When faced with losing the WWF Intercontinental Title to Shane Douglas, it was a Syracuse beating that stopped him. When asked to return the favor to Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 13 by dropping the WWF Heavyweight Title, he lost his smile. But as Wrestlemania 14 rolled around, Shawn Michaels had run out of time, and excuses.

After his match at the '98 Royal Rumble with the Undertaker, the Heartbreak Kid was dealt a fatal blow: a career-ending back injury. Unarguably one of the greatest athletes to ever lace up a pair of boots, Michaels was faced with the bitter reality that his illustrious career was just about over. Given his track record, one could've expected Michaels to find a new excuse in order to get out of going out on his back, but for once, he did the right thing: he passed the torch to the new hottest ticket in town.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin was riding a wave of overwhelming popularity and success going into Wrestlemania, and it was all but publicly announced that he would be taking the WWF Title. Both the challanger and the champion had injuries, but they sucked it up to put on one hell of a performance. Shawn was in visible pain the entire match, yet managed to pull out all of the stops in order to put the crowd into a frenzy and give Austin a meaningful win. Special guest enforcer Mike Tyson was there for the hype, but the wrestlers were there for the show.

When Austin blocked the Superkick and hit the Stunner for the pin (counted by Tyson himself), the fans in attendance went nuts, savoring a day that three years ago that many thought would never happen. Steve Austin had battled against terrible booking, terrible gimmicks, and a career-threatening injury of his own to step to the plate and secure the true "New Generation" for the WWF: the era of Attitude.

Joe Rivett on the match:
This match was the beginning of the WWF being the most popular of its time. We saw a legend born in Austin and a legend fallen in Michaels. Adding Mike Tyson to the main event made the match even more memorable.