Would Austin vs Hogan Have Out-Done Rock vs Hogan?

[The Crock]

WrestleMania X8, quite possibly the most anticipated match of all time was contested when "The Great One" The Rock faced "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. Billed as "Icon vs Icon," it was undoubtedly the biggest thing to ever happen in professional wrestling history, as 2 of wrestling's all time greatest superstars faced off in the squared circle in a match that nobody ever saw coming. Both guys had been the top guy in their respective promotion for quite some time, and Hogan had already solidified himself as a wrestling legend. That being said, would Austin vs Hogan have out-done Rock vs Hogan?

I say no. Although Austin was HUGE in the WWF, and he was arguably even more popular than Rock, I think that The Rock vs Hogan was just something special. It was totally different. The Rock, "The People's Champion," facing the biggest name in professional wrestling. There couldn't have possibly been a bigger main event. Sure, maybe Austin could have been put into the match and it still would have been a thing of legend, but it's just not the same as Rock vs Hogan. I mean, I love Austin and he carried the WWF. He put it on his back, he won the Monday Night Wars for them, but he just wasn't The Rock. At that time, The Rock was getting ridiculous pops. He was still extremely popular, and I truly think that an event such as Rock vs Hogan could never be replicated. It could never be out-done.

Thoughts?

 

[Why Always Me]

Good question.

Without turning this into a Rock/Austin popularity contest (that is a toss up IMO), I am not too sure if it would of been.

Rock was beginning to get established in Hollywood, facing HOLLYWOOD Hulk Hogan. That fits. Plus at this stage The Rock was bigger than Austin IMO. The Rock was more or less still in his prime, Austins injuries were beginning to catch up with him. The photo you included is just epic, Rock and Hogan staring each other down is just awesome. I am not sure the image would look the same with Austin and Hogan (although thats not really a big issue).

I think the crowd reaction would of been pretty much the same, the nostalga for Hogan would of meant the Toronto crowd would of been behind him. However both Rock and Austin weren't quite as popular IMO as they were in the Attitude Era (seeing Rock or Austin from 1999/2000 v Hogan would of been much better). Hogan mainly got the bigger pops because of the nostalga, over time the pops began to dwindle a little bit.

If I am forced to give an answer I would say no - Austin v Hogan would not of outdone Rock v Hogan.

 

[Mojorisen]

Good question, but the most anticipated match of all time.. Not even close... hogan was done by then and everyone new the Rock would go over.. What they didnt know, what no one knew, was that Hogan would be the one over with the crowd.. Andre v Hogan, Hogan v Warrior, Hogan v Savage.. were all more anticipated IMHO.. But I dont think, to answer the question, that Austin would have been bigger.. I dont think he could have handled the crowd reaction the way the rock did.. Still an Awesome Moment

 

[Rckstrtmmy]

IDK, I was at the Raw when Hogan and Rock were face to face for the first time and I still get chills thinking about it. It was so crazy there! I admit I think Austin overall is a bigger name than the Rock so I think Hogan vs. Austin would have been cool to see the two biggest draws in wrestling history. But Hogan vs. The Rock was a battle of arguably to two best CHARACTERS in wrestling history and I don't think it could've been outdone. I mean, everything was perfect about this match. The crowd not knowing who to cheer for, the taunts in the beginning, The Rock was being booed at first and cheered at the end...these things stick out in my mind about the match and Rocky played to them perfectly.

 

[a member of wwe universe]

Why speak about the past? Lets focus on the future. How about a possible potential match between Rock and Cena. It could surpass the hogan/rock in my opinion

 

[apokalypse]

off course Austin vs Hogan could have out done Rock vs Hogan, Austin the guy who save WWF one of biggest stars in wrestling industry and Hogan who put WWF on mainstream media. this is more than Icon vs Icon. if Austin able to deliver great promo like in 98-99 then he could get more cheer and totally own hogan. look at this promo of Rock vs Hogan, you can imagine what Austin vs Hogan going to be like and how Austin respond .. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCy0JCvFHUs

 

[Hulkamaniac]

No, it wouldn't have. Rock-Hogan ended up being perfect.

1. Austin, at this point, was very banged up, and couldn't put on the types of matches he used to, and his style wouldn't mesh well with Hogan's I don't think.

2. Rock was the biggest wrestling star in the world at this point, even bigger than Austin.

3. Austin and Hogan didn't get along well, so Austin wasn't likely to change it up on the fly in reaction to the crowd the way that Rocky was. Rocky really seemed to be soaking up the moment and history of it all, while, Austin would have been more conscious of looking better than Hogan (and vice versa).

4. Rock's athleticism allowed him to carry Hogan a little, something Steve didn't have with the injuries, nor do I think Austin would have wanted to carry Hogan anyway; he'd rather HOgan looked bad because of their personal issues.

