10 Most Heated Matches In WWE History

10. The Rock Vs. Hollywood Hogan - WWF WrestleMania X-8

The WWF spectacularly misjudged Hulk Hogan's 2002 return.

To their credit, he and his former nWo cohorts were presented with impeccable logic in a refreshingly postmodern presentation. Their portrayal as sentient carcinogens, drawing on their real-life propensity for sabotage and self-preservation, was woven seamlessly into an intriguing overarching narrative. Though their debut was a damp squib, the faction's re-contextualised raison d'être provided considerable scope for future storylines.

The problem is that the nWo had been both completely overexposed in its original form and mangled beyond recognition in its affiliate iterations. It became an excuse to hawk t-shirts. The nWo brand was dead - but the brand of Hulkamania, unbeknownst to WWF officials, had become illuminated by a fuzzy, nostalgic glow.

The clamour for Hogan was so strong that the Toronto fans at WrestleMania cheered him at The Rock's expense - in such loud voice that it visibly flapped the coolest customer in all of wrestling, and elevated a basic match into the stuff of legend. Rock's victory on the night was pyrrhic - master politician Hogan, buoyed by the once-in-a-lifetime energy, had worked his way back into the hearts of WWF fans. The reaction was so thunderous that he probably never left them.