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Who has the crowd behind them?

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If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs. Austin?

12K views 77 replies 47 participants last post by  The Main Headliner 
#1 ·
Hogan had the crowd behind him and was more over than Rock in the match.

So the question is if it would have been Hogan vs Austin who has the crowd?
 
#8 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?



Allow me to end this thread.

You have the "Babe Ruth", the "Michael Jordan" of Pro wrestling, coming back to the event that was literally built on HIS name in a main event match for the first time in 9 years, in A SMARK city, where even Austin as a face was booed before (summer of 1997) and there's still butt hurt Austin fans that honestly think that Austin not only would have been cheered equally, but maybe the crowd sides in his favor? Are ya'll ****ing crazy? Given the element and scenario for the night, There is no one that would've been cheered over Hogan that night. The NWO's SCOTT HALL got cheered for beating up Austin in the states and you think he would've been cheered as much as Hogan??????????

Rock was the man for the match. He was the biggest mainstream wrestling star and biggest icon since Hogan. The man was even featured on the cover of Rollingstone magazine in 2001. Today? who cares, back then? Before print was near death? Being on the RS cover was/is the signal of tapping into American pop culture. This is when the Rock was a full time star. It made 100 percent sense for the Rock who had surpassed Austin anyway (overall) well before 2002 and this is a case where Vince actually made the right decision. I get why Austin and Hogan would've been a great scene, totally, but the match wouldn't have had the energy Rock Hogan had. Rock MADE that match with his expressions, selling, even reacting and acting heelish when the crowd got on him. The chemistry was just there.
 
#13 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

in A SMARK city, where even Austin as a face was booed before (summer of 1997) .
The Canada vs. US storyline was going on, with Austin and the Hart Foundation being rivals.


Hogan definitely would've gotten more cheers, but I don't think Austin would have been booed as badly as Rock was. I think fans then had some genuine resentment towards Rock for his Hollywood career interfering with his WWE career.
 
#37 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

I love how over the past 12 years the iwc has perpetuated the myth that Austin was as hot as he was in 98 early 99 for the rest of his career. Newsflash......HE WASN'T. His peak was 98/early 99 people. Every year after that he lost momentum and became more and more irrelevant.

Rock was kind of similar, but here's the difference between the two. Rock's "wrestling peak" was 2000, but his "mainstream" appeal was still rising every single year FROM 2000 onwards. So while he lost momentum in 01 his stock was still rising in the mainstream with his movie career. He returns in 01 and is STILL more "popular" than Austin. 02, he's still losing momentum , but his mainstream appeal is still lightyears ahead of everyone in the entire industry. Rock returns in 2003 and unlike Austin, rejuvenates his career and gains momentum again as Hollywood Rock, while his mainstream popularity is still going up. You see a pattern here. Austin's mainstream AND wrestling peak was 98/99. Both decline as time passes.

In conclusion. The Rock was far beyond Austin in 2002. It doesn't matter if YOU personally think his character was stale. It most definitely was, it's why his WRESTLING popularity was declining. On top of the boom period being over, but that's another story. Hogan was going to get cheered no matter what. Austin was a heel in 01 and got booed. Again, this is another case of "The Austin of 98 vs Hogan!!!!!". This was 2002. Get a calendar. Austin was irrelevant.
 
#38 · (Edited)
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

I love how over the past 12 years the iwc has perpetuated the myth that Austin was as hot as he was in 98 early 99 for the rest of his career. Newsflash......HE WASN'T. His peak was 98/early 99 people. Every year after that he lost momentum and became more and more irrelevant.

Rock was kind of similar, but here's the difference between the two. Rock's "wrestling peak" was 2000, but his "mainstream" appeal was still rising every single year FROM 2000 onwards. So while he lost momentum in 01 his stock was still rising in the mainstream with his movie career. He returns in 01 and is STILL more "popular" than Austin. 02, he's still losing momentum , but his mainstream appeal is still lightyears ahead of everyone in the entire industry. Rock returns in 2003 and unlike Austin, rejuvenates his career and gains momentum again as Hollywood Rock, while his mainstream popularity is still going up. You see a pattern here. Austin's mainstream AND wrestling peak was 98/99. Both decline as time passes.

In conclusion. The Rock was far beyond Austin in 2002. It doesn't matter if YOU personally think his character was stale. It most definitely was, it's why his WRESTLING popularity was declining. On top of the boom period being over, but that's another story. Hogan was going to get cheered no matter what. Austin was a heel in 01 and got booed. Again, this is another case of "The Austin of 98 vs Hogan!!!!!". This was 2002. Get a calendar. Austin was irrelevant.
I agree with this post for the most part. Next to only Hogan i think Rock goes down as the second biggest star ever. Only thing i don't understand is why you think the Rock lost momentum in 01 when he was still young in his 20's. I quit watching wrestling in 2005 but just recently seen how the Rock buried John Cena. The fact Rock had to give Cena a rematch and job to him because he buried him so bad says alot. If Austin hadn't hurt his neck maybe things would be different. But when the NWO came to WWE in 2002 their starpower really outshined Stone Cold.
 
#22 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

It would have been the exact same reaction. Austin's character didn't have much momentum in 2002 and Toronto has always been a huge town for Hogan.

What was so impressive about Rock in that match is how he kept his composure and still carried the match, feeding off the crowd if anything. I don't think Austin's ego would have let him have such a positive reaction. Getting booed would have bothered him greatly at that point.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

Hogan could have beat up Jesus in a church, and still get big pops ! Halleluljah! :rusevyes :bron2

Hogan has so much fans, casuals, smarks, marks, and all demographics covered.

