WWE official gives two reasons why Hulk Hogan vs. Steve Austin did not happen
WWE Executive Director Bruce Prichard believes health and trust issues prevented Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin from facing each other.
Hogan and Austin are considered to be two of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time. Although they both worked for WWE in 2002 and 2003, they never went one-on-one in a marquee match.
Speaking on his Something to Wrestle With podcast, Prichard discussed the backstage problems that stopped the match from ever taking place.
“I think eventually the match probably could have happened had everybody stayed healthy, but you’ve gotta keep in mind at that time Steve was dealing with a lot of health issues, Steve was dealing with a lot of trust issues,” Prichard said. “So, to say that that match never would have happened, that’s crazy to say. I think you just had to get over some of the issues that were basically rearing their head at the time, and that reality in and of itself was something that you had to take into consideration.”
Steve Austin spoke to Hulk Hogan on an episode of his Steve Austin Show podcast in 2019. He said not facing the two-time WWE Hall of Famer is one of his biggest career regrets.
Hulk Hogan faced The Rock instead of Steve Austin
The Rock defeated Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8 in one of the most iconic matches in the event’s history.
Bruce Prichard said Steve Austin could have been Hogan’s opponent that night. However, WWE’s decision-makers opted to book him against one of Hogan’s nWo allies, Scott Hall, instead.
“Yeah, it was discussed,” he added. “A lot of things were discussed but I don’t know that, at that time, if there was ever this, ‘Okay, we’re gonna do this here and we’re gonna do that there.’ When we got to wherever it was [WrestleMania X8] and we had the Scott Hall match, it was Steve [versus Scott Hall], and Rock and Hogan. Well, one of those guys – Rock and Steve – needed to face two of the nWo guys [Kevin Nash and Scott Hall], and that’s just how it fell at the time.”
Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin’s only televised WWE match against each other took place on the final episode of RAW before WrestleMania X8. The nWo (Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall) defeated Austin and The Rock in a three-on-two handicap match.
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