Something I've always wondered (Rock/Hogan WMX8)

[Stingersplash89]

Was the turn of Nash and Hall on Hogan the plan all along or was it an audible mid-match after they saw the reaction that Hogan got? I've actually been wondering this for basically 12 years but never seemed to hear anything confirmed about it.

 

[Catacomb]

from what i heard it was an audible, vince told scott originally that he would be going over austin and the nwo would get a good run, then hall was told wrestlemania weekend austin was going over, and at the end of hogans match was told to attack hogan, ending the big nwo plans. also from what i remember vince even told hogan to bring the red and yellow to the raw the next night

 

[Dragon Chief]

It was the plan all along, Hulk Hogan talks about this in his book. The original plan was to have Hulk Hogan return in his red and yellow attire at WrestleMania 18 as a surprise but Vince McMahon changed that plan prior to the event stating that the time wasn't right. Scott Hall was never going to go over Steve Austin (the man who was meant to face Hogan in the first place) and Hogan was never going to go over The Rock, the plan was for the nWo to split at the event from day one.

 

[The Warlord]

Now the TS is confused as all fuck...just like me.

I think you have to just go with common sense. That being...that it makes absolutely ZERO sense to think it was the plan all along to have Nash and Hall turn on Hogan when they had just arrived in WWE. Nobody expected the reaction Hogan got...and this can be confirmed by numerous wrestling podcasts.

 

[Catacomb]

It was the plan all along, Hulk Hogan talks about this in his book. The original plan was to have Hulk Hogan return in his red and yellow attire at WrestleMania 18 as a surprise but Vince McMahon changed that plan prior to the event stating that the time wasn't right. Scott Hall was never going to go over Steve Austin (the man who was meant to face Hogan in the first place) and Hogan was never going to go over The Rock, the plan was for the nWo to split at the event from day one.

i call bs to that, hogan said himself in interviews that he didnt bring the red and yellow until raw the next day. look up interviews with hall and nash, the nwo split was not the plan, the plan was to have rock vs hogan from day one(austin confims this) and to have nash help hall beat austin. things changed when hogan was more over than the number one babyface in the wwe, the rock.

EDIT link to back up my claims https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiLjDD_RvIo


finish is discussed at about 4 min

 

[Megadeth]

I was watching the Legends of Wrestling Roundtable episode on Canada the other day on the WWE Network, and Michael Hayes mentioned on it that during Axxess leading up to WMX8, that Stephanie McMahon had been talking to fans, and that is when they first started to get the impression fans would be cheering for Hogan over the Rock. So my guess is it was probably during the last day or 2 before WM when they decided to do the turn.
I also remember watching some WWE DVD, I think it was one of the Hulk Hogan specific ones, but I cant remember for sure, but I remember Hogan was talking about the days leading up to it, and he was either in Canada at that point, or in the process of traveling there, and Hogan said Vince talked to him about wearing the Red and Yellow outfit, and as Hogan didn't bring it with him, they talked about rushing and sending Hogan all the way back home to Florida to get the Red and Yellow, and Hogan was either just about to go, or maybe even had left for Florida when Vince changed his mind again, and decide to stick with Hogan in the nWo colors for WM. Again, sorry I don't remember the exact specifics, it's been a couple years since I watched it.

 

[jrush1978]

I always saw this as the plan from day 1. That WWE was going to do a shortened version of what WCW supposedly was originally going to do. I thought the plan was supposed to be Hall & Nash turn on Hogan after Sting beat him at Starrcade 97 to end the nWo, or at least Hogan being in it. By the time they were in WWE I couldnt see them actually getting a long run.

 

[Catacomb]

why would hogan have suddenly come out at wm in red and yellow? it doesnt make sense. if you actually watch the link i posted you can hear from hall and nash themselves, hall over austin and nwo laying out rock after the hogan loss was the plan until wm weekend. it would make no sense to have hogan still with the nwo come out in red and yellow without any reason at all

 

[justtxyank]

I have no concrete idea either way, BUT, in favor of the idea that Hogan turning face was planned all along, wasn't the red/yellow gear that Hogan wore in WWE after the face turn the first time he'd ever worn that gear? His last run as Hulk in WCW was still in the yellow undies. I'm not 100% sure what he wore in XWF, but I was under the impression it was black pants.

