Original subtitles

- The Rock Hulk Hogan WrestleMania.

The goal was to put on the

greatest marquee matchup of all time,

and one that would determine who the greatest of all time is.

- There's nobody in this business,

that's a bigger icon than I am.

- It doesn't matter what you think.

- It's as if time has stood still.

- One of the most important matches of my career

coming up.

I'm hurt.

Ready, doc?

Shot my ribs up and stuff like that.

And doctor says, "Oh, you're not going to feel a thing."

I went, "Good."

Yeah, right.

- It is icon versus icon.

Wrestling's past versus its future.

- That icon moment of

Hogan looking at Rock for what seems like forever

because it was forever.

- Many in the crowd chanting for The Rock.

Quite frankly,

many in the crowd chanting for Hogan.

- You could feel the audience.

You could feel the electricity because it was like the first

time that you saw these two icons in the ring,

and they were going at it.

- Whoa.

- Oh my God.

- Whatcha gonna do, Rock?

- I knew right then that it was going to be huge.

- The Rock will take his vitamins,

but if I were you, I would say my prayers.

- You're outta line.

- So much animosity

in this awesome rivalry.

- When two legends collide, their rivalry stays pinned

in our minds forever.

This is where we break down the legendary stories

behind the greatest

rivalries of all time.

I'm Gabriel Iglesias

and this is

WWE rivals.

- The greatest match

in the history of this industry WrestleMania

Rock versus Hogan.

There is no bigger because I've been in 'em all.

- Hollywood Hulk Hogan and the Great One,

The Rock,

icon versus icon.

WrestleMania 18, man.

- To me-

to me, this match represented the peak.

- We'll never see Tyson and Ali, but we are going to get to

witness The Rock and the Hulk.

- The guy from the 80's versus the guy from the 90's.

You're never supposed to see this,

and here you are.

- You know, at that point, people will be talking about

this for the next 50 years.

- I don't think it gets any bigger than that.

Rock may never have been inspired to want to do this,

to be a WWE superstar without somebody of the magnitude

of Hogan.

♪

- The man with the bionic biceps.

My hero, your hero.

- The best that there is.

- Just had a charisma.

His character connected to the youth of America.

♪

- Whattaya gonna do

when Hulkamania runs wild on you?

- Such presence, such aura as a kid made

you want to be around him and want you to do what he did.

He was a very much a positive role model.

- Training, saying your prayers,

and eatin' your vitamins is definitely

the right way to live.

I'm going to be fighting for all my Hulkamaniacs.

- I saw Hulk Hogan and to me that's when I was hooked.

- Hulkamania is running wild like it's never ran before.

- That's one of the things that put Sports Entertainment on the

map in terms of a global scale.

- How many millions and millions of people have seen this?

- There he is.

The greatest professional athlete in the world today.

- Had this base of Hulkamania

and I had these people that believed in the training,

the prayers and the vitamins.

All these little teeny Hulkster's are gonna grow up

to be big Hulkster's, man.

- I idolized Hulk Hogan.

I wanted to be him.

- Come on in here, Hulk Hogan.

- Lightning bolts coming down on Hulkster.

Now I'm the new WWE champ.

And when you think the lesson of the Hulkster,

Hulkamania's gonna run wild.

Whoa.

This is a guy who when I was 12 years old,

I was in Madison Square Garden.

And Hogan took off his white headband that said

"The Hulkster" on it and he threw it in the crowd.

I caught that son of a bitch.

[laughing]

I was so excited.

So after the match, I went in the back and I'm like,

"Hey, I just want you to know I caught your headband."

- I really didn't think too much about it at the time.

He was just so young.

I knew he was Rocky Johnson's son.

Never thought I was going to get a chance to ever wrestle him.

- Hulk Hogan has won the title-

for the fifth time.

- I had about a ten year run as a top guy,

and the WWE was moving in a different direction.

It was like a youth movement, basically.

- Hulk Hogan it's not the caliber of superstar

that Shawn Michaels is.

- Please Michaels give me a break.

- I mean, come on, the guy is a dinosaur.

- And I went down the WCW route.

