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The granddaddy of them all, WrestleMania is just about a month away. The anticipation for the extravaganza is sky high among the WWE Universe. And since the pay-per-view is richer than Richie rich when it comes to history, we have decided to take a look back at some of the best WrestleMania matches with this latest series.The contribution from WrestleMania X8 to this legendary list of matches was a showdown between Rock and Hulk Hogan.With two of the biggest stars in professional wrestling locking horns in between the ropes, this match was destined to be in the series. So here is a look at how Hulk Hogan and The Rock blew the roof off at SkyDome in WrestleMania X8.
#1 The Buildup
After a horrible run with WCW, Hogan returned to WWE at the 2002 edition of No Way Out. Right from then, the fans started to dream about the dream encounter between Rock and Hogan and they didn’t have to wait much.
Next night on Raw, Rock and Hogan had a confrontation. Rock came out during Hogan’s promo and challenged the Hulkster into a match at WrestleMania. Hogan accepted without much hesitation and Rock showed his gratitude with a Rock Bottom. But before Rock could walk out with the upper hand, the NWo laid him out and the feud officially began.
Rock was taken out of television to sell the NWo’s attack and this introduced Steve Austin into the mix. In the absence of Rock, Austin feuded with NWo and when Rock finally made his return, the fans got to see Austin and Rock teaming up to face the NWo.
In the handicap match between the two teams, Hogan pinned Rock with his trademark leg drop and set the stage perfectly for a match at WrestleMania.
#2 The Match
Hogan was not anywhere near his prime but it didn’t hold him back from delivering a show stealing match. It was the story that sold the tickets and not the technicality. Hogan was treated like a living legend that he is when Rock was treated no differently.
Nearly 60,000 fans rallied behind Hogan for the match and what seemed to be impossible on any other day, seemed possible. Rock and Hogan did everything they could to hide the short comings of Hogan and packed the match with a lot of near falls.
After a while, the fans legitimately thought that a worn out old man could defeat the Brahma Bull, because the story told had the believability factor in plenty. There were interferences from Nash and Hall but Rock still hung around to snatch a win.
The Icon vs. Icon match wasn’t the show stopper of the night but it was definetly the show stealer. In the end, Rock showed his respect towards Hogan and it was one of those moments that gave goosebumps.
#3 The Fallout
The match proved to be a career changer for Hogan. Though he lost the match, Hogan went on to defeat Triple H later and had a nostalgic WWE championship run. The Reign however was short-lived due to the lack of believability but Hogan stuck around to put over youngsters.
He had feuds with Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar and suffered defeats in both occasions to let his opponents look better. As far as Rock was concerned, after have a brief run as Hogan’s partner against the NWo before taking a break from the company to shoot The Scorpion King movie.
After their historic encounter at WrestleMania X8, Hogan and Rock did face eachother in a rematch but it was not anywhere near the expectations and is totally ignored when someone speaks about wrestling history.
