14 Wrestlers With Winning Records Over Hulk Hogan

13. The Rock

The Mountie Hulk Hogan
WWE.com

Time to get a bit philosophical here.

There's doing a job, and there's doing a job.

Losing clean in the middle of the ring via pin fall is not necessarily doing a job - i.e. making it crystal clear that, on the night at least, your fictional character was not as good or as much of a star as your opponent.

At WrestleMania X8, Hogan lost to the Rock, but he lost a fictional in-ring outing that hardly mattered, and to underscore that, he won the WWF title 35 days after staring at the lights. In Toronto, he lost a match, but by doing the red-and-yellow act in nWo colours, he manipulated the fierce nostalgic sentiment in the building to get himself over as the bigger attraction.

What do you remember most from the match: Hogan, his trapezius muscles stacked on top of his head, celebrating wildly after throwing Rock halfway across the ring?

Or the finish?

Hogan knew what he was doing in Toronto, and he knew what exactly what to do at No Way Out 2003 just under a year later when he went 0-2: next to nothing.

By doing next to nothing in a nothing match, he ensured that people would only remember the first meeting - and the real headline from it.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!