Taken from JRE #2024 w/Hulk Hogan and Tony Hinchcliffe:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2SydVEJ8apGliqKX1W2SWS?si=b82f6f5c5b6a4d41

speaking of rock you mentioned WrestleMania

and that's what's crazy is that it's 1 of the greatest wrestling matches of all time like if I was going to Show you literally And because I've thought about this because whatever a decade ago when we would have our crazy wrestling arguments I always I had to think to myself.

What would I show Joe first and it would be probably that Right and you

I know The Rock says he's never experienced anything like that before.

I don't think anyone's seen anything like that.

Well, I'd been working for Ted Turner for like 10 years and I started that NWO thing with Eric Bischoff and Kevin Nash and Scott Hall you probably know.

trying to put Vince out of business for 10 years And we were killing him in the ratings for like 83 or 88 weeks.

And we made a bunch of mistakes, programming wise.

And we go, don't watch Monday Night Raw tonight because Mick Foley's gonna beat The Rock and this guy, we'd give him the finish as just dirty pool, you know.

So you don't need to watch the show because we're gonna tell you he's already gonna win.

And so, after 10 years of this craziness, I was pretty much done.

This was Hollywood Hogan, the bad guy, and I had this crazy run.

It was just as big as the red and yellow run as Hulkamania was.

And So at the end of the day, I was done and Ted Turner merged with American Online.

And where his office was, they kicked him to the curb.

He was down at the end of the hall, so Ted wasn't in charge.

Ted's the 1 I made the deal with, and Eric Bischoff and Harvey Schiller and all these guys.

And so I wasn't really gonna do anything, I got a call from Vince.

And he goes, we'd like you to come up and work with The Rock at WrestleMania.

I said, well, yeah, I can still go, you know, if you need me to come up there, we can make it work.

And he goes, well, you know, things, he used to call me monster.

Well, you know, monster, but you know that things are different now up here.

And he goes, well, you know, if you're gonna come up here, you gotta really bring it.

Cause you know the Rocky goes, the Rock does this thing in the ring, like bring it.

And so I didn't say anything as a smart ass.

bring it, you're gonna be asking me to take it back

So anyway, we went up there, had the match.

There was a bunch of stuff that happened before the match, it was a little bit different than the weeks before.

But when I went up there, what we did on TV was I did everything I could to be a bad guy.

I was in Chicago, place was just slammed in Chicago, just crazy.

I mean, I had so many matches in Chicago, and the past accolades were so intense there, that when I came out as a bad guy, that people were like with me, you know?

And so all of a sudden, The Rock comes out, gets in the middle of the ring, challenges me to WrestleMania, I go to shake his hand, he won't let my hand go.

And right where face to face, he rock bottoms me, you know, and dumps me in the middle of the ring on the back of my head.

I mean, you have to realize that these are the most electrical moments ever like in pro wrestling history They're like if you saw it on video these things this is This is the epitome of the entire what makes the entire thing entertaining Because you're kind of rooting for both both are kind of bad guys, but they have such likable qualities so it's a win-win no matter what I mean this stuff is Beyond like this is that's this here is like Totally I always shelf pro wrestling history.

I always loved the two-tone beard mustache combo

Yes, so anyway after he dumps me on my head my guys come down Kevin and Scott and we just crucify his ass We just we unload on him and we just grind him.

So I go out of the ring and I got a toolbox and I dump the toolbox out and there's this ball peen hammer, right?

The other thing, I'm gonna hit him from the front.

I go and while they got him hooked, they thought I was gonna blast him in the face with a hammer.

Bro, I can put this thing between your forehead.

you know, you know who first he's so good at pulling stuff up.

Pull up Rocky III where I get Sloan in the corner, I throw that straight in punch to him.

Because he said, oh, I don't want to get hurt.

I said, you just stand there and don't move.

With this straight in punch, he goes, I've never had anybody throw a punch that looks like it was gonna kill me.

So anyway, long story short, hit him with a hammer, drag him outside the building, put him in an ambulance, put chains around the ambulance, right?

I go get in a semi truck without the trailer on it, just the cab of the semi, and of course as I'm getting in the cab of the semi, they pull Rock out of the ambulance.

And I run that ambulance over with the semi.

Yeah, so dude, so now the rock's in there, we just slide him out When they cut to me, here you go.

And so at the end of the day, I did everything I could to be the worst, most evil person in the world, bad guy.

And we go get in Toronto for WrestleMania after I've done all these horrible things.

Now I had to back up and run him over again.

Now after I do all these horrible things, and I come out of the building at WrestleMania, and the place is cheering me out of the building.

I'm going, my God, how are we gonna fix this?

Cuz The Rock is splitting to go to the Scorpion King.

And I'm passing the torch, giving him the rub, everything I can to help him be the greatest wrestler ever.

And because that guy was so good in the ring, bro, and I never worked him before, but second, third generation wrestler, instinct, timing, placement, he had everything.

It took us about 7 or 8 minutes to get it all turned back around.

