10 out of 10 stars, the Street Fight between Mr. McMahon and Shane McMahon rated 7 out of 10 stars, the match between Triple H and The Undertaker rated 6 out of 10 stars and the match between Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit rated 8 out of 10 stars.[27]
X-Seven was also awardedBest Major Show for 2001 byDave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWF Tag Team Championship between The Hardy Boyz, Edge and Christian and The Dudley Boyz was also placed #5 onIGN's list of Top 20 Matches in WrestleMania History and noted that the match included "some of the most memorable bumps wrestling fans have ever witnessed."[28]D-Von Dudley expressed his belief that the match should be inducted into theWWE Hall of Fame, stating: "In my opinion, I think that we should — you know, then.W.o got inducted into the Hall of Fame and those guys were already in it. How about a TLC induction? How about recognizing how special that match was? Because think about it, not only was the match special, but they actually nameda pay-per-view after it. So, you know, it has some relevance to it to be special, so why not put that match in the Hall of Fame?"[29]Matt Hardy said it was his favorite career TLC match.[30]
In 2013, WWE released a list of their "15 best pay-per-views ever", with WrestleMania X-Seven ranked at number one.[31] In 2019, Troy L. Smith ofcleveland.com released a list of the "50 greatest wrestling pay-per-views of all time" from every professional wrestling promotion in the world, with WrestleMania X-Seven again ranked at number one.[32]
The promotional match preview video package for the main event, set toLimp Bizkit's "My Way", is widely considered one of the greatest wrestling video packages of all time.[33][34]
The following night onRaw, Austin and The Rock faced each other in a rematch held inside asteel cage. Late in the match, Triple H entered the cage and teased a fight with his long-time rival Austin before turning on The Rock. For several minutes, Austin, Triple H, and Vince McMahon triple-teamed the outnumbered Rock, officially forging an alliance with Triple H and Austin calledThe Two-Man Power Trip.[35] The Rock was subsequently written out of the WWF's storylines with McMahon giving him asuspension. This allowed The Rock time off to begin filmingThe Scorpion King.[36] The Rock returned on the July 30 edition ofRaw and chose to fight for Team WWF overTeam WCW/ECW. Three weeks later atSummerSlam, The Rock won his firstWCW Championship by defeatingBooker T. The Rock and Austin would face each other again atWrestleMania XIX in a rematch with The Rock winning.
Following The Rock's suspension, Triple H's feud with the Brothers of Destruction continued with Austin now by his side. On the April 5, 2001 edition ofSmackDown!, Triple H challengedIntercontinental Champion Chris Jericho for his title. After interference from WWF CommissionerWilliam Regal and his wife Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, Triple H defeated Jericho to win his third Intercontinental Championship.[37] The feud with Undertaker and Kane was temporarily put on hold after Triple H and Austin entered a brief rivalry with the Hardy Boyz, which resulted in Jeff Hardy beating Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship the following week onSmackDown!. Triple H promptly regained the title the next Monday onRaw.
Meanwhile, the Brothers of Destruction defeated Edge and Christian to become the newWWF Tag Team Champions on the April 19, 2001 episode ofSmackDown! in a no-disqualification match. Austin and Triple H decided to challenge Undertaker and Kane for their newly won titles, but due to some wrangling by Linda McMahon, the match between the teams signed forBacklash forced Austin and Triple H to put up their WWF and Intercontinental titles respectively against the tag team titles in a "winner-take-all" match. At Backlash, Triple H scored the pin after attacking Kane with his sledgehammer and the Two-Man Power Trip became the second team in WWF history to hold both major singles titles and the tag team titles at the same time.[38] The feud ultimately came to a climax atJudgment Day when Austin defeated Undertaker to retain the WWF Championship, while Kane defeated Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship.[39] The next night onRaw, Austin and Triple H lost the tag team titles to Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit; during the course of the match, Triple H tore his quadriceps tendon and would miss the remainder of the year, leaving Austin to feud with the tag team champions alone.[40] The feud culminated in a Triple Threat Match atKing of the Ring, where Austin pinned Benoit to retain the WWF Championship. Ten years later in 2011, Undertaker and Triple H would once again renew their rivalry, going on to face each other in a rematch atWrestleMania XXVII with The Undertaker defeating HHH via submission, to extend his WrestleMania winning streak to 19–0. A year later, they faced each other a third time atWrestleMania XXVIII in a Hell in a Cell match withShawn Michaels as the special guest referee. The Undertaker once again won the match to extend his WrestleMania winning streak to 20–0.
Due to the acquisition of WCW, Vince's feud with Shane would later spiral intoThe Invasion storyline that dominated the WWF in the latter half of the year. It consisted of WCW wrestlers "invading" the WWF's televised shows in an attempt to "take over" the WWF.Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) would also be involved, with Stephanie as its new owner, merging WCW and ECW intoThe Alliance. Despite giving her own demands for a divorce shortly after WrestleMania, Linda would eventually reconcile with Vince in the wake of the Alliance's greater threat to the WWF.
Shane McMahon's next feud would involveKurt Angle, as he would crash Angle's Olympic Gold Medal Ceremony reenactment on the May 21 edition ofRaw. Angle was celebrating the return of his gold medal from Chris Benoit, which he won back the previous night atJudgment Day. Shane interrupted the ceremony and mocked Angle, while declaring the return of WCW. This led an enraged Angle to deliver an Angle Slam to Shane. Shane would return the favor on the June 11 edition ofRaw with an assist from The Undertaker. The two would eventually meet in astreetfight at King of the Ring, which was the third of three matches for Kurt Angle on the night.
The other two matches were the Semifinals and Final of the King of the Ring tournament, in which Angle was the defending champion. He would lose to Edge in the finals of the tournament, thanks to interference from Shane. Following Edge's King of the Ring win, this led to Christian becoming increasingly jealous of Edge's success. The two would break up on the September 3, 2001 edition ofRaw following Christian's loss to The Rock in a WCW title match. After a brief feud for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, both men would go on to become successful singles wrestlers in their own right with Edge being best known as the "Rated R Superstar."
This would be the only WrestleMania forPaul Heyman as a commentator.
... WWE's flagship event lights up MetLife Stadium ... WrestleMania
At the time, SummerSlam was one of WWE's "big five" Pay-Per-Views (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, and Survivor Series were the others), ...
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)McMahon later announces The Rock has been suspended for his own safety, which actually allows Rock time to film the movie The Scorpion King in Morocco.