Rock v Hogan WM18 - Who did you want to win?

[Why Always Me]

Ok, at WrestleMania 18 two of the three biggest icons in wrestling history faced off against one another when The Rock took on Hollywood Hulk Hogan. The Toronto crowd decided to side with Hogan and basically boo The Rock's every breath. So on tv it came off as everyone wanted Hogan to win but for all of us watching at home who were you cheering for, The Rock or Hulk Hogan.

I cheered for The Rock, I watched it with my then best friend and his brother and we all wanted The Rock to win. I did however 'mark out' when Hogan hulked up after the first Rock Bottom.

 

[One to Remember]

Why is he not ur friend anymore? Because he rooted for the other guy? LOL

If this EXACT same match had happened at wrestlemania 2000 my allegiance would not be to the Great One. A little awile after the NWO debut the WWF decided to merge the Hollywood Hogan and Hulk Hogan personas which i hated and felt was creative blassphemy. It wasnt the real hollywood but a throwback to that old Hulkster from the old WWF from the forever ago '80s.. He no longer represented any facits of WCW, The NWO, a heel, or anything remotely contemporary. The hogan at WM X8 was like the unpopular Hulk in WCW c. 1995. The Rock at this point still had many Attitude Era components to his character and had not yet sold us out to jumpship to tinseltown..

If the match had went down in 1998 I would had cheered Hollywood because I was NWO FOR LIFE! lol

 

[mrpops]

I was there and i cheered hogan and boo'd the fucking rock out of the building along with my fellow 68,000+ canadians! Fucking epic.

Too be honest, i loved both but i wanted Hogan to win. I hated the idea of passing the torch. And i hope to god rock doesnt lose to supercena.

 

[Shakin' Abe]

Being a little bit of an older fan, I wanted Hogan to win but knew he wouldn't. I've NEVER been a fan of the Rock. I've always wanted to see Stone Cold, or Foley, or HHH kick his ass in the ring only because of his very limited ring skills. Yes, Hogan's were probably even more limited but the Rock throws right hands and nothing else. So for old times sake, I wanted Hogan to come out on top.

 

[Carpathian Florist]

Hogan should have won, he's the God of professional wrestling, brother. Rock losing wouldn't have mattered much and the loss would have added more fuel to his heel turn later on as he could have blamed the loss on the fans supporting Hogan as well.

"Finally the Rock has come back to Toron.... Toron.... To run his mouth on ALL your candy asses"

 

[The Dragon Saga]

The Rock. When they had their original confrontation at No Way Out you could see the course WWE was planning. When they met in the ring and the fans just went crazy for their stare down; which is a moment I still remember very vividly, I just wanted The Rock to hit the Rock Bottom and he did. I thought the entire thing was great but I was firmly rooting for The Rock.

The match itself was pretty good. The fans were in Hogan's corner mostly, which at my age which was seven or so at the time, confused me. I'd never seen The Rock getting booed before; not including The Rock as Rocky Maivia. However, The Rock winning was the right thing, Hogan's face turn was the right thing as well I thought. The whole thing was pretty good.

 

[FlairFan2003]

The Rock - It was about time Hogan actually lost to someone without it being a complete screw job or without first beating him into oblivion only to lose the last match in the series. Plus I knew that in WWE Hogan would not have the total creative control he used to protect himself at all costs in WCW.

Funny how when Nash & Hogan worked for Vince they lost matches and put over other talent on occassion but it was like pulling teeth to get the same spirit out of them in WCW, that's really all you need to know about McMahon vs Bischoff and why EZ E won some battles but ultimately lost the war

 

[Rampage Bentley]

I wanted Hogan to win....

I wish I could retroactively change that, seeing as how i can't stand Hogan now.

But oddly enough, The Rock was the John Cena of his time. I remember hating Rock with the same fervor I find myself hating Cena.

I do want Rock to win, and the cycle will continue, in ten years I'll be rooting for John Cena when he takes on Juice Rogers at WrestleMania 38....

 

[RJJ]

Ok, at WrestleMania 18 two of the three biggest icons in wrestling history faced off against one another when The Rock took on Hollywood Hulk Hogan. The Toronto crowd decided to side with Hogan and basically boo The Rock's every breath. So on tv it came off as everyone wanted Hogan to win but for all of us watching at home who were you cheering for, The Rock or Hulk Hogan.

I cheered for The Rock, I watched it with my then best friend and his brother and we all wanted The Rock to win. I did however 'mark out' when Hogan hulked up after the first Rock Bottom.