 

[BenfromBrooklyn]

If it was Austin/Hogan I think it would of went down different . The crowd would of never boo'd Austin . Hogan would of stayed heel in the match .

 

[Attitude]

Of course Austin and Hogan would of out done rock vs. hogan. Your talking about two of THE biggest faces in WWE History PERIOD in Austin and Hogan. To the people saying Austin was arguably more popular than rock. There is no argument. Austin was more popular than rock during that time period which is why he was the face of the company. Rock might have been close but wasn't.

Anyway Austin and Hogan would have been better. Austin and Hogan are the two most over guys in the business and the match would have been classic.

 

[apokalypse]

agree with Hulkamaniac, in term of the hype, the money, fued and promos could out do but the match itself will suck and plus Hogan have to laid down for Austin.

Rock vs Hogan was about turning Hogan babyface thats why Rock cut babyface promos , if the rock came out and insult Hogan about his egos, how rock became megastar help WWF beat WCW...etc, then things would be different. if you watch Heel Rock in 2003 where he cut promos on hogan which he totally own Hogan. fans could have cheer for rock more. Austin and Rock could have buried hogan easily with their promos

 

[TakerDakSide]

Actually I think Rock/Hogan could over do Austin/Hogan. The Rock was over with the fans more so than Austin from that point. Another thing is that The Great One had various counts of Charisma unlike Austin did. Plus The Rock had more arsenal than Austin he could put more moves on against Hogan. Secondly afterward The Rock showed respect for Hogan. Would Austin do so...probably Not. Oerall the match as it was still mad for a classic one for the ages.

 

[Swarles Barkley]

The crowd would of never boo'd Austin.

100% agree. No way do we boo Austin like we did The Rock.

I say "we" because I was there in Toronto that night and I can tell you it was magical. As much as I prefer Stone Cold to The Rock, having it be The Rock versus Hogan was perfect.

I have no doubt that Austin-Hogan would have been HUGE, it would not have been the same as Rock-Hogan. If we're honest, it was the crowd that made this match as epic as it was. I was on my feet from the time Hogan's music hit until they left the ring. One of the coolest experiences of my life so far, and anyone who was there will say the same.

Austin-Hogan would have been great; Rock-Hogan is legendary.

 

[dansaun77]

Nobody can have predicted how great Hogan vs The Rock ended uop, but many forget that the original plan was for Hulk Hogan vs Stone Cold Steve Austin for Wrestlemaina 18. Austin, in another of his hypocritical moves, point black refused to work with Hogan under any circumstances one on one, and only did the tags on Raw as he is god friends with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, Hogan even was happy to put over Austin, as he did Rock, taker, HHH, Angle back in 2002. Hogan came back to do business and leave with his head high. There is no way the crowd would have turned for Hogan if Austin was on the other side of the ring,.so Im glad it playedmout the way it did. The Rock was gracious enough to meet and work with and even put over Goldberg and Brock Lesnar, more guys Austin refused to work with. Says alot about Austin, as for years he was fanous for hating Hogan etc for not putting talent over and holding guys back, yet Austin was the king of it. The rock vs Hogan is, for fan interaction, the greatest match iof all time

 

[Jack bruce]

ok lets get this right, if it was 99 then yes austin-hogan would have been bigger but lets be honest in 2002 austin was getting kinda stale whether you agree with me or not ever since 2001 rock was getting bigger pops minus wrestlemania 17 becuase that was in austins hometown. and on top of that rocks face was everywhere lets see, songs with his catchphrase, mtv, m,agazines in amoore than wrestling magazines,guest star appearances on tv shows and in movies. where was ausstin in wwf. hogan during his era cartoons, tv show appearances, movies, commercials not just wrestling where was austin only in stuff with wwf. so to me austin hogan would have been big but be honest would people have bought more into rock-hogan or hogan-austin. too me thats just the iwc talking andd as big as austin was it couldnt live up to hogan and rock im sorry it couldnt.

 

[JackGallow]

They is one question I think about all the time, even today as a matter of fact haha.

Would Stone Cold vs Hogan have been a bigger draw than Rock vs Hogan? My answer after countless times of asking myself over and over again is that honestly, in 2002 Rock and Austin were interchangeable. I dont want to repeat what many members have already said on the forum too much so ill make this brief, in 2002 Austin was kind of on the ass end of his HUGE run in the WWE, not taking anything away from him in anyway, its just the truth. Anywhere from 1998-2000 it wouldve been foolish to not make the match Austin vs Hogan. However it was 2002 that the match took place and at least IMO Rock took over as the face of the company from around 2000-2002 and I feel he was at his hottest. So when Hogan came in I think it was just natural for the WWE to do Rock v Hogan while Rock was truly red hot, HOWEVER if the WWE decided to do Austin v Hogan i do believe that they wouldve drew just about the same thing. Even though Austin was in some ways coming off his huge run, hes still Stone Cold Steve Austin and legendary, and I think WWE was banking on using Austin and Hogan in the future since no matter what time in history were at people would pay tons of money to see them go at it, like many people have said they were the 2 top faces of WWE at 2 different times in history, but i digress, to me it couldve been either or and I dont think the draw wouldve been very far apart, its just a shame we never got to see Hogan and Austin I honestly believe that shouldve been the headliner for Wrestlemania 19, but unfortunately im not vince mcmahon...

