Rock/Hogan is a 5 star classic in my mind, incredible atmosphere and feeling and just the best damn storytelling you'll get out of any match. Not a technical classic (I mean jesus why would you expect one?) One of the favorites of all time and a match I can re-watch over and never get tired of.
Austin vs Hogan is the greatest match that never happened. No two superstars in WWE/F history has come close to how huge Hogan and Austin were, they're both in their own echelon of stardom.
Jermane Johnson Hogan VS Austin never happened because neither one of them agreed to lose. Rock VS HBK didn't happen because they didn't like each other (from what I heard)
Derek Dietrich Yeah that's true,HBK would always make fun of the Samoan wrestlers(before The Rock became big) & that would always bother The Rock,even as a teenager.Plus,HBK thought The Rock was cocky and handed everything because of his family,just like what he thought of Bret Hart.
As a huge fan of Austin and Hulkamaniac as well, I would have loved to see Austin VS Hogan to take place. The crowd would be amazing for it. I can just picture it
Words just can not describe the feeling you got when you saw Hogan vs Rock! Incredible match from beginning to end! It's amazing how Hogan was clearly built as the heel with that whole Semi/Ambulance angle on the Raw a few weeks before. But the crowd immediately turned Hogan face. The moment when Hogan officially turned face and shook hands with the Rock after the match (and celebrated as well) was even more epic than the match itself! I had no problem with what happened in this show cause I so entertained throughout!
Here's something I want you to consider Jeff: I think Hogan/Rock is the better match than Hogan/Austin from a historical perspective. The name and image of Stone Cold Steve Austin has not aged well. The Rock, with everything considered, is a much bigger star than Austin. Hogan and Rock are the two biggest wrestlers of all time, and they will still be icons 50 years from now. Stone Cold's name will be diminished as time goes on.
Well put, Austin in 98 was the hottest thing in the industry but by late 99 it was arguable between him/Rock. From 00-02 it wasnt even close given Rock massive mainstream presence which is why Vince kept Rock as "face of the company" over Austin. By 02 Rock was considered by every1 to be the biggest star out of wrestling specially with his movies while Austin was already old news. Only the WWE bubble pushes Austin as the biggest star bc Vince is so bitter Rock left in his prime for HWood.
sylentknyte Sure......with the benefit of hindsight at our disposal. At the time, Hogan/Austin was THE match that everybody wanted to see and we didn't get it. And why is Austin's name going to be diminished? What did he do to deserve that kind of hatred? Yea, it's great to look back and say Rock/Hogan was better but that was definitely not the mindset at the time.
The Hogan/Rock match was a true classic, and I love going back and watching this match. I would have loved to see Austin/Hogan, but to see one of the true "Dream Matches" that fans had clamored for was still good compensation, but like 'Mania 8, this was also a wasted opportunity (see the potential of Hogan/Flair at 'Mania 8). But still, the Hogan/Rock match was enough to satiate me.
They should have kept Y2J as a tweener because he had just enough edge going for him when people was taking him seriously while feuding with The Rock. That is the main reason why the main event was not that good because of that knock on Y2J. Also, the fact that the WWE did book Y2J poorly once they decided to turn him heel.
The oringal match up was supposed to be Austin vs Hogan, Stone Cold felt that he would not preformed to the level that the fans wanted. So he decided not to face Hogan. But Rock and Hogan was even better than a Steve Austin vs Hulk Hogan bout.
I hate when people talk about Austin being the biggest superstar of all time. The reality is if WM 18, would have been Hogan vs Austin the crowd would have gotten behind Hogan, and Austin would have gotten booed. That's the fucking reality. Flair, Savage, Bret, HBK, Austin, Rock, Cena, Bryan or whoever the fuck will always be second fiddle. Sooooo whatchu gonna when all of us hulkamanics run wild on Wrestlemania 30 brother, lol! Pumped
Hulk Hogan vs The Rock should have been the main event, and in the history of things I think most people KNOW it IS the main event - maybe not by positioning but the reaction from the crowd was one of the best in history and they both worked fantastic. Hogan had a damn broken rib and he went out there and gave it everything he had.
Whats with all the comments mentioning Austin vs Hogan fuck that match thank god we got what we got because Rock vs Hogan is the biggest match ever and the biggest out of any potential WWF vs WCW match ups.
No. Wrestling has existed since Greek times. Acting like it's only existed since Hulk Hogan was WWF's top guy is something only Hogan's biggest fanboy which is Hogan himself says.
fuck christian lol he was always a joke, so was edge, when they came out with gangrel in the fucking brood i would take a shit or refill my cup, same goes for rikishi, and a bevy of other wrestlers that got overrated praise
Completely agree with what you said re the crowd in Rock vs Hogan. The whole point of professional wrestling is working the crowd and no one could have done it better than those two. Excellent ring psychology. Emotional rollercoaster.
In order of 1 to 5 and IMO, the 5 featured matches for WM 18 as the culmination of what the WCW Invasion angle should've been 1.) Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Triple H 2.) Undertaker vs. Sting(with Lex Luger) 3.) Kevin Nash vs. Cactus Jack in a hardcore match 4.) The Rock vs. Scott Hall 5.) Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan in a singles match to unify the WWF title and the WCW World title
Everett Harding your third match is stupid. What i would of done is Rock vs. Macho Man, Triple H vs. Goldberg for the Undisputed Title, Kurt Angle vs. Curt Hennig, LOD vs. The Dudley Boyz, Taker vs. Sting Hell in a Cell and Austin vs. Hogan in the Icon vs. Icon Match
Austin vs. HoganRock vs. StingTaker vs. GoldbergHHH vs Scott HallKane vs NashEdge & Christian vs Harlem HeatJericho vs JarrettAngle vs BretBenoit vs Hennig
LOL @ HHH thinking that he and a dreadfully booked(thanks to HHH) Jericho could follow the epic that was Hogan v Rock. What a fucking egomaniac. AND, he done it again at WM25 with Blandy Boreton after HBK v Taker.
