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WrestleMania X8 is still considered one of the best shows ever produced by WWE, with one of the best matches in WrestleMania history: Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock. The majority of WWE fans still believe that it should have been the main event of WrestleMania instead of Chris Jericho vs Triple H.
The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan might have been an amazing match, but a lot of fans still do not know that the original plan was to have a dream match between Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania X8. But the match never happened because Austin never wanted to have this match.
Why Steve Austin refused to have a match with Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross recently remembered this proposed match between Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan and revealed why the Rattlesnake never wanted to have this match. Recently, he discussed why Austin reviews to have this once in a lifetime match while speaking on his “Grilling JR” podcast. The following is what he said about it;
Steve Austin faced Scott Hall at WrestleMania X8
“Oh, I know it’s true. I talked to Steve about it. I mean, Steve and I — the world knows, we’re very close. And he confided in me a lot because he could trust me. And I appreciated that, and it helped me manage the rest of the roster a lot better because Rock trusted me, and Steve trusted me. And so consequently, the word got out within the talent roster itself and it helped me manage better.”
“He didn’t think they had chemistry. He thought the match would suck. And he wasn’t going to stand for having a sucky main event, especially at a WrestleMania. So that’s the story there. It wasn’t anything — it had nothing to do about the finish, or what could the finish be, or what would the finish be, whatsoever.
Steve Austin vs. Hulk Hogan never happened after that
"But it had to do with Steve wanted — he was a perfectionist. He wanted to have a great match, not a good match, but a great match. And he simply thought he could not get that done, Stone Cold versus Hogan.”
This was quite unfortunate that Hulk Hogan vs Steve Austin never took place after that because Austin was forced to take retirement from in ring action due to his neck injury in early 2003. This was one of the most requested matches and one of the biggest dream matches in wrestling history, but unfortunately, the only way to witness it is to simulate the experience in a WWE video game.