That was the case. Rock was the fans favourite through out the whole WM X8 match build up. You can tell the fans were clearly on rock's side, but not in canada. Rock wasn't as popular in canada, at that time. WM 17-WM 18, during that period rock got booed EVERYTIME he step in a canadian arena for a show, It didn't matter who the opponent was. Unlike rock, hogan was SO popular in canada. Hell, they love him as much as they love bret over there.



vs Christian

[YOUTUBE]DJEkJb_tZrA[/YOUTUBE]

I know that christian is a canadian, but at that point of his career, it was shocking to watch the crowd siding with him against rock. I mean, cheering jericho or benoit over rock would make more sense, but not christian.









vs RVD

[YOUTUBE]aWmZ17nBLAo[/YOUTUBE]


RVD IMO was the most popular wrestler in the wwe, right behind rock, during the invasion angle. He was ON FIRE. He was the only alliance member that got cheered by the fans. He and Rock went at it 3 times, the 1st one was for the WCW championship(Rock pinned him after he got screwed by stephanie by accident), and rock was clearly the fans fav. 2nd time was in canada(the vid above), in which the canadian fans sided with RVD(Ended with a DQ). 3rd time was for the hardcore title on smackdown. RVD won, but again Rock was clearly the fans fave.






The point is, hogan was in the right place at the right time. Proof? When rock turned heel they wanted to bring some heat on him, and going against hogan in montreal was the easiest way to do it. Bottom line is, what happen to rock at WM 18, can only happen in canada.



Anyway, it was a classic, and just like Hogan said "It took him(Rock) from great to greatness".

 

[BSILENT84]

wanted the rock to win but it was good to see hogan hulk up/leg drop.......it brought back memories....they're still all time greats

 

[justtxyank]

Was rooting for Hogan but I knew that Rock winning was the best thing for business.

 

[Punk]

The Rock, I've never liked Hogan.

Fun fact: I attended Wrestlemania 18 in Toronto.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

The Rock - It was about time Hogan actually lost to someone without it being a complete screw job or without first beating him into oblivion only to lose the last match in the series. Plus I knew that in WWE Hogan would not have the total creative control he used to protect himself at all costs in WCW.

Funny how when Nash & Hogan worked for Vince they lost matches and put over other talent on occassion but it was like pulling teeth to get the same spirit out of them in WCW, that's really all you need to know about McMahon vs Bischoff and why EZ E won some battles but ultimately lost the war

Hogan lost to The Rock in my opinion because he was the guy worthy to do it. Think of it like this how many people ever beat Andre in the WWF before Hogan did it at WrestleMania III? Very few, in fact I can't even name anyone off the top of my head. Bottom line Hogan (whether it was cleanly or otherwise) was beaten by more people prior to WrestleMania X8 than Andre ever was...and keep in mind your theory on this is even weaker because Lex Luger cleanly beat Hogan in WCW albeit on a couple of occasions. At the risk of sounding like the Hogan mark that I am, I'll say what I'm about to say anyway...not everyone should be able to say they have beaten the Hulk Hogan character. That way when the rare occasion occurs that a guy like Hogan loses it has to be to someone that truly is deserving of that accolade in the storyline case in point The Rock. Do I think there are other people Hogan should have lost to? You damn bet however unless you are someone who's actually a part of the wrestling business outside your status as a fan, let's not play the "Hogan WCW politics" card...

Anyway let me get to the meet of the matter here. Now who was I rooting for? Man that was a tough one, considering that Hogan was my favorite 80s WWF wrestler and The Rock was my favorite Attitude Era wrestler it was tough as hell. However I am not going to lie I was rooting for Hogan to take it...HOWEVER there was nothing wrong with seeing The Rock take the win at the end of the night.

 

[One to Remember]

I think anytime Hogan loses clean the match is greatgor atleast 4 stars. Thats not a shot, i mean think about it, every incident involving a clean defeat was awesome. Hogan's loss to Goldberg comes to mind.

Another nice perk for the Rock was that Hogan was not yet fifty making him seem slightly less out of his prime.

 

[Peoples_Champ]

Great topic.

I wanted Hogan to win. I live in Toronto and I was at WM 6 (I watched WM X8 at a friend's house with 9 other guys). That night I was cheering for "the other guy" (Warrior) and I just had to cheer for the underdog again (Hogan).

Sidenote: That match is one of my greatest memories as a lifelong WWF/E fan because the importance and star power of that match exceeded anything I had ever seen before. It was the only time I had seen a PPV at a house with 10 other people. Which was nuts in itself, as 5 of us were going for Hogan and 5 were going for The Rock. Each move, each finisher, each kick out drove us collectively crazy; by the end of the match, we were as spent as the wrestlers themselves.

As I think back, this probably tops Austin / Hart as my personal favourite match of all time. I've seen this match at least 10-15 times since WM X8 and I never get tired of it.

Another nice perk for the Rock was that Hogan was not yet fifty making him seem slightly less out of his prime.

Agreed 100%. Going into the match, I was wondering how a faster, younger Rock and slow, aging Hogan would work. But The Rock really sold Hogan's power in the match, making it seem like every punch was breaking his jaw. Hogan's selling was appropriate as well, making himself seem the stronger, yet slower man.

This was Hogan's last great match. I wish he had retired after this match, so the memories of my former hero would not be tarnished.

 

[Foshinzo]

I'm not going to lie about it. At Wrestlemania 18, which I watched live, I wanted Hollywood Hulk to win. It's not that I didn't love the Rock. He wasn't my favorite, but I still liked him quite a bit. If anything, the Rock was always hilarious and on, and it's hard not to love him, for that.