Austin vs. Hogan would've worked better had he not lost his momentum after "Rikishi did it for da Rock". His neck issues made that angle happen and he lost his spot to the Rock. Dwayne Johnson was now the top dog and the entire year of 2001 did not help Austin at all. Look at Austin from 1996-1999, then look at him in 2001. He had some funny moments, but he went from a badass every man to an ass kissing joke to Vince McMahon.
Undertaker's biker gimmick wasn't bad; it was actually quite great (and Undertaker proved just how "all-around" he could be). It suffered (IMO) because he had previously been the deadman; The Deadman as compared to the biker is like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin as compared to CM Punk in that (while Punk is great), he isn't Stone Cold. The Biker wasn't all that bad; it just wasn't the deadman.
Don't feel bad for him. He main evented a Wrestlemania, in front of 68,000 of his home-country fans, that must have been a dream for him. I mean, isn't that what CM Punk WISHES he could do?
About the Stone Cold vs Hall match apparently Hall was supposed to win as it was supposed to be a part of the brand extension shortly after but Austin had the match result changed
I really enjoyed this WrestleMania! One of my personal favorites! Taker vs Flair was awesome no doubt! HHH was really feuding with Stephanie instead of Jericho. So as a result, the match more about HHH finally getting his hands in Stephanie than winning the title. The Hardcore title changes were quite fun throughout the night. So many fun twists and turns! Plus Saliva and Drowning Pool rocked the house! Music really makes the difference for a wrestling show when it's the right kind for it.
I gave you a little privacy while you envisioned Trish, you seemed to need it, ;) They screwed that invasion angle, could you imagine what even a lowly mark could have come up with using the talent they had. The only thing I remember was Hogan / Rock, two wrestlers styles I hate, but I loved Hogan as a heel. The audience made that match and kudos to Rock and Hogan for recognizing the fact that Hogan was clearly the favorite. I multiply my original thumbs up by 10. It was an epic moment, as well as the ovation Hogan got on RAW the next night. An unparalleled standing ovation that seemed to go on for 10 minutes. Those "jobs" you refer to were McMahon's massive ego giving every WCW fan the finger and saying "see my product was always better" completely losing sight of what could have been. It was a weak moment for McMahon.
In 2002, in "The Game" DVD, Triple H defended the decision to have his match last on the card because the title match should always be in the main event because it is "tradition". In Chris Jericho's second book, he states that he tried to convince WWF officials as well as HHH that Hogan/Rock should be last but to no avail. In 2010, in "The True Story Of WrestleMania", Triple H flip-flopped his opinion by agreeing with Jericho that Hogan/Rock should have been in the main event and tried to change the position on the card, but to no avail... You would think Hunter would have realized his mistake by 2009. Too bad the exact same scenario occurred again with Taker/HBK at 'Mania 25. Although I don't believe that Taker/HBK was the reason why HHH/Orton wrestled in front of a dead crowd, they could have easily changed the match card to have HBK/Taker to be the main event which mostly everyone knew it should.
HHH is a piece of fuck! He was always jealous as fuck of Austin/Rock and didnt want Rock closing 4 Manias in a Row to his 1 so he booked himself to close WM 18 even though all the promotion for that Mania was all built around Hogan/Rock. HHH flat out lied about not wanting to close the show, and in 03 he LET Rock close 3 PPVs in a row w/o a title while he had the title bc he was scared shitless of getting overshadowed. WM 25 was a disgrace he only booked himself to close bc he knew Taker/HBK would close next year, typical HHH bullshit
i was in the military and deployed during this mania. they were showing it in the rec tent. the place was packed. people who havent watched wrestling in decades were there. a near riot broke during the rock/hogan match. then once the match was over. everyone left. only the hardcore fans like myself, stayed for y2j/hhh match.
In an ideal world I would have had the WrestleMania X8 main event as Hulk Hogan vs The Rock the WrestleMania XIX main event of Hulk Hogan vs Stone Cold Steve Austin and then as the main event of all main events at WrestleMania XXX from Madison Square Garden the world's most famous arena I would have had The Rock vs Hulk Hogan vs Stone Cold Steve Austin The Ultimate Main Event and Ultimate triple threat match between the 3 biggest stars in WWE/sports entertainment history
It's amazing, the longevity of some wrestlers, they can hang around and create dream matches with opponents. OOOOOOH I would have sure as shit loved to have seen Hogan vs. Austin. You point out many things that I've missed, I NEVER thought of that....... shame that never happened. And now it never will.
wrestlemania 18 this is what should've happened. Austin vs hogan ( main event) the rock vs Scott hall HHH vs Kevin Nash( WWF champion, since hhh won the royal rumble. have Nash cheat his way to win the WWF title, and have a DX/nwo or kliq storyline) Vince McMahon vs Eric bishoff ( if they can get Eric to come to wwe this early) IMO wrestlemania 18 was good, but FAILED TO BE ONE OF THE GREATEST if not the GREATEST WRESTLEMANIA EVER!!!!!!!!!
One thing I never understood about the Rock and Hogan match. Why did the fans want Hogan to go back to his red and yellow gear and back to the same boring invincible hero gimmick they'd gotten sick of in the 80's and early 90's? I never got that.
Many people seem to forget the match between Steve Austin Vs Scott Hall and the aftermath. Pretty good match between these two but the backstory was Austin being pissed off at management being in the undercard and walking out the next night.