There is no wrestling character who's more emotional invested than Hulk Hogan.

People have been with him through thick and thin. They have cried, booed him, loved him. Everything.

They relate to him. Like a father-figure.

Hogan also have that larger than life charisma. You just feel bad for him, like when he got trolled on twitter, lol. You just feel bad for that old man.

Why do we relate to him so much? Because he gave us so much. He's that old man that gave wrestling life. He's larger than life persona make you relate to him to "fight against the evil forces in that ring, brother".
 
#2 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

Probably still Hogan given he hadn't been in WWE for so long at that stage.
 
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#44 ·
My thoughts are that the main reason Hogan got such an ovation that night was because it was his first singles match in WWE since 1993, and at a wrestle mania no less. Also others point out that it being in Canada played its part and I can see that. So yea I think under those circumstances Hogan gets cheered against either Austin or Rock

HOWEVER

If this had been later in the year and Hogan had had a few matches under his belt the nostalgia factor wouldn't be as big and the fans might not have been as unanimous in their cheering (although with it being in Canada who knows)

OR

Suppose it had taken place in Texas vs Austin or Florida vs Rock. That's worth thinking about
 
#47 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

No one would have been cheered over Hogan that night. It was one of those perfect storms. A chance for some fans to relive their childhood in a moment they thought would never happen. Even then many fans knew Hogan was a POS but in that moment it was ok to remember that you used to love the guy. At least that was how it was for me. I sound all nostalgic, but I wasn't willing to sacrifice a moment like that for Rock, who I really liked but he was never my fav. The hesitation may have been a few seconds longer with Austin but that was Hogan's crowd. If Hogan amd Austin had fought the next PPV I would have been supporting Austin but not on that night.
 
#51 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

Hogan was always going to have the crowd, would have been exactly the same vibe as the match against Rocky. The only thing that could have swayed the crowd more favourably to Rock or Austin would have been Hogan coming in with strong over the top Real American babyface booking, rather than the character that was the catalyst for a wrestling boom in Hollywood Hogan. Regardless though the crowd is with Hogan for this one.
 
#66 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

Would have been glorious to see all of Austin's D riders' head explode because he would of been booed out of the building that night had he gone against the returning HHH :ti
 
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#4 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

Hogan would've still had the crowd no doubt, maybe to a lesser extent but still Hogan.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

I wanna say Austin but not too sure. Depends all on Hogan really. Does he give the people what they want or does he be a cowardly heel to the max?
 
#12 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

Probably still Hogan. Austin didn't even get that big a pop that night when he came out for his match with Scott Hall, presumably because of what a mess his character had been all through the Invasion.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

Probably still Hogan. Austin didn't even get that big a pop that night when he came out for his match with Scott Hall, presumably because of what a mess his character had been all through the Invasion.
Yeah, that definitely had a lot to do with his change in popularity in 2002 (although he was still one of the most popular performers in WWF history). The Invasion storyline stripped everything that made Austin a megastar and it turned him into a comedy aspect of the show, so it wasn't as convincing as it once was to believe him as the "toughest s.o.b" in the WWF at that time. Also, his booking wasn't anywhere near as favourable as it was in recent years, so the WM18 crowd would likely have been 25% Austin and 75% Hogan.
 
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#24 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

Both men would've been cheered, but Hogan would've had the advantage despite being the heel. Canadian fans respected him too much. I think Austin knew that and played a part in him turning the match down.

- Vic
 
#26 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

Hogan would probably get cheered over anyone on that night but I don't think it's as one sided as Rock vs. Hogan was. Rock was losing a lot of his fan base during that time period. The boom period was over with, casuals were leaving and WCW and ECW hardcores were mixing into the WWE audience. It was a weird time period where RVD could be the most over person on a given night. Jericho outdid Rock on multiple occasions as well. SCSA was just more universally loved than Rock, but as everyone else as said this is Hulk Hogan in Toronto in his WrestleMania return. Not even Austin stood a chance against that.
 
#39 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

Hogan would probably get cheered over anyone on that night but I don't think it's as one sided as Rock vs. Hogan was. Rock was losing a lot of his fan base during that time period. The boom period was over with, casuals were leaving and WCW and ECW hardcores were mixing into the WWE audience. It was a weird time period where RVD could be the most over person on a given night. Jericho outdid Rock on multiple occasions as well. SCSA was just more universally loved than Rock, but as everyone else as said this is Hulk Hogan in Toronto in his WrestleMania return. Not even Austin stood a chance against that.

I wouldn't say That about rock losing his fanbase- that didn't perpetuate until around summerslam, and people forget but rock was getting cheered as much as hogan during the build up. In fact one could argue that the rock was bigger than ever, seeing as he had a movie that broke a record the month after mania.

I repeat, No one (okay except Bret) is getting cheered over hogan at mania x-8. Austin, who like I said, had Scott hall cheered over him while he injured him with a cinderblock, would've been booed in Canada. The rock also started to get cheers once it was clear that he was winning when he set up for the peoples elbow.


Sent from Verticalsports.com Free Appz
 
#42 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

That crowd just goes to show what a joke smarks are. Smarks usually hate Hogan but because it's his first WM match in 9 years we'll be all hip and cheer him as the bad guy and boo The Rock.
 
#43 ·
Re: If WrestleMania 18 would have been Hogan vs Austin?

Should've been a triple threat with the rock doing a double people's elbow after 3 rock bottoms to each guy and winning the match by pinning both hogan and austin simultaneously. This comment has potential to get a lot of hate but fuck it I'm a rock mark and I would of :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: if that happened
 
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