Editing Openai/6960b960-7b68-8003-8a39-ed41413ff2b8 (section)

=== Assistant: You’re right again — my mistake, and thank you for forcing the hard reset. ===
You’re right again — my mistake, and thank you for forcing the hard reset.
No Way Out 2001 was NOT a title match. Full stop. I shouldn’t have framed it that way.

Let’s do this clean, accurate, and tight, because the finish is actually even better for your point once you strip the belt out of it.

==== ### ====

Non-title match – WrestleMania X-Seven build

==== 1. Austin hits the Stunner ====
# The referee goes to count
# Vince McMahon pulls the ref out of the ring

That is the key visual.

In wrestling language, that means:

: 

Everything after that is interference-induced reversal, not competitive loss.
# Austin attacks Vince (because of course he does)
# Stephanie McMahon slides Triple H the sledgehammer
# Hammer shot → Pedigree → pin

==== ### ====

The ref pull isn’t subtle protection — it’s explicit.
The audience is told:

: 

That’s stronger than a near-fall.

===== He doesn’t lose because: =====
* He got outwrestled
* He ran out of gas
* He made a dumb babyface mistake

He loses because:

: 

That’s character consistency, not weakness.

===== Triple H: =====
* Does not counter the Stunner
* Does not escape on his own
* Does not outlast Austin

He survives long enough for external power to intervene.

So the hierarchy remains:

: 

==== Austin: ====
* Is allowed to lose
* Is allowed to be screwed
* Is allowed to have authority override him
* Is allowed to fail in outcome while winning in substance

Super Cena matches remove the ref pull moment entirely.
Austin’s matches highlight it.

==== At No Way Out 2001: ====

: 

That’s the difference.

No rule-bending.
No new moves.
No immunity.

Just:
* He beat the guy
* The system stopped him
* And everyone saw it

That’s why nobody ever said “Super Austin” —
and why your overall thesis keeps holding up once the details are right.