Stone Cold hated his match with Scott Hall apparently. He didn't like the fact that it was "just some match on the card" in his words and he thought it wasn't promoted or built properly. And I agree because the storyline was that the NWO had screwed Austin out of his Undisputed title match against Jericho at No Way Out just because he refused a beer they offered him so Austin was after the entire NWO in revenge which led to a forgettable match with Hall at Wrestlemania.
My disappointment started in 2002 with WWE as well. I wished the Invasion angle could of been better and I wished the nWo would of worked and I understand why it happened from a business aspect but personally didn't like the roster split. WM 18 isn't that bad IMO The Rock vs Hollywood Hogan is great everything isn't a technical masterpiece but wrestling needs variety. I felt bad for Jericho on this WM who didn't get to show what he could do in a big WrestleMania match adequately. Good Review hopefully I can get on blogtalk one day and chat some wrestling.
From what I heard from hall and nash, it was austin who had himself beat scott not vince. Scott was told he was going to win leading up to the ppv, then at the last minute steve had it changed.
Thank you Jeff, for saying what a lot of us Fans Worldwide and most of the People in the Business thought about WM X-seven - the "Invasion" up to WM X8. The Biggest Story Ever in Pro Wrestling History not really and so Poor executed, it was a waste a shame and it will hurt us Fans and the Business forever. I never understand what was going on with Vince and his Company were they so drunk of winning, at the end they cut their own Flesh deep..
They should've kept Austin face when helped The WWF guys on that RAW cause his heel turn was getting stupid like they had him hug Vince & they sung songs. I mean The Invasion had great matches but the only guys the fans liked from The Alliance was Booker T & RVD. When I saw The nWo was coming in I was like yeah they're going to go after Austin & Rock. Still will got a great spectacle with Rock & Hogan sometimes awesome storytelling or just making a match more of an event instead of relying on workrate can make me happy. Austin just wasn't happy at this point his heel turn was flop. Although 02, 03, 04 & 05 are still better WWE years than what we'd get in 2006 & then of course the product went even more in the crapper when Benoit did what he did 2008 early 09 were decent though. Thank you for your reviews even thought I disagree with you a little bit your all cool. BTW despite Hogan being a pathological liar these days he freaking made WWF what it was a lot of respect to him you know look at those 1st 3 Wrestlemania's alone.
At that time I liked the 4 corners tag team elimination because was different and not same yearly. But ever since is always a triple threat or fatal 4 every year
But this WrestleMania and the year 2002 was good overall, sad after what they did to themselves the Year before, A solid opener, short but Sweet European Title Match, Awesome Rock with Coach, Taker and The Nature Boy damn good, Austin vs Big Scott Hall & Big Sexy Stupid, Trish in Toronto eehh?? The Story with the Hardcore Title funny, Hogan & The Rock ALL TIME GREAT MATCH and Hunter and Jericho wrong place on the Card! Good Mania
Hogan didn’t want to put over Austin, and Austin didn’t want to put Hogan over. They both had heat on each other, and Austin’s neck wasn’t that well anymore, that’s why they didn’t put Austin vs Hogan.
Thank God you didn't Crap on Hogan vs Rock. Too many people in the IWC try to be smart & crap on this match cause it's not some High flying kick out of a 100 finishers match
Things to know about Schlegdaddy 1)He isn't your typical IWC smark 2)Storytelling,psychology,& crowd connection will always be more important than in-ring action 3)If the opportunity is right,he'll shit on the popular IWC opinion about something just to be a dick about it. 4)Hulk Hogan is the biggest star in wrestling history,bar-none. 5)Think like a businessman,not a fan And most important And the 2 most important ones 6)Jeff Jarrett is a midcard piece-of-trash who never drew a dime 7)John Felix Anthony Cena,Randall Keith Orton,Sheamus,Batista,Stephanie McMahon,& GOD(Triple H) are the breakfast club and they rule the WWE #BreakfastClubRulesBitches
Apparently it was supposed to be Hogan vs Austin and Austin was given first refusal on the match and did just that but I've also read where Austin complained it should have been himself vs Hogan not The Rock vs Hogan yet again another contrasting backstage story in the wrestling business it is so frustrating how so often in wrestling you just cant seem to get a decisive true answer on things
I wonder if how the crowd turned on The Rock to cheer Hogan. If they would of turned on Austin and cheered Hogan? I don't see it happening. I think the crowd reaction to Hogan vs Austin would of been insane and pretty even.
U keep calling things stupid HHH vs Jericho was for the title and HHH was on the rumble at that time every rumble winner MAIN EVENTED! At 25 Orton won the Rumble and he MAIN EVENTED FOR THE WWE TITLE. It's easy for you to say flair vs hbk and hbk vs taker should've been the main event now cause you know what those matches turned out to be but before hand that isn't known
hogan vs austin wouldn't of been the main event at 18 no matter how much sense it made because GOD thought it would of disrespected the wwf championship. and we couldn't have that happen now could we?
BuryingYoungTalent haha yea and before that dvd after 18 he was shown in an interview that he felt like if he wasn't in the main event it would of disrespected the belt which is why i made that comment
hooba93 Not only is HHH clearly a political pussy but a liar he flipped flop on who he thought should close WM 18 but he knows his "title" excuse is bs. In 03 Rock headlined 3 straight PPVs over HHH w/o the title while HHH had the title yet then HHH doesnt seem to mind lol its obvious his ego took a hit seeing how nobody cared about his WM 18 match and his entire massive undeserved face push that year
this was a two match show. you had a damn good street fight between Undertaker and Flair and obviously Rock/Hogan, which was outstanding stuff. I did like the Hardcore championship thing too. other than that, this show was really bad. a bunch of sub-par to bland mid-card matches (most of them forgettable too), capped off with a lackluster main event between HHH and Jericho. disappointing show overall.