 

[lowandmighty]

I don't know for sure, but I heard that the original plan was to try and make the nWo really work and use Hogan to put over The Rock and Austin over a period of months.

The problem was the WWE fans didn't have the hatred for Hogan that the WCW fans did. The exact opposite, the WWE fans loved him no matter what and wouldn't let him be a heel, all they wanted was the Hogan they missed, knew and loved - the Hulkamania Hogan.

However, I always wondered whether or not Hogan would've received the same level of adoration he got from the fans if he came face to face with Austin instead of The Rock.
Unsolved mysteries.

 

[Wolf Pac]

This has become one of my pet peeves on wrestling forums - asking members of the IWC what the plans were for Wrestlemania X8. It comes up all the time but no one truly knows what the original plans were except for the wrestlers and management involved. And even the wrestlers involved have come out with different stories and still no one truly knows. I think we'll find out the truth if Vince ever does a shoot interview.

If one of the plans was Hall going over Austin, I'm so glad they changed it because it would've been dumb as fuck. This isn't Hogan going over Austin, it's Scott Hall. What would that have said about Austin - that the nWo were miles better than him if he couldn't even beat the nWo's number 3 guy behind Hogan and Nash. Nevermind him facing Hogan.

 

[whoopin' ass]

If this was the plan all along, if Hogan was originally supposed to come out in red and yellow, then it shows how stupid Vince can be because as is, it was the start of the end for the nWo angle but if that was actually the plan, why bother to bring them back at all? Did Vince hate WCW that much that he was willing to lose all that money in contracts and then what he would have made in the angle just to piss on WCW one more time? There was no reason why the nWo couldn't have had a decent run in wwe other than wwe didn't back them properly. If this is true, then it sounds like they never intended to.

Personally I don't think this was the plan. I think Hall was already having problems so they didn't want Austin to lose to him just incase they had to let him go soon. With Hogan, I think it was a last minute change. I think he got a good reaction they didn't expect and suddenly got cold feet. Nothing up to that point made it seem like Hogan was turning face and him being mad at Nash and Hall for interfering in his match is totally out of character for someone who wants to rule the wrestling world - a win is a win no matter how you get it. I think Toronto screwed then around with that face reaction and they thought that was what people wanted so they flipped him. I think they may have planned to do this at some point anyways but not this quickly.

 

[Bobbywoodhogan]

I don't know for sure, but I heard that the original plan was to try and make the nWo really work and use Hogan to put over The Rock and Austin over a period of months.

The problem was the WWE fans didn't have the hatred for Hogan that the WCW fans did. The exact opposite, the WWE fans loved him no matter what and wouldn't let him be a heel, all they wanted was the Hogan they missed, knew and loved - the Hulkamania Hogan.

However, I always wondered whether or not Hogan would've received the same level of adoration he got from the fans if he came face to face with Austin instead of The Rock.
Unsolved mysteries.

Yes he would have because it was in Canada age Hogan's popularity in Canada is astounding.

 

[realdeal]

Why would WWE have Hulk Hogan and the NWO do so many despicable acts to The Rock and Austin leading up to WM only for Hogan to become a baby face? it doesnt make any sense. Why have Hulk Hogan try and kill The Rock in that truck if the plan all along was for him to become hulkamania again? its like oh i tried to kill you but the fans are cheering me lets be friends and shake hands. Personaly i think it wasnt the plan at all but they just ran with it because of the response Hogan got during the WM match.

 

[Bobbywoodhogan]

Reason I think it was planned was because Hogan was getting cheered in the weeks leading up and it may have even been that weekend they changed it. As Michael Hayes said on the Legends of Wrestling roundtable when Stephanie asked people who they wahted fo ein the match they kept saying Hogan. So they got a sense that Hogan was more over the the Rock. I think that's when the decision was made.