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

When looking at who should have been in this match, you have to understand who is in the discussion. The Rock was a huge name in pro wrestling, and arguably one of the ten or so greatest of all-time. He was, next to Hogan and Austin, the most charismatic man I've ever seen in pro wrestling. But let's not kid ourselves when we talk about who was more popular; it was Austin, hands down.

Who are the two biggest names in the history of the business? Hogan and Austin. The Rock is in the discussion, but he's probably on the level below Hogan, Austin and even Ric Flair. He's right there with Andre, Bret Hart, HBK, Undertaker, and Bruno Sammartino. Maybe not those exact names, and maybe I left a few out, but that's the level Rock is on. Austin is on another level, a higher level.

Because of this, there is no way Rock/Hogan could have been bigger than a showdown between Austin and Hogan.

There is a good reason why people constantly talk about how it should have been Austin/Hogan instead of Rock/Hogan. Would anyone have asked this question if had been Austin/Hogan instead of Rock/Hogan? I can't be sure, but I highly doubt it.

The Rock/Hogan showdown took place at a time where Rock and Austin were about equal in terms of popularity. I know Rock was being booked above Austin at this point, but I think that was more about Rock being the future (so they thought), as opposed to believing Austin was the past.

And this is probably the closest The Rock ever came to Austin-level status. Injuries piled up, and forced WWE to make Rock the next big thing, and let Austin fade out a bit. But make no mistake, Austin holds the place in history, not The Rock.

I loved the Hogan/Rock match. I thought it was a nice match, with tons of energy. But it didn't have the big-time feeling Hogan vs. Austin would have had. The two biggest names in the history of pro wrestling didn't meet at Mania 18, and I think it's a shame we never got to see it.

 

[King Patrick Star]

In my view, Hogan vs. Austin at WM X8 would have been just as good as Hogan vs. Rock. I even think Rock vs. Scott Hall would have been just as good as Austin vs. Scott Hall.

The WM X8 Main Events I would have rather seen are:

The Brothers of Destruction vs. The Outsiders, No Disqualification match.

This match would then free up both Austin and Flair for…

The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan, Fatal Four Way Elimination match.

This would have been the money making match. Can you imagine for a second, Wrestling’s Golden Age Face vs. Wrestling’s Golden Age Heel vs. Wrestling’s Modern Day Anti-Face vs. Wrestling’s Modern Day Anti-Heel. How would you even book this match?? Who would be the first and third to be eliminated??

The Icon of WWF vs. the Icon of WCW vs. the Icon of Raw vs. the Icon of Smackdown.

Then you have Chris Jericho vs. Triple H for the Undisputed WWF / Raw –AND- WCW / Smackdown World Heavyweight Championship Titles (without any of said ICONS!!). The irony.

 

[redeffect3]

Maybe it is because I am extremely bias, but I believe Rock is/was a much bigger icon. Also in my opinion, rock is a much better wrestler than austin. Hogan is pretty bad so it is pretty much on austin or rock to carry the match. that being said, i think austin could have pulled off a decent wrestlemania match, but i do not believe it would have been better than the great one vs one of the greatest

 

[MonkeyRko]

oh hell yeah Austin vs. hogan would of done better, if u remember the interview done by mr.mcmahon saying that as much as popular the rock was... austin was always better. I'm sure there match would of been alittle better to coz come on rock won by using the people elbow? really? really?(sorry stealing the miz's catch praze) with austin vs. hogan im sure hogan wouldnt get up after one stunnner! and imagine hogan tryed to hulk up against Austin, im sure he would just flip the bird to hogan and the crowd would go crazy! im not so sure if the crowd would turn on Austin like they did with The rock but i know after there match im sure Stonecold would hand hogan a beer and then Nash/Hall would show up and turn on hogan thus turning hogan face and then we could of had rock vs. hogan the next wrestlemania...that would of been AWESOME!!!

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I'm a huge Stone Cold mark and if it was ever to come up who is better among Rock and Austin, I would back Austin without a shadow of a doubt. But even I feel that for WrestleMania 18 Rock vs Hogan made more sense than Rock vs Austin.

The reason is this. Rock was the top face of the company in 2002 over Austin. The encounter between was a case of a clash between the face of the company at that moment and the biggest face of the company ever. Rock was at the hottest stage of his career, much hotter than Austin was at that stage and so it made sense for him to face Hogan at that time.