I just expected more from re-watching it, the first time I saw it I was just awestruck, and now I watched it again, and the match wasn't even that good.
Here's the thing: I can understand that people were disappointed in the match. Everyone has different preferences in what they like in a professional wrestling match. But I have to agree with Schlegdaddy, here. At the end of the day, it's about how into the match the crowd is. If you have the greatest technical masterpiece of all time, but the crowd isn't into it, ultimately you have failed. I understand personal opinions and preferences, and I'm not trying to crap on yours, but Hogan vs Rock is an objectively great match because it accomplished the goal of professional wrestling: get the people invested into the stories and characters
I agree with you 1000%. But Hogan and Rock were capable of putting on a better match than they did. It was electric, but the electricity made the match, so to speak.
In retrospect yeah Hollywood should've had a heel run on top at least up until summerslam, but at that moment they were literally swimming upstream they did everything to have people boo him and nothing stuck, thats why they gradually changed the build from the horrible nWo villain into the babe ruth character.
17:48 ...What does Ugg mean?? but he is right, both HBK and HHH are two backstage pieces of shit but in 2002 and 2005 respectively they both found out How the Hulkster does business BROTHER!!! and it looked good on both of them...
NOT A 1-MATCH SHOW FOR ME! #WM18 3/17/2002 #HHH WON THE #WWF #WCW #UNDISPUTED-WORLD'S HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIPS #5THWWF-WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP! #1STWORLDS HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP! 1ST OF 6-WORLD'S.HEAVYWEIGHT.CHAMPIONSHIPS & IT DOES COUNT AS TWO-WORLD.HW.CHAMPIONSHIPS JUST LIKE #Y2J WON HIS 2ND & 3RD-WORLD.HW.TITLES BEATING ROCK & AUSTIN BACK-2-BACK TO UNIFY BOTH WORLD.HW.CHAMPIONSHIPS! #HHH MIGHT BE THE ONLY 2X-WWE-UNDISPUTED-WORLD'S HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION AT #WM30
Let's be honest flair and Michaels at Wrestlemania with no title on the line is not main event quality. I think WM 25 taker and Michaels could have main evented. Then WM 26 Cena and Batista could have main evented.
if anyone is to blame for hhh main eventing this wrestlemania its was the MSG crowd when he returned on raw that pop was insane and they obv heard that and thought people wanna see this guy wich i understand and any other year previous the rumble winner has gone on to wrestlemania to the main event so why change it if they wanted rock hogan to be on last they should have had hogan win the title somehow and then have rock win the rumble but they didnt so its fine . its all well and good saying hhh is this hhh is that he burried so and so well look what hhh has done for the shield and daniel bryan over the past 3/4 months hes become a jobber to put over these young talents can the same be said for john cena? no he always has to bury the you guys who gets some steam behind them the guy is trash and no1 is allowed to be on cenas level the guy needs to take an owen hart style fall from the sky coming in as the blue fucking blazer screw cena and his ass kissing bitch boy polotics
Rock/Hogan is a 5 star classic in my mind, incredible atmosphere and feeling and just the best damn storytelling you'll get out of any match. Not a technical classic (I mean jesus why would you expect one?) One of the favorites of all time and a match I can re-watch over and never get tired of.
If you mean basic match structure with little to no story , then yaeh hogan/rock is a good match
Austin vs Hogan is the greatest match that never happened. No two superstars in WWE/F history has come close to how huge Hogan and Austin were, they're both in their own echelon of stardom.
They should have done for WM19,Hogan vs Austin,& Rock vs HBK in a double main event,that would have made big time money.
Jermane Johnson #truth
Jermane Johnson
Hogan VS Austin never happened because neither one of them agreed to lose. Rock VS HBK didn't happen because they didn't like each other (from what I heard)
Derek Dietrich Yeah that's true,HBK would always make fun of the Samoan wrestlers(before The Rock became big) & that would always bother The Rock,even as a teenager.Plus,HBK thought The Rock was cocky and handed everything because of his family,just like what he thought of Bret Hart.
As a huge fan of Austin and Hulkamaniac as well, I would have loved to see Austin VS Hogan to take place. The crowd would be amazing for it. I can just picture it
Words just can not describe the feeling you got when you saw Hogan vs Rock! Incredible match from beginning to end! It's amazing how Hogan was clearly built as the heel with that whole Semi/Ambulance angle on the Raw a few weeks before. But the crowd immediately turned Hogan face. The moment when Hogan officially turned face and shook hands with the Rock after the match (and celebrated as well) was even more epic than the match itself! I had no problem with what happened in this show cause I so entertained throughout!
Here's something I want you to consider Jeff: I think Hogan/Rock is the better match than Hogan/Austin from a historical perspective. The name and image of Stone Cold Steve Austin has not aged well. The Rock, with everything considered, is a much bigger star than Austin. Hogan and Rock are the two biggest wrestlers of all time, and they will still be icons 50 years from now. Stone Cold's name will be diminished as time goes on.
Well put, Austin in 98 was the hottest thing in the industry but by late 99 it was arguable between him/Rock. From 00-02 it wasnt even close given Rock massive mainstream presence which is why Vince kept Rock as "face of the company" over Austin. By 02 Rock was considered by every1 to be the biggest star out of wrestling specially with his movies while Austin was already old news. Only the WWE bubble pushes Austin as the biggest star bc Vince is so bitter Rock left in his prime for HWood.
sylentknyte Sure......with the benefit of hindsight at our disposal. At the time, Hogan/Austin was THE match that everybody wanted to see and we didn't get it. And why is Austin's name going to be diminished? What did he do to deserve that kind of hatred? Yea, it's great to look back and say Rock/Hogan was better but that was definitely not the mindset at the time.