[crowd chants "We want Hogan"]

- WCW was a secondary national wrestling promotion

in second place to WWE.

Hulk Hogan going to WCW was pretty Earth shattering.

- Hogan goes to WCW in '94 and it didn't hit right.

Hulkamania just kind of became passé.

- Pasta-mania has got all my Hulkamaniacs running wild.

and I've eaten so many Halka-roos and Hulka-yous.

We needed to switch gears.

So I already knew what I wanted to do with Hulk Hogan.

You fans can stick it, brother.

As far as I'm concerned, all this crap in the ring

represents these fans out here.

Started cutting that promo.

I knew right then that moment that it was going to be huge.

You can call this

the New World Order of wrestling, brother.

- Birth of the New World Order.

- The birth of the nWo.

- Yeah.

- We have seen the end of Hulkamania.

Hulk Hogan, you can go to hell.

- I remember getting in the limo with Hogan afterward,

and we're going back to the hotel,

and Hogan was so elated that he left with the building

with that much heat.

- Here's the nWo.

- Ready or not, here we come.

- There's Hollywood Hulk Hogan.

There's no yellow, There's no red.

He's wearing black.

- It was such a big deal because when you think about

Hogan being a bad guy,

it was like all of a sudden

Hogan was the coolest guy in the industry.

- The badass wearing, all black cool beard.

It was a recipe for phenomenal success.

- nWo for life, brah.

- Actually changed the look of good guys and bad guys

and what people liked.

More bad stuff I did, the more they cheered me.

- A lot of that gave birth for The Rock too.

You know, when when Hogan turns heel, you know,

Rocky Maivia came in and failed miserably.

- Rocky Maivia.

Rocky Johnson his dad,

former WWE Tag Champion.

- Rocky Maivia and he's got the-

the little tassels and everything.

- He had bright colors, you know what I mean?

Like animal print.

Great hair.

- I saw his first match.

Then I go,

"Okay, somebody's taught him where to be in the ring."

But that kind of went nowhere fast.

As soon as they put a mic in his hand, I went,

"Okay, now, here we go.

Now we're going to get real with this."

- If you smell-

what The Rock is cooking.

- I said, "Okay, this is going to be really great."

- I like The Rock.

I like The Rock's music.

I like when you raise the people's eyebrows.

- I was flying

by the seat of my [bleep] pants.

And I mean that in the best way.

The man who is simply electrifying.

- It was clearly evident

to anybody that watched what he was doing,

that he was driven to be the best he could be.

- The Rock is the WWE champion.

- And he would do whatever it took to pursue that

and accomplish it.

And he did.

- What's the official label that you've crossed over

into pop culture icon?

One of them is, did you host Saturday Night Live?

- Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. T and Hulk Hogan.

- Hulk Hogan does it in the mid 1980's.

15 years later-

The Rock.

- Ladies and gentlemen

The Rock.

- The proof that they're iconic not just within the ring,

but so far beyond that.

- Rock's everywhere.

He's into everything.

Like he's not just an entertainer, he's everywhere.

- Just went number one, today, correct?

- Just went number one.

Thank you.

- Unbelievable.

- As The Rock says, your role know it.

Your mouth shut it.

[crowd cheers]

- Rock was growing and spreading

his wings and definitely growing

in the outside world.

Meanwhile, WCW was in shambles at that point.

We made an offer and they took it.

- I remember, you know, in a producer's meeting,

polling most of the producers asking, you know,

"Should we bring him back or not?"

Because there might be some locker room ego BS happening.

But I remember Pat Patterson and The Rock being like,

"Rock versus Hogan.

That has to happen."

Like icon versus icon, matches don't grow on trees.

We need to do this and we need to do it as soon as possible.

- Here we go, three, two-

- Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan is about ready

to return to the WWF.

The WWF has confirmed that Hogan,

along with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall,

are under contract,

and they will return as the team known as the nWo.

- I gotta ask,

"How was Hulk Hogan received in the locker room?"

I mean, we saw one thing on the outside, but-

- Yeah

- -you know, I wasn't back there.

I mean, we all want to know, I mean.

