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What's the story?
In the latest edition of his podcast, The Steve Austin Show, WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin revealed his desire to square off against 'The Immortal' Hulk Hogan. The former 6-time WWE Champion told WrestleZon:
"I gotta say Hulk Hogan, because one of the biggest draws in the history of the business. Everybody thought that match between ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan should have happened a couple years back and never did."
In case you didn't know...
Both Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan have been pivotal for WWE's success.
While Stone Cold feud with Vince McMahon led to the phenomenal success of the Attitude Era, the 'Hulkamania' had a major influence in providing mainstream attention to WWE in the Golden days.
The heart of the matter
Stone Cold was involved in a short feud with the nWo after WWE's acquisition of WCW and several fans thought a match between Austin and the nWo leader, Hogan, was inevitable.
However, nWo member Scott Hall was the one to face Steve Austin at WrestleMania X8 and 'Hogan vs Austin' never happened.
Although Hulk Hogan continued his wrestling career, Austin's sudden retirement ruled out the chances of a match between two of the most iconic superstars in the history of pro-wrestling,
"Just for whatever reason, I didn’t feel like stepping back in the ring, I think Hogan was ready to go, but I wasn’t and so, I never got a chance to wrestle that guy and it would’ve been fun to be in the ring with him... "
During the podcast, Stone Cold was full of praises for Hogan and stated that he deserved every bit of the success he had during his WWE tenure,
"I was watching an old match on YouTube between Paul Orndorff and Hulk Hogan and I watched how Hulk Hogan was down there on that mat and he was just selling his ass off. Paul Orndorff was just kicking the snot out of him and then finally, finally, finally after all this heat, started making that trademark comeback. He started firing up that comeback, the people started going crazy and I realized that guy wasn’t born on top, he worked his tail off to get to the top, so I’d say Hulk Hogan right off jump street.”
What's next?
The 52-year old Steve Austin is currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. However, there are no creative plans, as of now, to bring back the Hall of Famer for an on-screen role in WWE.
Author's take
Stone Cold early retirement prevented several dream matches from becoming a reality. One of which, definitely included a show-off with Hulk Hogan.
With Hogan being 63 years old, it is safe to say that the in-ring encounter between two of the biggest names in the pro-wrestling industry will remain a 'dream match'.