The Hogan/Rock match was a true classic, and I love going back and watching this match. I would have loved to see Austin/Hogan, but to see one of the true "Dream Matches" that fans had clamored for was still good compensation, but like 'Mania 8, this was also a wasted opportunity (see the potential of Hogan/Flair at 'Mania 8). But still, the Hogan/Rock match was enough to satiate me.
They should have kept Y2J as a tweener because he had just enough edge going for him when people was taking him seriously while feuding with The Rock. That is the main reason why the main event was not that good because of that knock on Y2J. Also, the fact that the WWE did book Y2J poorly once they decided to turn him heel.
The oringal match up was supposed to be Austin vs Hogan, Stone Cold felt that he would not preformed to the level that the fans wanted. So he decided not to face Hogan. But Rock and Hogan was even better than a Steve Austin vs Hulk Hogan bout.
I hate when people talk about Austin being the biggest superstar of all time. The reality is if WM 18, would have been Hogan vs Austin the crowd would have gotten behind Hogan, and Austin would have gotten booed. That's the fucking reality. Flair, Savage, Bret, HBK, Austin, Rock, Cena, Bryan or whoever the fuck will always be second fiddle. Sooooo whatchu gonna when all of us hulkamanics run wild on Wrestlemania 30 brother, lol! Pumped
Imagine Goldberg vs Austin as the main event.
Goldberg vs Austin would of been great. But it wouldn't of drew nothing compared to what Hogan and Austin would of drew.
It would have been much better than Austin and hogan in my opinion but ya hogan would have drawn more
Like I said before, this WrestleMania was the true end of the Attitude Era.
Hulk Hogan vs The Rock should have been the main event, and in the history of things I think most people KNOW it IS the main event - maybe not by positioning but the reaction from the crowd was one of the best in history and they both worked fantastic. Hogan had a damn broken rib and he went out there and gave it everything he had.
Having it play second fiddle to a Triple H vs Stephanie feud with Jericho as a third wheel was stupid.
Whats with all the comments mentioning Austin vs Hogan fuck that match thank god we got what we got because Rock vs Hogan is the biggest match ever and the biggest out of any potential WWF vs WCW match ups.
Love him or hate him (like you said, a lot of bad stuff is true) Hogan proved that night that HE is immortal. Hogan is wrestling.
No. Wrestling has existed since Greek times. Acting like it's only existed since Hulk Hogan was WWF's top guy is something only Hogan's biggest fanboy which is Hogan himself says.
Of course, I meant professional wrestling as we know it. I didn't mean the actual sport of wresting
I think WWE learned their lesson from not having Rock Hogan main event this pay per view when they had Rock Cena main event 28.
Kinda sucked that Christian didn't win a single title in his hometown.
fuck christian lol he was always a joke, so was edge, when they came out with gangrel in the fucking brood i would take a shit or refill my cup, same goes for rikishi, and a bevy of other wrestlers that got overrated praise
Completely agree with what you said re the crowd in Rock vs Hogan. The whole point of professional wrestling is working the crowd and no one could have done it better than those two. Excellent ring psychology. Emotional rollercoaster.
In order of 1 to 5 and IMO, the 5 featured matches for WM 18 as the culmination of what the WCW Invasion angle should've been
1.) Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Triple H
2.) Undertaker vs. Sting(with Lex Luger)
3.) Kevin Nash vs. Cactus Jack in a hardcore match
4.) The Rock vs. Scott Hall
5.) Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan in a singles match to unify the WWF title and the WCW World title
Everett Harding your third match is stupid. What i would of done is Rock vs. Macho Man, Triple H vs. Goldberg for the Undisputed Title, Kurt Angle vs. Curt Hennig, LOD vs. The Dudley Boyz, Taker vs. Sting Hell in a Cell and Austin vs. Hogan in the Icon vs. Icon Match
+Dillon Haggett Austin vs Goldberg, Rock vs Macho Man, Sting vs Taker, Hogan vs Flair
Austin vs. HoganRock vs. StingTaker vs. GoldbergHHH vs Scott HallKane vs NashEdge & Christian vs Harlem HeatJericho vs JarrettAngle vs BretBenoit vs Hennig
its a shame we never got a edge vs christian match at wm ever
LOL @ HHH thinking that he and a dreadfully booked(thanks to HHH) Jericho could follow the epic that was Hogan v Rock. What a fucking egomaniac. AND, he done it again at WM25 with Blandy Boreton after HBK v Taker.
everyone craps on HHH when he has a losing mania record. he's 8-9
Pelé vs Maradona. That's what you were looking for.
I really enjoyed flair/taker at wm18 very much underrated IMO
Damn right Flair vs Undertaker is a very underrated match. Flair really brought it
Austin vs. Hogan would've worked better had he not lost his momentum after "Rikishi did it for da Rock". His neck issues made that angle happen and he lost his spot to the Rock. Dwayne Johnson was now the top dog and the entire year of 2001 did not help Austin at all. Look at Austin from 1996-1999, then look at him in 2001. He had some funny moments, but he went from a badass every man to an ass kissing joke to Vince McMahon.
Undertaker's biker gimmick wasn't bad; it was actually quite great (and Undertaker proved just how "all-around" he could be). It suffered (IMO) because he had previously been the deadman; The Deadman as compared to the biker is like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin as compared to CM Punk in that (while Punk is great), he isn't Stone Cold. The Biker wasn't all that bad; it just wasn't the deadman.
I feel bad for Chris Jericho that his only WrestleMania main event was one of the most forgettable ones ever. Also, you should do a
Don't feel bad for him. He main evented a Wrestlemania, in front of 68,000 of his home-country fans, that must have been a dream for him. I mean, isn't that what CM Punk WISHES he could do?
you should do a video of the Top 25 Best WM matches of all time.
