Hulk Hogan vs The Rock, WWF WrestleMania X8
Simply put, this match showcased Hogan's first WrestleMania appearance in almost ten years, while The Rock looked to redeem himself after three crushing WrestleMania losses. This match went outside of wrestling's confines and was covered by several mainstream outlets. With that said though, it was a good match all within itself.
It was rumored that this match was originally supposed to be Steve Austin vs Hulk Hogan, but the scuttlebutt was that egos got into the way, who really knows the validity of that statement? Obviously, Hogan didn't protest losing considering that it was The Rock that won this match.
The tagline of "Icon vs Icon" was more than fitting for this match, and the reactions both wrestlers got by the crowd at Skydome, well you just can't force that, it was the fans that created that all on their own. It truly was a mythical contest. While I think Steve Austin vs Bret Hart's WrestleMania 13 contest was a more brutal and hard fought battle in storyline terms, Hogan and The Rock was the more epic contest. It should have been the match to close out the show considering how it was the match that sold the event.
In and of itself, it was a great match as well. To be honest, I wish Hogan would have wrestled more matches like this one considering that he performed pretty well. For a man pushing 50 at that time, I thought it was a good showing. And of course, The Rock was looking awesome as always. Similar to what Andre did for Hogan at WrestleMania III, Hogan did for The Rock at WrestleMania X8. Basically, while The Rock was already a star (just like Hogan was at WrestleMania III), the win over Hogan brought The Rock to a new level in the WWF. It was such a great meeting of wrestling's past and present. Simply unforgettable...