- I was there there was nobody in the dressing room that

I saw had any problem whatsoever

with Hogan, with Scott, with Kevin.

You know, they were fighting for a living just like we were.

So when they come back, people were overwhelmingly

glad to see Hogan.

- Now we're on the same team.

Let's figure out how we can all make money together.

- When I was in WCW,

I was just doing my job, man, but I was there to do business.

It's a dream come true.

It's like-

I'm coming home.

- Not only was Hogan someone who I'd grown up admiring,

he was hot off of him becoming arguably the hottest heel

that the business had at that time, uh, in the nWo.

- I watched The Rock work.

I already figured out how I could fit in very gracefully,

and make him bigger.

- Come on guys.

- Big wow, it's our People's Champ.

- The Brahma Bull.

- This is my son's favorite wrestler.

- Really?

- Hey, how about a shot?

Come on.

- Okay, I'll take it, I'll take it.

- Picture with a Rock.

- Yes sir.

- For your son?

Yeah.

- No problem.

- You're his man.

- Okay, you guys get in there.

Ready-

- Okay, that's a good one man.

[laughing]

- What'd you just say?

Oh, no no no no no.

It doesn't matter what you just said.

You shouldn't have said that.

Rock was being a man

No problem.

Picture for your son.

No problem.

Hogan, you take that camera.

It's already shined up, turned sideways.

Eat your vitamin, say your prayers

and stick it straight up

all your candy asses.

- After that moment,

you just can't wait to see what's going to happen

on Raw the next night.

♪

- He says he's got some personal business to take care of JR.

- What kind of personal business would he have?

- Hogan came in in great shape.

He looked amazing.

- Hogan looked like the Hogan of '86.

- Right.

- Honestly, I think he looked better.

He was in better shape.

He was leaner,

tanner.

- Yeah.

[laughing]

- Hulk Hogan is back in the WWE after almost a decade off.

I was anticipating the nostalgia factor and everything with Hogan

to certainly resonate amongst some.

- Certainly a mixed reaction here tonight in Chicago.

I think some fans out of respect

for what this man has accomplished.

- The wrestling fans are very forgiving, believe me.

You can make a lot of mistakes in this world

and they will forgive you.

You know, guys, it feels great

to be back in this ring in the WWF.

- I remember at the time, Hogan being the heel and The Rock

being the babyface.

I was like, "Wow, how is this going to happen?"

- I mean, the WWF made Hulk Hogan a legend.

To be out here in front of all you WWF fans right here tonight,

I mean, we've been through everything together.

And then you people turned on me.

The WWF fans drove me out of the WWF.

- Just a classic wrestling storytelling

is trying to get as much heat on the heel as much as possible.

- I'm the one that made wrestling as big as it is today.

There's nobody in this business that's a bigger icon than I am.

[The Rock's music]

- Oh my.

- The idea of Hulk Hogan coming back was so special.

It reminded me of just how cool my job is.

- In sports, you never get to see these icons from different

generations face off.

Not true in WWE.

- This is history making.

- That it is.

- Hulk Hogan and The Rock in the same ring.

Who would have thought they would ever seen Hogan

and the Rock?

- I remember watching it having goosebumps because it was like

the first time that you saw these two icons.

- Do you actually think that it was the people

that drove you out of the WWF?

- Is that what you think?

- That's exactly-

- It doesn't matter what you think.

[crowd cheers]

- It's real easy to actually be comfortable

with the second position

when you get a guy that's so good on the mic,

because most of the time I'd have to overpower

my opponent to make the point.

- They loved you.

They believed in you.

And damn it, The Rock believed in you.

- With him, it was just so easy to sit back

and let him tell the story.

- Well, Hulk Hogan The Rock says, "How do you feel about

headlining one more WrestleMania with The Rock?"

- Oh my God.

The Rock has has challenged Hogan.

He's challenged Hogan to WrestleMania.

- Oh my gosh.

- People all of a sudden realize we're seeing history,

and you could feel that in the arena.

- It's as if time has stood still.

- You want to see this matchup.

And the longer they stood there, the more people realize

this is a once in a lifetime event.