But, I just flat out wanted Hogan to win. It's so strange to me: you can take the Hogan out of WWE, but you can't take the WWE out of Hogan. The second you do, I hate Hogan so much. But, if you put him in a WWE ring, I get a nostalgia mark off Hogan so hard. He was the #1 guy when I was a kid, and he makes me feel like I'm eight again, under the circumstances. I definitely put on the red and yellow glasses when he's in WWE, and that's what happened here. Hogan suddenly the guy I watched when I was a child, and I wanted to see him win this, so badly. The right guy won and it was somehow one of the best matches I've ever seen, live, so I'm just grateful I saw it. Possibly the best crowd pops I've ever seen, and that's a tall hill to reach the top of.

 

[The Jeff]

I wanted Hogan to win....

I wish I could retroactively change that, seeing as how i can't stand Hogan now.

But oddly enough, The Rock was the John Cena of his time. I remember hating Rock with the same fervor I find myself hating Cena.

I do want Rock to win, and the cycle will continue, in ten years I'll be rooting for John Cena when he takes on Juice Rogers at WrestleMania 38....

what the fuck were you on? The Rock never won the way Cena did, never. How many Wrestlemania main events did The Rock win? 0. How many title reigns did The Rock have? 7 in 4 years. Longest title reign? 4 months. Cena was champ for like 2 years or something, had 12 title reigns in 6 years. The Rock was the most popular wrestler at the time, but he never was as predictable as John Cena and The Rock lost quite frequently. His title matches (when he was chasing the belt) were intense because you never knew if he was going to win or lose. On top of that, he went without being WWF champion for over a year. It's not a bad thing that he was so over that the WWF title picture seemed like the second class storyline without him. With Cena, there only is the title. If you want a superstar that was the John Cena if his time, look no further than Stone Cold Steve Austin, the most overrated superstar of ALL TIME.

Back to the topic, I wanted The Rock to win. he'd lost so many times at WrestleMania and I was tired of him getting to the "big show" and falling flat. I remember watching this on ppv and when Hogan hit the leg drop, I gave up inside. Once The Rock kicked out, I was involved more that almost any other match in my life. The ending was perfect. I'm glad face Rock got 1 WrestleMania win

 

[Millennia]

this thread actually made me register so that i could reply with my two pennies...

2002, i was 18, senior year of high school, me+3 friends drove up to TORONTO a week early.. drank like fish, met smokin hot french chicks ( one heffer), accidently walked into a gay bar, purposely walked out of a gay bar, went to the fan fest ( pre- axxess) ...

the arena felt amazing, i recall being 6 years old watching Wrestlemania 6 from skydome.. when we first got to our seats, Floor row 11, i saw the same banner that sum1 held up in 1990.. i knew from that point, what was gonna happen... let me tell you i saw a few more signs and banners that were obviously 12yrsold.. tons of yellow, tons of HULK RULES.. during the pre-match promo on the titan tron, you couldnt hear what hulk said cause skydome was goin insane.. you could cut the electricity with a knife!!!

it never stopped, the whole match, every1 behing Hulk.. after a fun exciting epic battle, hulk did the right thing, it made sense.. cause he still won something even more important than the 3 count.. HULKAMANIA was alive and well...

so much, that poor jericho vs HHH sounded like a maven match!!...

of course i wanted HULK to win, but my point is it truly felt like he did!.. and i think being 18 when i was there, i remember it better than a 7 yr old..

i've been to the superbowl, i've been to the world series, heck i've even been to the stones.. and nothing, i mean nothing compares to WRESTLEMANIA!!!

 

[poppycock]

I wanted Hogan to win all along. I was never a huge fan of The Rock and at the same time I grew up watching Hogan as a Hulkamaniac. I have always liked Hogan and always will on a wrestling level...he was along with The undertaker the guy who got me interested in wrestling. I could not give a fuck about anything Hogan does outside the ring/world of wrestling. I don't know the guy or want to know anything about his personal life...Hulk Hogan/Hollywood Hogan the wrestler will always be a favourite of mine and during that match I really wanted him to win. It was an epic match between two legends in the world of wrestling and I never thought (despite Hulkamaina and all Hulks time as the face of the WWF in the past) that The Rock would be booed over Hogan at that time period. Really enjoyed it on an entertainment level. I don't think Cena and Rock will be quite as epic but it should be huge never the less.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I wanted The Rock to win. This was one of those matches where I'd enjoy it no matter who won but I knew the importance in passing the torch and for that reason The Rock had to win this match. Icon VS Icon. It was an awesome match although I highly doubt that Hogan had as much support from the full fanbase as he did at the show, a lot of people obviously wanted The Rock to win. I remember all of my friends wanted Hogan to lose at the time too. WWE made the right choice because the torch needed to be passed.

 

[bluenoser11]

I was rooting for neither.i prefer to watch a match with at least one person that can wrestle.Hogan is the worst wrestler of all time,regardless of what he did to popularize it in the 80's,followed closley by rocky miavia.of course,that's just my opinion.