8 Superstars whose last WrestleMania match was their WWE pay-per-view finale

#5 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

A Wrestlemania trilogy, and a historic

career,

conclude on the same night

Previous Wrestlemania Resume:

Wrestlemania 12 - defeated Savio Vega

Wrestlemania 13 - lost to Bret Hart via referee stoppage in a Submission Match with Ken Shamrock as the Special Guest Referee

Wrestlemania 14 - defeated Shawn Michaels in a WWF Championship Match

Wrestlemania 15 - defeated The Rock in a No Disqualification WWF Championship Match with Mick Foley as the Special Guest Referee

Wrestlemania X-7 - defeated The Rock in a No Disqualification WWF Championship Match

Wrestlemania X8 - defeated Scott Hall

His Finale

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin disappeared from WWE in the spring of 2002, having allegedly walked out over disagreements with creative decisions regarding him losing to Brock Lesnar on free television. A messy and contentious divorce, not to mention a few run-ins with the law, kept Austin away, but he returned in early 2003 after a closed-door meeting with Vince McMahon.

Austin would first feud with the man who'd fired him from WCW via Federal Express, Eric Bischoff, before reigniting an old Wrestlemania rivlary with The Rock, fresh off a Hollywood-inspired heel turn. Rock would emphasize that, in Hollywood, the first and second acts do not matter, as the third act is the climax and the place where heroes are made, and challenged Austin to one last dance at the Grandaddy of 'Em All.

At Wrestlemania 19, Austin and Rock locked horns one last time; immediately after The Rock got the three count with three Rock Bottoms to his old rival and close friend, fans could tell something different was in the air. Rock lingered in the ring to speak candidly to Austin, then, breaking with the tradition that saw the victor hold the ring in celebration, left to allow Austin an opportunity to soak up Safeco Field's applause.

Austin is famously ambivalent about his Wrestlemania X8 match, so it's understandable he'd want to make this his WWE swan song.

It Was the End Because

Austin had been battling neck injuries for most of the six years preceding this match; in August of 1997, a botched Tombstone Piledriver from Owen Hart at SummerSlam broke Stone Cold's neck and led to recurring periods of inactivity throughout the end of the 90s and beginning of the aughts.

Austin would radically change his in-ring style, moving from a very technical approach honed through his WCW years and clashes with Bret Hart, to a lower-impact walk-and-brawl style, which became the new WWF main event blueprint.

Austin had been urged by doctors to retire in late 2001, and stubbornly continued competing into 2002; the "OMR" adorning his ring vest at Wrestlemania 19 was his acknowledgement that this match was "One More Round," as a single wayward bump could mean paralysis, or even death, for the Texas Rattlesnake.

Austin's status for the match was in doubt, having spent most of the weekend preceding it in a Seattle hospital. In what would be a common theme that night, Austin reportedly went straight from Safeco Field back to the hospital, confirming the end of his in-ring career.