- The Rock has challenged Hogan-

for WrestleMania.

- Part of the magic in WWE is that it always

has a true third character,

and that character is the crowd.

[crowd chants "Hogan"]

- Listen to this.

What do you have to say about that JR?

- The fans want Hogan and The Rock to get it on at

WrestleMania.

I'd love to see it myself.

- That character is real loud and visceral.

- This is amazing.

- This is a moment.

- You could feel the audience, you could feel the electricity,

and it was awesome.

- That iconic moment of Hogan looking at Rock

for what seems like forever,

because it was forever.

- What makes you think you're even close

to being as big a star as I am?

What makes you-

- Uh.

- Uh.

- I was very excited because this is like,

you don't get a chance to do this very often

with most people.

We went back and forth with the verbiage-

- Yes or no?

- -is it yes or is it no?

- It'll be a pleasure to kick your ass at WrestleMania.

[crowd cheers]

- So I say let's do it,

And by the way, Rock-

Good luck.

'Cause you're gonna need it.

- Everything about that night was so exciting.

- Not as much as you.

Brother.

[crowd cheers]

- The idea of wrestling Hogan

and creating this match of who

the greatest of all time would be, icon versus icon,

was very, very special.

- Hogan got something to remember The Rock by

until they meet

at WrestleMania.

- And the great thing about it was, is we built it,

he was part of the nWo and I was the People's Champion.

- Hey, look at this.

- There's the- the pack of dogs.

assaulting The Rock.

- Boy, The Rock may have made the mistake of his life, JR.

Oh, no, this is not going to be pretty.

- Oh my God, Hogan, whipping the Rock like a

government mule with that plate belt.

- The nWo attacking Rock at the end of that segment.

You want to have the heel as hot as possible.

You want the babyface as needing to win as much as possible.

- The hell is Hogan doing now?

Oh God, no.

Hogan's just struck The Rock in the back of the head

with that damn hammer.

- Hogan's got a hammer from that toolbox.

Hall and Nash holding The Rock.

Oh, my God, I've-

No.

Hogan just struck The Rock in the back of the head

with that damn hammer.

- There's the ball peen hammer, you know.

When we threw him in the ambulance and we, you know,

chained all the doors and did all that stuff.

- No, no, you've got to stop it.

The Rock is in that ambulance.

For God sakes,

for the love of God, The Rock is helpless in that ambulance.

- That was the heat getter there.

- Hogan driving in a semi and trying to murder a man,

you know what I'm saying?

Can we can we talk about that?

Can we-

I know- I know iconic moment.

Hogan comes in and he's trying to end this man's life.

He says "No, this is still my mountain.

I'm still on top."

And I'm not going to tell you this verbally.

- I'm gonna run over you with an 18 Wheeler.

- I'm going to assault you with this 18 Wheeler.

- Hollywood laid the smackdown

on his crippled ass.

Maybe I did get a little carried away last week,

but I can tell you this Rock.

It felt real, real good to hurt you.

- I mean, it was like he got heat.

- One of the things I wanted to have was a couple of matches

before then,

just to make sure that my nerves didn't get the best of me.

Because you can be in the greatest ring shape

in the world,

and when you step on that ring, if you're nervous,

[panting]

you start breathing,

then you'll never get your gas back.

You know, Rikishi is a dream to work with.

From about here to the chair,

he'll jump and he'll launch his whole body into you,

his back and his butt and everything.

- Oh.

- We were in Tampa, the Sun Dome there

at University of South Florida,

and I looked over and I saw my kids,

Nick and Brooke, sitting there,

and I kind of winked at them and made a face at them,

and I forgot he was coming.

And I was just looking over at Nick and Brooke

and he was on me,

and I didn't have a chance to do this, you know,

and so I was like this and got two of my ribs pretty good,

you know, so-

Oh, boy, here we go, and-

got one of the most important matches of my career coming up.

Ready, doc?

I'm hurt.

- Leading up to WrestleMania 18, uh,

Hogan got hurt by, uh, Rikishi.

And his ribs were messed up.

- I remember him having to get, you know, injected with, like,

Toradol, anti-inflammatories.