About the Stone Cold vs Hall match apparently Hall was supposed to win as it was supposed to be a part of the brand extension shortly after but Austin had the match result changed
I really enjoyed this WrestleMania! One of my personal favorites! Taker vs Flair was awesome no doubt! HHH was really feuding with Stephanie instead of Jericho. So as a result, the match more about HHH finally getting his hands in Stephanie than winning the title. The Hardcore title changes were quite fun throughout the night. So many fun twists and turns! Plus Saliva and Drowning Pool rocked the house! Music really makes the difference for a wrestling show when it's the right kind for it.
I gave you a little privacy while you envisioned Trish, you seemed to need it, ;) They screwed that invasion angle, could you imagine what even a lowly mark could have come up with using the talent they had. The only thing I remember was Hogan / Rock, two wrestlers styles I hate, but I loved Hogan as a heel. The audience made that match and kudos to Rock and Hogan for recognizing the fact that Hogan was clearly the favorite. I multiply my original thumbs up by 10. It was an epic moment, as well as the ovation Hogan got on RAW the next night. An unparalleled standing ovation that seemed to go on for 10 minutes. Those "jobs" you refer to were McMahon's massive ego giving every WCW fan the finger and saying "see my product was always better" completely losing sight of what could have been. It was a weak moment for McMahon.
In 2002, in "The Game" DVD, Triple H defended the decision to have his match last on the card because the title match should always be in the main event because it is "tradition". In Chris Jericho's second book, he states that he tried to convince WWF officials as well as HHH that Hogan/Rock should be last but to no avail.
In 2010, in "The True Story Of WrestleMania", Triple H flip-flopped his opinion by agreeing with Jericho that Hogan/Rock should have been in the main event and tried to change the position on the card, but to no avail...
You would think Hunter would have realized his mistake by 2009. Too bad the exact same scenario occurred again with Taker/HBK at 'Mania 25. Although I don't believe that Taker/HBK was the reason why HHH/Orton wrestled in front of a dead crowd, they could have easily changed the match card to have HBK/Taker to be the main event which mostly everyone knew it should.
HHH is a piece of fuck! He was always jealous as fuck of Austin/Rock and didnt want Rock closing 4 Manias in a Row to his 1 so he booked himself to close WM 18 even though all the promotion for that Mania was all built around Hogan/Rock. HHH flat out lied about not wanting to close the show, and in 03 he LET Rock close 3 PPVs in a row w/o a title while he had the title bc he was scared shitless of getting overshadowed. WM 25 was a disgrace he only booked himself to close bc he knew Taker/HBK would close next year, typical HHH bullshit
Given how arrogant HHH is he probably only wanted the title match on last because he was in it.
i was in the military and deployed during this mania. they were showing it in the rec tent. the place was packed. people who havent watched wrestling in decades were there. a near riot broke during the rock/hogan match.
then once the match was over. everyone left. only the hardcore fans like myself, stayed for y2j/hhh match.
The Mania that should have had Taker vs Sting, and Austin vs Hogan.
In an ideal world I would have had the WrestleMania X8 main event as Hulk Hogan vs The Rock the WrestleMania XIX main event of Hulk Hogan vs Stone Cold Steve Austin and then as the main event of all main events at WrestleMania XXX from Madison Square Garden the world's most famous arena I would have had The Rock vs Hulk Hogan vs Stone Cold Steve Austin The Ultimate Main Event and Ultimate triple threat match between the 3 biggest stars in WWE/sports entertainment history
Stone cold should win the triple threat by pinning hogan.
It's amazing, the longevity of some wrestlers, they can hang around and create dream matches with opponents. OOOOOOH I would have sure as shit loved to have seen Hogan vs. Austin. You point out many things that I've missed, I NEVER thought of that....... shame that never happened. And now it never will.
wrestlemania 18
this is what should've happened.
Austin vs hogan ( main event)
the rock vs Scott hall
HHH vs Kevin Nash( WWF champion, since hhh won the royal rumble. have Nash cheat his way to win the WWF title, and have a DX/nwo or kliq storyline)
Vince McMahon vs Eric bishoff ( if they can get Eric to come to wwe this early)
IMO wrestlemania 18 was good, but FAILED TO BE ONE OF THE GREATEST if not the GREATEST WRESTLEMANIA EVER!!!!!!!!!
One thing I never understood about the Rock and Hogan match. Why did the fans want Hogan to go back to his red and yellow gear and back to the same boring invincible hero gimmick they'd gotten sick of in the 80's and early 90's? I never got that.
Many people seem to forget the match between Steve Austin Vs Scott Hall and the aftermath. Pretty good match between these two but the backstory was Austin being pissed off at management being in the undercard and walking out the next night.
The Rock Vs Hogan would be way better idc what no one says The rock at that time was the hulk hogan figure
Stone Cold hated his match with Scott Hall apparently. He didn't like the fact that it was "just some match on the card" in his words and he thought it wasn't promoted or built properly. And I agree because the storyline was that the NWO had screwed Austin out of his Undisputed title match against Jericho at No Way Out just because he refused a beer they offered him so Austin was after the entire NWO in revenge which led to a forgettable match with Hall at Wrestlemania.
Hall didn't like it also.
My disappointment started in 2002 with WWE as well. I wished the Invasion angle could of been better and I wished the nWo would of worked and I understand why it happened from a business aspect but personally didn't like the roster split. WM 18 isn't that bad IMO The Rock vs Hollywood Hogan is great everything isn't a technical masterpiece but wrestling needs variety. I felt bad for Jericho on this WM who didn't get to show what he could do in a big WrestleMania match adequately. Good Review hopefully I can get on blogtalk one day and chat some wrestling.
