There is no bigger dream match that fans never got to see than “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs Hulk Hogan.
This clash between two of the WWE’s biggest legends never happened during their career, leaving an untold amount of money on the table and denying fans the chance to see the WWE’s biggest star against the leader of the NWO.
Despite spending time together in both WCW and WWE, Hulk Hogan never faced off in a singles match against “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Professional wrestling is built on dream matches. Whether it be watching the champion against the top contender, a veteran vs the next up-and-coming star or a legend vs legend encounter, fans always want to see the next dream match on the calendar.
WWE have never been shy in booking these kinds of matches. However, not all dream matches take place.
However, aside from Sting vs The Undertaker match, there is no bigger dream match in wrestling than Steve Austin vs Hulk Hogan. This match never happened in WWE, when Stone Cold was at his peak. WCW also failed to book it, as they refused to let Austin reach past the mid-card in the company.
However, the pair were both part of the WWE roster in 2002. Austin wrestled Scott Hall on the card when the dream match of The Rock vs Hulk Hogan took place. It was an all-time great match but many thought that Austin should have taken the role as the Hulkster’s opponent.
The pair had a year together in WWE to face off, but the singles match between Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin never happened. The pair did share a ring once. However, it was in a handicap tag team match on Monday Night Raw, where Austin teamed with The Rock to take on NWO.
This took place in the build up to WrestleMania X8. The Rock faced Hogan at that event, while Austin was relegated to a mid-card match with Scott Hall. It was the only time they ever appeared in a match together, including Battle Royal’s and multi-man matches.
Hulk Hogan Revealed Why Match With Steve Austin Never Happened
2002 seemed the perfect time for Steve Austin to wrestle Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8. With Triple H in the main event of the show against Chris Jericho, there were prime spots available for a number of dream matches on the under card.
At the event, Hulk Hogan had his own dream match against The Rock, while Steve Austin had a disappointing bout against Scott Hall that did not make use of the star’s second-last WrestleMania match as a full-time wrestler.
While Rock vs Hogan was an all-time great bout at that event, there is no doubt that Austin vs Hogan would have been the biggest match wrestling had ever seen.
According to Hulk Hogan, it was Steve Austin who refused the match against Hulk Hogan. While this would have been an all-time great bout, there was real heat between Austin and Hogan stemming back from the pair’s time in WCW together.
Speaking on Wrestling with Rosenberg, Hulk Hogan made the claim that the NWO (Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) had “heat” with Steve Austin and The Rock.
The leader of the group claimed the pair were upset that the NWO were getting cheered over them, which is something the Superstars were not used to in the WWE.
“Was there some legitimate heat [between Austin and I]? There was. When me and Scott Hall and big Kev’ [Nash] came into the WWE with the nWo, we had such an edge, and we were getting cheered. I guess the babyfaces [Austin and The Rock] weren’t used to it.
[They] were complaining, ‘Those guys are turning us upside down, and we’re getting booed instead of cheered…’ So there was some legitimate heat there, you know, on a business level. I never got to work with him, but Stone Cold always said, ‘If there’s money to be made – let’s make it.’
Steve Austin Denies Having Heat With Hulk Hogan
However, Stone Cold spoke on The Steve Austin Show podcast in 2014 and argued that point. He claimed he never had any heat with Hulk Hogan, even claiming Hogan was one of the greatest of all time.
However, he made it clear that it was easier for him to say that now he is retired, and that Austin in 2002 may have had a different response to this claim.
However, Hogan later claimed in an interview with Arial Helwani that it was injuries that stopped a match with Steve Austin happening – not the aforementioned heat between the two.
The WWE Hall of Famer regrets that Hulk Hogan vs Steve Austin never happened, but cited Austin’s injuries as the real reason the bout never happened.
“That’s the reason I went back to wrestle The Rock was to get in the ring was Stone Cold Steve Austin, because me as a bad guy – as Hollywood Hogan – I could have torn the place down with him.
You know, because he was the ultimate good guy at the time.” But I think he was having some physical problems with his legs and nerve damage, and he was about at the end of his run. So if I had one guy to get in there, it would be [Austin].”
“My whole thing was to move on to Steve, but I had no idea that physically he was hurt. You know, so I don’t know, with all this time passing… how it would even make sense. So you have to be crazy to get back in there my age anyway. But I just haven’t talked to him about anything like that ever.”
Stone Cold On Match With Hulk Hogan Being Cancelled
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin rejected a match against Hulk Hogan due to his own injuries.
It did not have anything to do with the supposed heat between the pair, stemming from WCW and all the way until their time together in the WWE in 2002.
