10 Most Anticipated Wrestling Matches Of All-Time (That Actually Happened)

8. Sting vs. Hulk Hogan

One of the most dominant stars in the history of wrestling, Hulk Hogan is synonymous with dream matches. Throughout his memorable return to the WWE in 2002 and 2003, seemingly every matched he was booked in was a fantasy match up, even Smackdown encounters with the likes of Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. Before his WWE return ever happened, Hogan was involved in one of the longest built and heavily anticipated matches in wrestling history. Upon his defection from WCW to the nWo, Hogan's run included nearly a year and a half of monopolizing the WCW world title, with the exception of a short reign by Lex Luger. As the nWo ran roughshod over WCW as a whole, the company struggled to find high level opponents to take on it's marquee heel. Throughout 1996 and 1997, Lex Luger, The Giant and Roddy Piper were booked repeatedly against Hogan, and eventually disposed of, thanks in large part to the pesky New World Order. During that entire run, however, the shadow of one giant match loomed overhead-- Sting vs. Hulk Hogan. Sting had assumed a new, darker persona much different from the colorful and charismatic Sting fans had seen in years past, and subsequently stalked Hogan and the nWo for well over a year. While he didn't initially make his allegiance known, Sting's change in character was among the most riveting storylines in wrestling history to that point. After over a year out of the ring, Sting and Hogan were booked to face one another at Starrcade 1997, in what would easily become WCW's most successful pay per view of all-time. While the match wasn't an all time great (Nick Patrick and his slow-fast count can be thanked for that), the match was a payoff for nearly a year and a half of build.