From what I heard from hall and nash, it was austin who had himself beat scott not vince. Scott was told he was going to win leading up to the ppv, then at the last minute steve had it changed.
7:16 Where the real juicy bits start.
Thank you Jeff, for saying what a lot of us Fans Worldwide and most of the People in the Business thought about WM X-seven - the "Invasion" up to WM X8. The Biggest Story Ever in Pro Wrestling History not really and so Poor executed, it was a waste a shame and it will hurt us Fans and the Business forever. I never understand what was going on with Vince and his Company were they so drunk of winning, at the end they cut their own Flesh deep..
One of the greatest WrestleMania's of ALL TIME!
They should've kept Austin face when helped The WWF guys on that RAW cause his heel turn was getting stupid like they had him hug Vince & they sung songs. I mean The Invasion had great matches but the only guys the fans liked from The Alliance was Booker T & RVD. When I saw The nWo was coming in I was like yeah they're going to go after Austin & Rock. Still will got a great spectacle with Rock & Hogan sometimes awesome storytelling or just making a match more of an event instead of relying on workrate can make me happy. Austin just wasn't happy at this point his heel turn was flop. Although 02, 03, 04 & 05 are still better WWE years than what we'd get in 2006 & then of course the product went even more in the crapper when Benoit did what he did 2008 early 09 were decent though. Thank you for your reviews even thought I disagree with you a little bit your all cool. BTW despite Hogan being a pathological liar these days he freaking made WWF what it was a lot of respect to him you know look at those 1st 3 Wrestlemania's alone.
What should've happened at wrestlemania 18 is Austin vs Hogan mane event
Rock vs scott hall
Kevin Nash vs shawn Michaels
1. Austin wasn't interested
2. How do you have rock the bigger star in the mid card?
3. Shawn was still pilled out of his mind
Wasn't it Austin who put the halt on Hogan/Austin because he knew how Hogan would act and didn't want anything to do with him.
I've heard a few different stories as to why Hogan and Austin didn't face each other
At that time I liked the 4 corners tag team elimination because was different and not same yearly. But ever since is always a triple threat or fatal 4 every year
But this WrestleMania and the year 2002 was good overall, sad after what they did to themselves the Year before, A solid opener, short but Sweet European Title Match, Awesome Rock with Coach, Taker and The Nature Boy damn good, Austin vs Big Scott Hall & Big Sexy Stupid, Trish in Toronto eehh?? The Story with the Hardcore Title funny, Hogan & The Rock ALL TIME GREAT MATCH and Hunter and Jericho wrong place on the Card! Good Mania
Hogan didn’t want to put over Austin, and Austin didn’t want to put Hogan over. They both had heat on each other, and Austin’s neck wasn’t that well anymore, that’s why they didn’t put Austin vs Hogan.
Thank God you didn't Crap on Hogan vs Rock. Too many people in the IWC try to be smart & crap on this match cause it's not some High flying kick out of a 100 finishers match
You must be new to Schlegdaddy's videos.
I'm a semi Noob
Things to know about Schlegdaddy
1)He isn't your typical IWC smark
2)Storytelling,psychology,& crowd connection will always be more important than in-ring action
3)If the opportunity is right,he'll shit on the popular IWC opinion about something just to be a dick about it.
4)Hulk Hogan is the biggest star in wrestling history,bar-none.
5)Think like a businessman,not a fan
And most important
And the 2 most important ones
6)Jeff Jarrett is a midcard piece-of-trash who never drew a dime
7)John Felix Anthony Cena,Randall Keith Orton,Sheamus,Batista,Stephanie McMahon,& GOD(Triple H) are the breakfast club and they rule the WWE #BreakfastClubRulesBitches
Austin said on his podcast that it was his call not to have a match VS Hogan
UGH time for a break. Time for History of the WWE Championship Disc 3.....OH HELL YEAH!
the way things are going with the ic belt these days they may as well bring in 24/7 rules for that belt
Apparently it was supposed to be Hogan vs Austin and Austin was given first refusal on the match and did just that but I've also read where Austin complained it should have been himself vs Hogan not The Rock vs Hogan yet again another contrasting backstage story in the wrestling business it is so frustrating how so often in wrestling you just cant seem to get a decisive true answer on things
Invasion angle was ruined by wwe not wanting to sign all the big names
I can't say that I actually remember the match, however I do remember the $20 I lost to my friend when fucken Rock beat Hogan.
lol, fun times.
I wonder if how the crowd turned on The Rock to cheer Hogan. If they would of turned on Austin and cheered Hogan? I don't see it happening. I think the crowd reaction to Hogan vs Austin would of been insane and pretty even.
No they woulda turned on Austin but I think a lot of that had to do with them being in Canada
U keep calling things stupid HHH vs Jericho was for the title and HHH was on the rumble at that time every rumble winner MAIN EVENTED! At 25 Orton won the Rumble and he MAIN EVENTED FOR THE WWE TITLE. It's easy for you to say flair vs hbk and hbk vs taker should've been the main event now cause you know what those matches turned out to be but before hand that isn't known
hogan vs austin wouldn't of been the main event at 18 no matter how much sense it made because GOD thought it would of disrespected the wwf championship. and we couldn't have that happen now could we?
actually hhh wanted to have hogan and the rock main event it said so in the true story of wrestlemania dvd
BuryingYoungTalent haha yea and before that dvd after 18 he was shown in an interview that he felt like if he wasn't in the main event it would of disrespected the belt which is why i made that comment
hooba93
Not only is HHH clearly a political pussy but a liar he flipped flop on who he thought should close WM 18 but he knows his "title" excuse is bs. In 03 Rock headlined 3 straight PPVs over HHH w/o the title while HHH had the title yet then HHH doesnt seem to mind lol its obvious his ego took a hit seeing how nobody cared about his WM 18 match and his entire massive undeserved face push that year
***** couldn't have said it better myself
What is with the WWE and their need to put the wrong match to main event every Wrestlemania with an 8 in it?