- Hogan didn't cry.

Hogan didn't whine.

- And I think he also understood the magnitude of like,

"Hey, I'm carrying a massive part of the show

and the show has to go on."

- Ribs are a pain in the butt, you know.

When you can't breathe and the pain

is like the rib thing is a whole different ball game,

you know, you got to really think through that one

to make it happen.

- Here's how we always tell

you're rock solid, man.

- Good.

Even with an injury like that,

I knew this was getting done one way or the other.

- For the first time since being nearly crippled at the hands

of the nWo a few weeks ago,

the Rock has returned.

- The biggest matchup in the history of our industry,

a matchup that will determine who will go down as the best.

- Even in the build up,

The Rock had the people on his side.

- It was a perfect recipe for the crowd to, you know,

be really into that.

- Hogan, you did all you could

to take The Rock out before WrestleMania,

because you see The Rock-Hogan at WrestleMania,

Hogan, you can argue about who's bigger,

but there is no denying Rock-Hogan who is better.

- You had two absolute titans

at a point where they both could still deliver.

- WrestleMania all these millions and millions of fans

who were my fans first,

are going to see me kick your candy ass at 100%

at WrestleMania.

- Look at you just standing there.

You with your punk ass friends.

Who would have ever thought the man with 24 inch pythons would

have half inch testicles?

[laughing]

- That did it, that did it.

- Oh boy.

- WrestleMania, it is icon versus icon,

wrestling's past versus its future.

- This is this guy in his mid to late 40's who still looks great,

who can still go, who still popular as ever,

and The Rock is a young man in his absolute prime.

- You can take a hammer to the back of The Rock's head.

You could try to end my career, but the fact remains is there is

no way and the Rock means no way

that he's not going to walk into WrestleMania,

the biggest match ever,

whoop your candy ass

one, two, three.

- Two icons, two guys who were so good on the mic,

who were so good in a promo,

and yet we're so different.

We love to say styles make fights.

These were two styles made for a fight.

- What you gonna do when Hulkamania runs wild

on you?

[yelling]

- Oh my God.

- The Rock will take his vitamins,

but if I were you,

I would say my prayers.

- The Rock kinda wanted to uh

make sure that the match was good.

And so we did get together down in Miami.

There was a ring set up.

He had a bunch of ideas,

basically walked me through a match.

- I had a sense that we had probably about 30 minutes total.

And I also knew that I had the luxury,

the great luxury of working with a ring general.

But what I mean by that is we were going to take our time

and we were going to tell a great story.

- They actually wanted me to to have that match in that building

when I can't do that.

I said, if I wrestle in this ring without 20 or 30,000

people, I'm going to get hurt.

I gotta have that crowd.

I got to be ready to rock when I head out to that ring, man,

I got to be like Hulk Hogan.

Not just in a warehouse going, okay,

"Let me act like Hulk Hogan."

No, it doesn't work for me.

I have to have that- that thing there.

- Welcome WWE fans from around the world to Access.

- Oh yeah.

- WrestleMania baby.

- WrestleMania.

- Hogan-Rock was sort of the

definition of that big fight feel.

- I'm looking forward to the main event,

being a big fan of the Rock,

big fan of Hogan for years.

I can't wait to see them get it on.

- These are the two most recognizable names in the

history of this business.

- This was like the biggest fantasy booking match ever,

and here you are.

- It wasn't for you, none of us would be here.

- Oh, that's cool.

Thank you.

- Nice to meet you.

- Thanks for saying, thank you.

Wild man to be back in Toronto.

I mean, these people, I tell ya,

I think they watched Hulk Hogan so long,

I'm like, I've got to earn their respect so-

I feel I'm in good hands here.

- Oh, my gosh, I hope so too.

- I've never actually said that I was a bigger icon than him.

I've always respected him.

Everything he's done in the industry,

outside of the industry.

And um, so better,

You should ask me after the match,

after I lay the smack down on his candy ass.

[crowd cheers]

[crowd cheers]

- Welcome to Toronto SkyDome.

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, around the world

to WrestleMania 18.

- Here, it's said all the time.

