Dwayne Johnson tried his hands at pro football before he moved to the domain his family made a name in. He debuted as Rocky Maivia but within a few years gained worldwide popularity under the moniker of The Rock. By the end of The Attitude Era, The Rock became a generation-defying WWE superstar which allowed him to transition into a Hollywood superstar later on.

The end of The Attitude Era saw many big names of WWE move to Hollywood, but Vince McMahon had other issues to take care of. Even Dwayne Johnson was working on a part-time basis after his WrestleMania 19 match against Stone Cold. It led to Vince McMahon’s growing concerns related to Johnson.

Matt Hardy reveals Vince McMahon’s concerns with The Rock

Matt Hardy spoke highly of The Rock after garnering the experience of sharing a locker room with the iconic WWE star. As per Hardy, Vince didn’t want anyone to be bigger than the WWE brand. However, Dwayne Johnson being the special talent he is; broke the shackles and became bigger than the WWE brand after transitioning to Hollywood.

Hardy said, “I think Vince didn’t want to consciously try and allow anyone to become bigger than the WWE. He wanted to make the biggest thing about WWE the brand itself. But, man, The Rock really was special.” The current AEW star also spoke of one of his favorite moments in pro wrestling which involved Johnson.

Hardy later talked about one of his favorite moments from The Rock’s wrestling career. He said, “One of my all-time favorite moments in professional wrestling was WrestleMania X8 when he and [Hollywood] Hogan were in the ring, the crowd was going nuts, [and] it was so amazing to see Hogan being given that moment. The crowd was eating out of their hands — it was unreal.”

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The match Matt Hardy referred to was a career-defining match between Hogan and The Rock. It was the penultimate match of WrestleMania 18, which is now considered the 6th greatest moment in WrestleMania history [as per WWE]. In a recent interview, Hogan also spoke highly of that feud and unveiled some unknown trivia about the match

Hulk Hogan recalls his memories from WrestleMania X8

Hulk Hogan was interviewed in a podcast which is available on Chris Van Vilet’s YouTube channel. The video was uploaded on October 7th where Hogan talked briefly about his memories of his WrestleMania X8 match.

Hogan entered the match as a heel while The Rock was working as a babyface before the match. Hogan was a part of the popular heel faction nWo but Vince McMahon called for a change in plans to turn Hogan face. But the crowd could not stop swaying from cheering for the two superstars. It truly proved that The Rock was on par with Hogan’s charisma by then, which he arguably surpassed soon. 

Nevertheless, what did you make of Matt Hardy’s claim involving Vince McMahon and The Rock? Let us know in the comments section below.

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