And even the wrestlemania 18 DVD had what and who. On it? Icon vs icon. Hogan vs the rock.
this was a two match show. you had a damn good street fight between Undertaker and Flair and obviously Rock/Hogan, which was outstanding stuff. I did like the Hardcore championship thing too. other than that, this show was really bad. a bunch of sub-par to bland mid-card matches (most of them forgettable too), capped off with a lackluster main event between HHH and Jericho. disappointing show overall.
Preach!!
When I see today's 24 7 title and people say is great i think no is not as I remember the hardcore belt at this wrestlemania .
Pele v Cristiano Ronaldo. Just for future reference Schleg ;)
Pele vs Messi*, or Ronaldinho or even Ronaldo.
Messi vs Pele is what you meant XD.
pele vs maradona
The WWF championship match was good.
I went back and watched Rock/Hogan, and the match isn't as good as I thought it was, it's pretty short actually.
Didnt need to be, why drag out the match
I just expected more from re-watching it, the first time I saw it I was just awestruck, and now I watched it again, and the match wasn't even that good.
Here's the thing: I can understand that people were disappointed in the match. Everyone has different preferences in what they like in a professional wrestling match. But I have to agree with Schlegdaddy, here. At the end of the day, it's about how into the match the crowd is. If you have the greatest technical masterpiece of all time, but the crowd isn't into it, ultimately you have failed. I understand personal opinions and preferences, and I'm not trying to crap on yours, but Hogan vs Rock is an objectively great match because it accomplished the goal of professional wrestling: get the people invested into the stories and characters
I agree with you 1000%. But Hogan and Rock were capable of putting on a better match than they did. It was electric, but the electricity made the match, so to speak.
Pause at 16:11
lmao let me rewind it, hogan rock was aweosme
austin dint want to face hogan cause he believe the match would be garbage
Soccer ffs its football
He lives in the USA where it's indeed called soccer.
Well i cringe everytime i hear it american football u use ur hands most of the time so i dunno why its called football
Turning hogan face was dumb. Cause then he challenges a baby face hhh for the tile the next month. They should have kept the nwo going longer smh
In retrospect yeah Hollywood should've had a heel run on top at least up until summerslam, but at that moment they were literally swimming upstream they did everything to have people boo him and nothing stuck, thats why they gradually changed the build from the horrible nWo villain into the babe ruth character.
My favorite part - 16:11
So basically Triple H is 0-2 in Wrestlemania main events so far. Shame God can't put on a good main event.
Cena, Benoit/HBK, and Batista as good vs Rock/Foley/Big Show, Y2J, and Orton as bad?
LMAO!!!!! @ 7:03
17:48 ...What does Ugg mean?? but he is right, both HBK and HHH are two backstage pieces of shit but in 2002 and 2005 respectively they both found out How the Hulkster does business BROTHER!!! and it looked good on both of them...
good review
Well it's the motto you say to everyone even back during the invasion it would always be about the family or the breakfast club screw wcw and ecw....
NOT A 1-MATCH SHOW FOR ME! #WM18 3/17/2002 #HHH WON THE #WWF #WCW #UNDISPUTED-WORLD'S HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIPS #5THWWF-WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP! #1STWORLDS HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP! 1ST OF 6-WORLD'S.HEAVYWEIGHT.CHAMPIONSHIPS & IT DOES COUNT AS TWO-WORLD.HW.CHAMPIONSHIPS JUST LIKE #Y2J WON HIS 2ND & 3RD-WORLD.HW.TITLES BEATING ROCK & AUSTIN BACK-2-BACK TO UNIFY BOTH WORLD.HW.CHAMPIONSHIPS! #HHH MIGHT BE THE ONLY 2X-WWE-UNDISPUTED-WORLD'S HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION AT #WM30
You would think you would be running the greatest wrestling promotion that had ever existed either your infallible logic. Barf
Actually the reason Hogan vs Austin didn't happen is because Austin wasn't healthy enough to carry Hogan. Watch his dvd before u go ranting
Not to mention Hogan likes Austin about as much as New Jack liked Eric "Mass Transit" Kulas. The match would have not ended well.
***** Austin's wwe biography dvd
he was actually complaining that he shouldve been in rocks position.
Diluzio Fingerboarding He only wanted that match cuz he thought that he should have been in every main event in 2002.
I think wm 18 is one of the most disappointing ppvs of all time.
Let's be honest flair and Michaels at Wrestlemania with no title on the line is not main event quality. I think WM 25 taker and Michaels could have main evented. Then WM 26 Cena and Batista could have main evented.
if anyone is to blame for hhh main eventing this wrestlemania its was the MSG crowd when he returned on raw that pop was insane and they obv heard that and thought people wanna see this guy wich i understand and any other year previous the rumble winner has gone on to wrestlemania to the main event so why change it if they wanted rock hogan to be on last they should have had hogan win the title somehow and then have rock win the rumble but they didnt so its fine . its all well and good saying hhh is this hhh is that he burried so and so well look what hhh has done for the shield and daniel bryan over the past 3/4 months hes become a jobber to put over these young talents can the same be said for john cena? no he always has to bury the you guys who gets some steam behind them the guy is trash and no1 is allowed to be on cenas level the guy needs to take an owen hart style fall from the sky coming in as the blue fucking blazer screw cena and his ass kissing bitch boy polotics
Wat does him puttin over Daniel Bryan & The Shield have 2 do wit him bein the wrong main event in 2002,?