It's the Super Bowl of wrestling.

You think about the prize fight feel of WrestleMania.

There's nothing like it.

You just got to feel it.

The challenge is psychologically and mentally being prepared for

what you want to accomplish on that night.

The stage is set.

WrestleMania the biggest matchup of all time,

a matchup that will determine

who will go down as the greatest ever.

[crowd cheers]

- I was in that crowd.

I was there in person.

And I wasn't, you know, a huge fan of The Rock.

I didn't dislike him or anything,

but I just wasn't like a die hard Rock fan.

And I wasn't a die hard Hulk Hogan fan either.

Like, as soon as we got to the building,

people were so electric

for the match before the show even started.

The Hogan chants, The Rock chants.

I couldn't help get caught up in it too.

- Well, ladies and gentlemen,

you can love him or you can hate him.

Hollywood Hulk Hogan, the greatest icon in the history

of Sports Entertainment.

- For The Rock-Hulk match in Toronto.

I was on the floor.

I had gone out because I wanted to be in the audience,

to just feel that.

- Over 500,000 fans have seen WrestleMania,

and since its inception, this man has headlined

nine of those events.

- With what had happened with their favorite guy, The Rock,

the hammer to the head, ambulance,

every evil thing we've done.

I wasn't sure what was going to happen when I came out.

[crowd cheers]

- When I was not expecting was an entire stadium of 70,000

cheering Hulk Hogan.

I remember in Skydome literally screaming

"He hit him in the back of the head with a hammer!"

What is wrong with you people?

[crowd chants "Hogan"]

- Listen, man, this id definitely not going

the way I thought it would go.

I thought for sure they'd be booing me and throwing stuff at

at me and trying to get at me and kill me.

[The Rock's music]

- I can tell you from talking to The Rock earlier today,

he was a big Hulkamaniac as a young man.

- 60,000 plus fans at the SkyDome going crazy.

Because the audience was 100% invested

in our match,

- Many of the crowd chanting for The Rock.

Quite frankly, many in the crowd chanting for Hogan.

- Our audience hadn't seen him in a WrestleMania in almost

a decade, and Hogan is just larger than life.

- Exactly.

That's exactly how I felt.

And then the closer the like the looks got, the louder it got.

And you're just like, ah, give you chills.

- Energy matching energy.

- History in the making, now.

This is a WrestleMania moment.

- Felt like the roof was going to blow off the SkyDome,

you know, and it was like really intense.

- And look at the flash bulbs.

- It was a rare moment where you just get to see these two

stars lining up for that one second.

And in some ways, I can't believe it ever happened.

- That moment when they both turned their faces

and looked out at the crowd.

That buildup was insane.

- The child that idolized his hero then actually gets to share

the venue against his childhood hero.

That played out in spectacular fashion.

- Millions of people around the world watching,

and they just stood there.

There was no commentary.

There was no action.

You're just seeing these two legends standing there against

each other and you go, "This is beyond belief.

This is so freaking cool."

- Yeah, it wasn't dead space.

It wasn't dead air, as they say.

It was like you were feeling the moment.

- This is, quite frankly, a match

I thought I would never. ever see.

[bell rings]

- Here we go.

- We had to tell a story in the ring.

The stare down at the beginning.

None of that stuff was planned.

Most of it was listening to the crowd.

And he's great at that, man.

- You learn.

There's a certain

live crowd acumen that forces you to either sink

or [bleep] swim,

but you're jumping head first, right to the fire.

- Aw, the power of Hogan.

And I'll tell you what, King.

- Look at the power.

The power of those pythons.

- And Hogan is saying to The Rock.

"You just bring it, buddy."

- Oh man.

- It's just so simple that The Rock would always do his thing

and look at the bad guy sitting on his ass and go bring it.

All of a sudden The Rock's getting pushed on his ass and

I'm the predominant male.

- People were really just engrossed in the match like

I've never seen before.

And I would probably say like we haven't seen since,

like I've never seen anything.

- And now Rock is challenging Hogan to bring it.

- I ran that whole mass of those ribs messed up,

you know, so-

It was kind of crazy.