Remember the timing is important here. I think it is a well understood fact that Austin is a bigger star than Rock is the world of wrestling. At that point, there was no knowing that Austin would retire in such a hurry. I think that the WWE wanted to book an Austin vs Hogan match at a later date. I think they would have wanted to promote it as a clash between the two greatest superstars ever. But Austin's retirement prevented that.

So in 2002 at WrestleMania 18 Rock vs Hogan was certainly the correct choice. But if a match were to happen in 2005 after both guys had retired from the world of wrestling, I would have picked Austin vs Hogan over Rock vs Hogan because Austin was a bigger star in wrestling than the Rock. However in 2002 Rock was bigger than Austin and so it made sense to have Rock vs Hogan rather than Austin vs Hogan.

 

[Derrtown]

If it was Austin/Hogan I think it would of went down different . The crowd would of never boo'd Austin . Hogan would of stayed heel in the match .

This. I cant imagine the crowd booing Austin like they did to the Rock. The Crowd was almost completely in favor of the heel Hogan and I just cant see that happening with Austin. That said, It would have had a real WCW vs WWF kind of feel to it, the biggest Star of the Past vs the biggest Star now and I think it would have definitely surpassed Rock vs Hogan.

 

[JJ15776]

The definitive answer is NO, and to be honest anybody that argues otherwise is lying to themselves and/or misremembering history. I don't mean to sound like my opinion is the only one that's right, but in this case, it's a clear cut answer. I bring facts to both support this and disregard the alternative choice.

The most important thing here is to properly understand the question. We're talking about WrestleMania 18 and only WrestleMania 18 here. This is 2002. You have to realize that Rock was a SIGNIFICANTLY bigger star than Austin at this point in time. This was one year after Austin's heel turn against the Rock and the ill fated power trip with Triple H and Vince. This was on the heels of the Invasion angle, during which Austin was first alligned with Vince and Angle and later turned on the WW(F/E) and started leading the alliance - again, as a heel. Simply put, Stone Cold Steve Austin was no longer The Rattlesnake. He was still cool, but he was human. He was making Angle look good, laying down for Jericho, and giving way to Triple H in the royal rumble.

Meanwhile, The Rock was at his peak. After the Austin heel turn, Rock left to film his first movie, gaining him some mainstream attention. Then he returned more hyped than ever, was the face of the company all summer(again, Austin was a heel), carrying the show as he fought off The Alliance - and pinning Austin in the middle of the ring to end The Invasion. Then he beat The Undertaker at No Way Out before starting his fued with Hogan.

So, we give the easy edge to Rock in raw popularity and drawing power. If you were talking about who was more popular or who would have the bigger match in their prime, that's a hell of a debate. At WrestleMania 18, in 2002, it's not even close. Now, if you care about wrestling ability, that's even less close. Austin was a year away from retirement because he physically couldn't wrestle anymore and wouldn't have been able to produce anything remotely similiar to what Rock did with Hogan. The guy above me said Hogan-Austin would've been the Star of the Past vs. the Star of now. That's a great point - Hogan-Rock was the the Star of the Past vs. the Star of now. That's what made it great. Austin-Hogan would've been the Star of the Past vs. the Star of the Older Past. While good, it doesn't have the same feel to it.

And just to reiterate, Austin had spent the better part of the last year as a heel! How in the world can people say he wouldn't have been booed like Rock? That's crazy to me. Honestly, if Hogan-Austin would've been the match, I bet they would've had Austin be the heel and Hogan the face going into the match, so Austin definitely would've got all the boos.

In summary, the answer is no, and frankly this is an indisputable fact for the reasons I listed above. Sorry, but it's true.

 

[iwinulose]

i would have to say that yes, "the texas rattlesnake" stone cold steve austin vs "holliwood" hulk hogan would have been a bigger match, lets face it, at that point in time, stone cold was arguably the biggest name in the company at the time. however the rock vs hulk hogan was a huge match, i wont take anything away from it.

 

[JETER123]

I hate how everybody is saying Rock was the bigger star in 2002. Austin clearly still was. The "What?" chants made Austin's heel turn fail and turn him into a face again. The Rock was gone for a huge part of 2001. Austin was still the guy.

 

[MonkeyRko]

Austin was always the bigger star but he was like only in the WWE for like 4-5 of 2002 because the walked out, so Rock was bigger star for a bit. but even today you can still hear the "what"chants i think the only way there end is when all the fans from that era dies. Also i remember when hogan was inducted into the WWE HOF that fans all chanted Austin/hogan and even Austin said he was looking for something inside his bag and couldn't find it but did fine a big can a wroop ass and it had hogans name on it. so i'm sure any true wrestling fan would say that hogan vs. Austin would be there ultimate dream match