From Refusing Vince McMahon’s Pitch to Shocking Villain Antics, Hulk Hogan “Did Everything” to Be Hated During Feud With The Rock

Hulk Hogan made his second return to WWE on February 17, 2002, at the No Way Out pay-per-view. At the time, he was in his heel era and came back to WWE from WCW as the leader of nWo. A night after his return, he had a confrontation with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.

The two stars engaged in a scuffle, but things escalated quickly. This confrontation even led to them having a marquee “Icon vs. Icon” match at WrestleMania X8. As ‘The Hulkster’ was a heel at that time, he tried his best to get heat from the fans, but his fans loved him so much that his efforts were in vain.

“I don’t want to come back as the good guy,” said Hulk Hogan

When Hogan was to come back to WWE, Vince McMahon wanted him to relinquish his nWo gimmick from WCW and return as the red and yellow All-American Hero, Hogan disclosed in an interview with Theo Von. However, he refused this idea and stated that he wanted to pursue his heel gimmick.

He said, “I get a call from Vince and he’s saying, Man, you should come back and put the red and yellow robe on The Rock. I said, ‘Well, I don’t want to come back as the good guy. I want to come back as the Hollywood Hogan.’ Because if I want to do this right‌, I want to put this kid on the right.”

“Hit him in the back of the head with my hammer, put him in an ambulance, chained the ambulance, [and] ran him over with the semi. I did everything I could to make people hate me. Then when I went out at WrestleMania 18, they cheered me whenever Rock was punching me. They would boo him. I was like, oh my God,” he added.

Seeing the crowd side with his heel character, legitimately shocked Hogan, as he had never imagined it would happen. The Rock was hugely popular during this time, but it seemed fans were driven to Hogan due to nostalgia and it shocked him.

Hogan was shocked by the audience’s response

Hogan used multiple techniques to hurt face Johnson so that people would boo him at his WrestleMania match. But during the event on March 17, 2002, at the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, the Canadian crowd booed ‘The Rock’ instead.

Read More – After Staggering $50 Million Feat, Dwayne Johnson Breaks the Bank to Donate a Humongous 7-Figure Sum to Charity: ‘It’s the Largest Single Donation”

Despite crossing all the lines in WWE, the wrestling fans still loved him. Typically, when a heel depicts this sort of behavior, they gain tons of heat from the fans. Hogan was expecting the same. In fact, he wanted the audience to dislike him, because that is what a hell typically does.

Therefore, seeing the fans love his heel character and boo Johnson’s baby face character made him realize how much his fans love him. No matter which era, Hulk Hogan has always been a fan favorite. What do you think of him trying everything to garner hate but failing? Let us know in the comments below.

Watch this story – 50 Years of The Rock: Dwayne Johnson’s Greatest Achievements in WWE