- There's something about performing.

- The crowd gives you an energy.

- Hogan was such a pro that he pushed through the pain.

- Yeah.

The biggest dream match you can think of at the time

it was Rock and Hogan.

Nothing wasted in that match.

Everything meant something.

I thought the pacing was superb.

- Hogan came from that era where, you know,

they'd say you do something-

- And Hogan powered down the Rock again.

- -and what you want to do is give enough time for the guy

sitting next to his buddy or his wife or his kids,

go, "Did you see that?"

- Listen to this

This is amazing.

- The crowd just

100% got behind Hogan.

You know, before Iu knew it, I was going nuts for Hogan too.

- Man, wait a minute.

look at-

Hogan with a Rock Bottom.

Now tell me Hogan is going to be the Rock-

- Look at this.

- with a Rock Bottom.

- Single count

He got him.

- No.

- The Brahma Bull kicked out

- It's amazing that the crowd is so solidly behind Hulk.

- I don't know if The Rock knows what to think.

Look at this.

- Kind of like he switched roles with me and did something

a bad guy would do to somebody.

- We were not anticipating what the crowd reaction was

and Rock and Hogan ran with it.

- Hogan fans here not pleased with that offensive move.

- Thank God, he was the perfect guy to pull this off,

because I can't think of

many other ones that we could have made that shift.

- Oh.

- There's a Rock Bottom.

The Hulk with the leg, and this-

- Hogan kicked out.

My God Hogan kicked out-

- Look at this.

- -from the Rock Bottom.

- Nobody gets this kind of love from the fans.

They've been with me for so long.

They're showing me how much they respect my work.

Just made me realize that, "Man you know what,

you got to do your job out there because these people

love you more than you ever imagined they'd love you.

- Is he going to Hulk up JR?

He is.

Woo.

- Oh my God.

- Whatcha gonna do Rock?

- My God, The Rock can't believe it.

- Whatcha gonna do?

- And Hogan scores with the right hand.

The end could be here, for The Rock.

- Who would ever thought that that young lion

would had to bow down to the old lion?

And that's exactly what it was.

- Look out.

He got him.

- The big leg drop.

Oh my God.

My God, The Rock kicked out.

Not again, oh no-

- The Rock avoided contact.

And The Rock up.

[yelling]

- The situation with my ribs.

They were cracked, so they shot my ribs up and stuff like that.

And doctor says, "Oh, you're not going to feel a thing."

I'm went, "Good."

Yeah, right, ha.

[crowd groans]

- He Rock Bottom-ed me,

and I mean, I'm dying.

- He wants to put an exclamation point on it.

- Oh, man.

- He Rock Bottom-ed me

I was hurt really bad, you know,

I was-I was done.

- The Rock has reached down-

- Here it comes.

The most electrifying move

in Sports Entertainment today, People's Elbow

on Hulk Hogan.

- Rock with a People's Elbow

on Hogan and The Rock wins it.

[bell rings]

[The Rock's music]

- In my opinion,

this match lived up to the hype.

- It didn't live up to it,

it far surpassed it.

- To be able to have this incredible match with him was

very special and one of the highlights of my career.

- Hollywood Hulk Hogan gave you all he had.

You got to give him credit.

- Look at this.

- Hogan extending his hand.

- I think it was more of a respect thing with him,

and it was from the heart.

And that's just who he is, man.

He's a good person.

- I'll be damn King.

- Boy when's the last time you saw a class act like that JR?

- Shook hands and hugged,

knew that we really had done something special.

I'm grateful.

I'm grateful to Hulk for that.

- Oh, wait a minute.

You know what JR, The Rock-

The Rock is still a- he's still a Hulkamaniac.

- The Rock is insisting-

- Do you see-

- -that Hogan come back into the ring.

- and do you see what he wants Hulk to do?

- Rock is insisting that Hogan pose here.

Now this is a show of respect from The Rock,

to Hollywood Hogan.

- It's just very awesome to see those two iconic characters,

especially at different points in their career,

kind of come together and mesh in such a way that, you know,

made for some incredible moments.

- I love this one more time.