When asked on his podcast The Steve Austin Show about the wrestler he wishes he could have wrestled in his career, Austin immediately named “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan as the dream match he wanted in his career.
Austin corroborates Hogan’s latest claim and confirms that he wasn’t ready to step into the ring with Hogan at this time. He said he didn’t “feel like stepping back in the ring”, with his neck and knee injuries proving too much for the WWE Hall of Famer to bear.
He notes how Hogan worked his way to the top and sold incredibly during his matches. This made him the easy decision for Hogan to be his dream opponent in the WWE.
“I gotta say, Hulk Hogan, because one of the biggest draws in the history of the business. Everybody thought that match between ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan should have happened a couple of years back. Unfortunately, it never did.
“Just for whatever reason, I didn’t feel like stepping back in the ring. It sounds like a good match on paper, but I didn’t think it would look so good once you got into the ring.”
“I think Hogan was ready to go, but I wasn’t. And so, I never got a chance to wrestle that guy. It would’ve been fun to be in the ring with him. I was watching an old match on YouTube between Paul Orndorff and Hulk Hogan. I watched how Hulk Hogan was down there on that mat, and he was selling his ass off.”
“Paul Orndorff was kicking the snot out of him. Then finally, finally, finally, after all this heat, started making that trademark comeback. He started firing up that comeback. The people started going crazy. I realized that guy wasn’t born on top. He worked his tail off to get to the top. So I’d say Hulk Hogan right off jump street.”
There were reports that the reason the match didn’t happen was due to creative differences. Some people have claimed that Austin would only do the match if he won.
It was claimed he could not trust Hogan to change his mind at the last minute. Because of this, Austindemanded he won the match against Hogan.
Hulk Hogan does have a history of this. His match with Shawn Michaels at Summerslam 2005 was meant to become a trilogy of matches. Michaels was meant to win the series, two wins to one.
However, just before the match, Hogan cancelled the rematches. This led the Heartbreak Kid to put on the performances of a lifetime in that match – but not in a good way.
He oversold all of Hogan’s offence. He made a mockery of the entire specactle, although it was incredible to watch as a fan.
Jim Ross Spoke About The Potential Steve Austin vs Hulk Hogan match
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross revealed in a recent episode of his podcast that the reason Steve Austin vs Hulk Hogan was down to Stone Cold.
In the most recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast, the AEW Commentator took a deep dive with co-host Conrad Thompson into the Judgement 2002 pay per view.
The conversation turned to why the main event of that show featured Hulk Hogan vs Undertaker, rather than the dream match of Steve Austin vs Hulk Hogan. They had wrestled a decade earlier, and nobody was happy with the match then. 2002 was not the time for those two to rekindle their rivalry.
Hogan did face the likes of The Rock, Shawn Michaels and Brock Lesnar in his final WWE run. However, the ultimate dream of of Stone Cold vs Hulk Hogan never materialised.
Jim Ross revealed that the reason why Austin, who had one foot out the door and whose relationship with WWE was dematerialising by the day, did not want to face Hulk Hogan at Judgement Day 2002.
On the Grilling Jr podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross said;
“Austin didn’t have the match with Hogan because he didn’t want to have the match the Undertaker did. Hogan was battered, beat up and had multiple back surgeries. It’s funny when people say ‘What’s the really important things to learn in pro wrestling training’? Well, you’ve got to learn to take a great flatback bump. Because about 98% of the stuff you see ends with a flatback bump.”
“So being able to execute a flatback bump, which sounds very simple, and it is. But a lot of guys spend no time on it, they’d rather spend more time on Tope Suicidas and sh*t like that than how to sell or how to take a flatback.”
He also noted that Austin wanted to have “great matches”. Sadly, he didn’t think that he could have the match he wanted against The Immortal. Stone Cold also didn’t see the pair’s styles working well together, comparing them with “oil and water”.
“Austin had it in his mind that Hogan’s style and Austin’s style were oil and water. He just didn’t feel the chemistry. Austin was never about having good matches. Austin was about having great matches.”
“He knew better than anybody else in the world who he could work the best with. Hogan wasn’t on that list. Steve could be wrong too. I’m not saying that Hogan and Austin couldn’t have a good match. Look at the match Hogan had at WrestleMania 18 with The Rock.”
Sadly, we never got to see Hulk Hogan step in the ring with Steve Austin, outside of a brief meeting in a handicap match. It remains one for the fantasy bookers.
However, thought of the match is undoubtably better than it actually would have gone.
