How Hulk Hogan Genuinely Surprised Everyone At WrestleMania 18

Following the acquisition of WCW in 2001, stars from the promotion slowly made their way over to WWE, but in 2002 Hollywood Hogan made the jump to the promotion and returned with the New World Order and quickly entered into a rivalry with the biggest star at that moment, The Rock. Fans who were familiar with Hogan's run in WCW naturally expected the worst, but by the time WrestleMania X8 was over, many were surprised by the outcome.

The rivalry initially kicked off after The Rock bested The Undertaker at No Way Out and got into a heated back-and-forth promo with Hogan, leading into the nWo ruthlessly beating him up and spraying their logo on his back the following episode of "RAW," after he took the Hulkster out with a Rock Bottom after a fake-out handshake. For the following weeks, The Rock was out of action while Stone Cold Steve Austin stepped up to the nWo, before the "Bahama Bull" returned weeks later, joining Austin in their war against the stable. However, Hogan would beat The Rock with the Atomic Leg Drop during the March 11th episode of "RAW" after he and Austin faced the nWo in a Handicap Match, setting up their clash for WrestleMania X8.

Despite weeks of brutal attacks, once the match between Hollywood Hogan and The Rock kicked off at WrestleMania X8, fans interestingly took the side of the Hulkster. In an unpredictable twist, the audience began to cheer for Hogan from the start instead, leading The Rock to decide to allow his childhood hero to get some of the shine instead and slowly make way for a natural babyface turn by acting heelish throughout the match. In turn, Hogan instead of putting himself over his opponents like he infamously did throughout most of his WCW run, put The Rock over and stunned everyone who believed he'd walk away with the win.

As The Rock walked away with his victory after the two men shook hands, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall berated Hogan for showing respect to the "Brahma Bull," attacking him and expelling the former leader from the nWo. Following this, The Rock returned to the ring, saved Hogan, and shared an iconic moment together with the crowd, turning Hogan babyface again, whilst the nWo slowly faded out over the next few months after several rivalries fell flat.

Looking back at the iconic clash last year, Nash commented on the Rock's willingness to go along with the crowd reaction instead of making things difficult for Hogan and praised him for his role in making the bout a huge deal.