One of the most legendary “what if” dream matches in WWE history, Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Hulk Hogan, was once close to becoming reality. But according to WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross, it was Austin himself who shut the door on the fantasy bout.
Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, Ross revealed that Austin firmly believed the match wouldn’t live up to expectations, not because of ego or creative control, but because of in-ring chemistry.
“Oh, I know it’s true. I talked to Steve about it… He didn’t think they had chemistry. He thought the match would suck, and he wasn’t going to stand for having a suck, suck main event, especially at a WrestleMania.”
Ross emphasized that Austin, a known perfectionist, had too much respect for the audience to deliver something he felt would underwhelm.
Contrary to fan speculation at the time, the decision had nothing to do with who would go over. “It wasn’t anything to do with the finish… It had to do with Steve. He wanted to have a great match, not just a good one. He simply thought he couldn’t get that done with Hogan.”
At WrestleMania X8 in 2002, fans got the now-iconic “Icon vs. Icon” match between Hulk Hogan and The Rock instead, a matchup Ross says was far better suited to that stage of Hogan’s career.
“Rock was more of an entertainer. And at that stage of Hogan’s career, he was an entertainer. Steve just had no confidence that the match would be good. It would let the fans down in his opinion.”
Austin instead faced Scott Hall at the event, and would famously walk out of WWE just a few months later, frustrated with creative decisions.
