Hulk Hogan Challenges The Rock To A WrestleMania Rematch, And He’s Serious About It
Even at 64-years-old, Hulk Hogan still wants to step in the ring and drop the big leg. After going through perhaps a mid-life crisis, strongly considering cutting off his hair, he is now interested in donning the red and yellow tights and boa once more. From the perspective of in-ring competition, Hogan has never been considered the best. However, since the big league of sports entertainment is surrounded more about larger than life characters, especially in the ’80s when Hogan became a pop culture icon, the “Immortal One” has cemented himself as arguably the greatest personality in pro wrestling history.
While Hogan spent his beginning years finding his niche while competing in the American Wrestling Association and World Wrestling Federation, his WWE Championship win against the Iron Shiek on January 23, 1984 is what catapulted the Hulkamania revolution. Since that milestone career moment, Hogan has become one of the most recognizable names in the history of professional wrestling.
Throughout the timespan of pro wrestling, there have been certain feuds and matches that are known to be proverbial “passing the torch” moments. Ric Flair defeating Harley Race at Starrcade 1983, Shawn Michaels defeating Bret Hart at WrestleMania XII, and Sting defeating Ric Flair at the 1990 Great American Bash are three examples of matches where a veteran in the business was giving the reigns to a rising star. Another example occurred on March 17, 2002 in Toronto, Canada.
While The Rock was already a well-established WWE star with multiple championships on his resume, his match against Hulk Hogan transcended passing the torch for a wrestling career, but more for a legacy. Although Hogan was supposed to play the heel in the match, the WrestleMania 18 crowd inside the Rogers Centre tapped into their inner nostalgia and gave him a thunderous ovation throughout the entire match. In the end, The Rock would defeat Hogan, and they would shake hands following the match.
Fifteen Years Later, Hogan Wants To Relive This WrestleMania 18 Moment
Recently, The Rock recalled a moment in 1984 at Madison Square Garden where he caught one of Hogan’s headbands that he threw out from the ring. He stated that he was 12-years-old at the time sitting in the crowd, and went back to the locker room after the match to meet him. Hogan would then give him a brand new headband two weeks later. While The Rock was fondly speaking of a pivotal moment during his time as a pro wrestling fan, Hogan responded differently.
Yo @TheRock, if you need another head band this time you need to give me my rematch then see if you can take it brother!! Lol. Only love but I’m serious about the rematch brother HH https://t.co/IDpN7h6uIb
— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) December 1, 2017
While there is a near zero percent chance that this will happen, Hogan is clearly ready to be back in the WWE spotlight, following his controversial release in July of 2015. It would seem as if only a few hardcore fans would endorse this match happening. However, from the short-lived WWE debut of Sting and return of Goldberg, Hogan could have more supporters of him returning than one may think.
