The Rock and Hulk Hogan are two of the most iconic professional wrestlers of all time and seeing them feud against each other was a true dream come true for the WWE Universe. The match that the two men put together at WrestleMania is one that has stood the test of time and is still considered a classic to this day.But even though that bout is one that everybody will talk about on a regular basis, there are many things that people realize about the storyline as a whole. The rivalry is one that people still talk about, but there are so many details that make it even greater.
9 Hulk Hogan Was Injured
The WrestleMania encounter between the two men was arguably Hulk Hogan's greatest at The Grandest Stage Of Them All. What makes that performance even more impressive is the fact that he was actually injured beforehand.
A couple of weeks prior to the epic encounter, Hogan suffered broken ribs at the hands of Rikishi. Something went wrong in a match that featured them and it led to Hulk having to battle through this with a big injury.
8 The Fans Changed The Match
The Rock was supposed to be the major babyface heading into this match which is how he was billed. WrestleMania was set to be his crowning moment with Hulk Hogan as the heel passing on the torch, but the live crowd had other ideas.
The fans cheered the Hulkster heavily that night, and rather than sticking to the plan, the two men switched things up in the moment. While the audience did eventually cheer for The Rock, he did work the majority of the bout as a heel to ensure the audience had the best time possible.
7 Vince Demanded Hogan's A-Game
When WWE decided to bring Hulk Hogan back to the company it was a big deal, especially with the nWo onboard. However, Vince McMahon made certain demands to the Hulkster and he made it clear that he wanted him at his best.
The WWE Chairman actually phoned Hulk to tell him he wanted his very best, which goes to show how important it was that Hulk was firing on all cylinders. It also helped to make the entire situation work, as Hulk clearly listened to that.
6 It Involved Steve Austin
Something a lot of fans forget is the fact that this storyline did feature Steve Austin, adding another huge name into the mix. When the nWo first arrived, they targetted the two biggest names and they cost the Texas Rattlesnake the chance to become Undisputed World Champion.
That set him on a path with Scott Hall, which didn't lead to a WrestleMania classic. However, it did mean that he intertwined within this rivalry constantly throughout, which made things even more exciting.
5 Post-Match Fight
Because the actual match between Hulk Hogan and The Rock was so good at WrestleMania, that is often all fans think about with this storyline. However, when it was over and the two men shook hands, there was actually a post-match beatdown.
Scott Hall and Kevin Nash attempted to attack The Rock and Hogan for showing sympathy and kindness to him. But this led to the two men joining forces after the match to have a moment together.
4 Listen To Hulk Hogan
An interesting part of this rivalry that fans likely won't know is the fact that The Rock's father was in attendance to watch the match at WrestleMania. Knowing how big of a moment it was for his son, he was there to support and provide advice.
Rocky Johnson actually told his son to listen to Hulk Hogan in the match, clearly wanting him to follow what the veteran was doing and allow him to lay out the contest for him.
3 They Competed At No Way Out In 2003
A big part of the rivalry that fans forget about between them is the fact that they actually had another PPV match after WrestleMania. They competed at Now Way Out against each other in 2003, with The Rock securing the victory once again.
This match wasn't as strong as the original, and the atmosphere couldn't match up to 'Mania, therefore it isn't spoken about as often. However, it was still another moment in their feud and a time when two icons collided.
2 They Wrestled Before
Because The Rock and Hulk Hogan are such big names, most people presume that the first time they competed was their iconic WrestleMania match. However, that actually isn't the case. The storyline was obviously taking place prior to the show, and WWE decided to put them in a match together.
While it was a handicap match that saw the nWo join forces to battle Steve Austin and The Rock, this was technically still their first encounter. It was something that WWE probably shouldn't have done, in order to make WrestleMania more special.
1 They Teamed Up After
While The Rock did compete against the nWo once again after WrestleMania, this actually led to Hulk Hogan defecting away from the group. Because of that, Hulk and The Rock actually ended up teaming up to try and battle against the nWo.
They randomly recruited in Kane, which led to one of the funniest backstage segments of all time. However, fans often forget about the fact they all had a six-man tag team match on an episode of SmackDown as well.