Look at The Rock.

- The Rock wanted Hogan to pose.

- Gave him the ring so he can do his iconic poses.

At the end of the day, we told a pretty damn good story

and that crowd was-

on fire.

- He had it all.

That's why he was the right guy at the right time, you know,

I was just glad that, you know,

I had a chance to get some of that, you know,

because I had a long career that was spread out.

And every once in a while I'd hit on magic.

And that was some magic that was really cool to be part of.

- WrestleMania are when dreams come true.

And this is a dream like situation with Hogan

and The Rock leaving with a- a sign of mutual respect.

- He had done so much for our business

and just made such an impact on our business,

made it really cool.

It was an honor to pass the torch to him.

- The proverbial passing of the

torch hand being raised afterwards.

The truth is, passing of the torch for me was the privilege

of putting on this match.

- No one expected that.

I don't think Hogan and Rock expected that.

And all of a sudden this iconic moment happens,

and think about WrestleMania that year,

all the great matches and all the great talent.

That's the one thing people remember.

- In Toronto it was-

I thought my cup was totally full of loyalty and

respect and pats on the back.

- There's a lot of Hollywood Hulk Hogan fans here

in SkyDome tonight.

- And then I walk out in Montreal and they take it

to a whole nother level again.

- Gotta be a great feeling for

Hollywood Hogan right now.

Look-look at the response from these people JR

- This is amazing.

- The people in Montreal gave me a standing ovation,

which felt like it would never end.

It was a touching moment.

[crowd chants "Hogan"]

- Damn, I love you guys.

[crowd cheers]

And for that, I want to thank

each and every one of you out there.

- There's the guy that we loved, and we hated him when he left us

and he became Hollywood,

but now he's coming back home.

So bringing back the red and yellow is just a return to home.

- The true colors of the Hulkster.

The bright red.

The bright yellow.

Hulk Hogan is back.

- That's some crazy love they're giving me, you know.

It's kind of like it made me feel like I made the

right choice to, you know, quit going to college

because I was majoring in finance and management

and become a wrestler.

Kind of made me feel like, you know,

"Told you Dad, I was right." you know.

- This ovation is not about nostalgia.

It is about respect for what this man

has done for this industry.

- It's 12 years later.

It's WrestleMania 30,

The Rock and Hulk Hogan kicking off WrestleMania

with Stone Cold Steve Austin.

- Thank you guys.

- Thank you.

- Oh yeah, of course, you bet.

- I remember how excited

everybody was to see them all together.

- When you're backstage, even though we're performers,

we're fans.

You know you love this.

- The immortal Hulk Hogan

[crowd cheers]

- Well, it was cool, you know?

Other than I was just so rattled, I

you know, said the wrong name of the building.

First off, I'd like to welcome everyone here at the Silverdome

to WrestleMania 30.

- The guy in the front rows going "Superdome, Superdome."

I'm like "Oh,"

I'm sorry, it is the Superdome, brothers.

[crowd cheers]

- Superdome-Silverdome.

Bob, John, Joe,

you know, whatever,

you know, I'm like, I'm all over the place.

- The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and the immortal Hulk

Hogan had finally come back

to the SUPERdome.

[crowd cheers]

- To see The Rock come out

and just make a quick reference to it

with a little smirk, letting the Hulkster know,

"Yeah, we all heard it."

It's so great.

[crowd chants "Superdome"]

- Together, these two change WWE history.

- It's as if time has stood still.

- When the two of them were in the ring,

as a fan watching this, you're just like, "No freaking way this

is about to happen."

- This is a WrestleMania moment.

- Hogan versus Rock,

one of the greatest things that could have happened

in the modern era.

What would happen if The Rock and Hulk Hogan had a match

in their prime?

Guess what?

It happened.

At WrestleMania 18.

- You'll never see two superstars to be able

to do something like that probably ever again.

I don't think we'll see it in my lifetime.

- The goal was to put on the greatest marquee matchup

of all time, and one that would determine

who the greatest of all time is.

It was one of the greatest nights, ever in my life.

- It was just perfect.

It's a piece of history you know?

It makes me realize we made history.