And he had certain input that we did, and I said, well, if some of that stuff doesn't work, we're not doing it.

But it was just the craziest situation because-

This is like the craziest shit of all time I mean look everybody's arms are up in the air

You at this time 53 or 54 that's amazing.

And the next year I took Vince McMahon to Safeco Field And actually had a blast with Vince, got to beat the shit out of Vince, that was fun.


Speaker 0: The Joe Rogan experience

Speaker 1: speaking of rock you mentioned WrestleMania

Speaker 0: 18

Speaker 2: yeah,

Speaker 1: and that's what's crazy is that it's 1 of the greatest wrestling matches of all time like if I was going to Show you literally And because I've thought about this because whatever a decade ago when we would have our crazy wrestling arguments I always I had to think to myself. Well. What would I show Joe first and it would be probably that Right and you

Speaker 2: it was it was a definitely a moment. I know The Rock says he's never experienced anything like that before.

Speaker 1: I don't think anyone's seen anything like that.

Speaker 2: No, it was crazy, man. It was much different than I expected. I'll put it to you that way.

Speaker 0: How so? What'd you expect?

Speaker 2: Well, I'd been working for Ted Turner for like 10 years and I started that NWO thing with Eric Bischoff and Kevin Nash and Scott Hall you probably know.

Speaker 1: Which was WCW the competitor. Yeah so we've been

Speaker 2: trying to put Vince out of business for 10 years And we were killing him in the ratings for like 83 or 88 weeks. We were just killing him. Then there was a turnaround. He brought Tyson on. And we made a bunch of mistakes, programming wise.

Like we were live, live, live. And their stuff was all taped. And we go, don't watch Monday Night Raw tonight because Mick Foley's gonna beat The Rock and this guy, we'd give him the finish as just dirty pool, you know. So you don't need to watch the show because we're gonna tell you he's already gonna win. And so, after 10 years of this craziness, I was pretty much done.

This was Hollywood Hogan, the bad guy, and I had this crazy run. It was just as big as the red and yellow run as Hulkamania was. It was just as big or bigger. And So at the end of the day, I was done and Ted Turner merged with American Online. And where his office was, they kicked him to the curb.

He was down at the end of the hall, so Ted wasn't in charge. Ted's the 1 I made the deal with, and Eric Bischoff and Harvey Schiller and all these guys. And so I wasn't really gonna do anything, I got a call from Vince. And he goes, we'd like you to come up and work with The Rock at WrestleMania. I said, well, yeah, I can still go, you know, if you need me to come up there, we can make it work.

And he goes, well, you know, things, he used to call me monster. Well, you know, monster, but you know that things are different now up here. I said, what do you mean different? And he goes, well, you know, if you're gonna come up here, you gotta really bring it. Cause you know the Rocky goes, the Rock does this thing in the ring, like bring it.

And so I didn't say anything as a smart ass. I'm thinking if you want me to

Speaker 0: bring it, you're gonna be asking me to take it back

Speaker 2: when I'm done with this bullshit. So anyway, we went up there, had the match. There was a bunch of stuff that happened before the match, it was a little bit different than the weeks before. But when I went up there, what we did on TV was I did everything I could to be a bad guy. I was in Chicago, place was just slammed in Chicago, just crazy.

I mean, I had so many matches in Chicago, and the past accolades were so intense there, that when I came out as a bad guy, that people were like with me, you know? And so all of a sudden, The Rock comes out, gets in the middle of the ring, challenges me to WrestleMania, I go to shake his hand, he won't let my hand go. You know, he pulls me back in. And right where face to face, he rock bottoms me, you know, and dumps me in the middle of the ring on the back of my head. So here come my guys.

Speaker 1: I mean, you have to realize that these are the most electrical moments ever like in pro wrestling history They're like if you saw it on video these things this is This is the epitome of the entire what makes the entire thing entertaining Because you're kind of rooting for both both are kind of bad guys, but they have such likable qualities so it's a win-win no matter what I mean this stuff is Beyond like this is that's this here is like Totally I always shelf pro wrestling history.

Speaker 0: I always loved the two-tone beard mustache combo

Speaker 2: Yes, so anyway after he dumps me on my head my guys come down Kevin and Scott and we just crucify his ass We just we unload on him and we just grind him. So I go out of the ring and I got a toolbox and I dump the toolbox out and there's this ball peen hammer, right? So they got him hooked. The other thing, I'm gonna hit him from the front. I go and while they got him hooked, they thought I was gonna blast him in the face with a hammer.

I hit him from behind with a hammer. Right? I catch him from behind. You know, I'm not killing him. I'm pretty good at what I do.

Speaker 0: Is it an actual hammer?

Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Bro, I can put this thing between your forehead. I won't even hurt

Speaker 0: you. Please not.

Speaker 2: He's a professional. No, but listen.

Speaker 0: You're hitting him with a hammer? Yeah. Like, actually hit him with a hammer?

Speaker 2: Oh,

Speaker 1: yeah. But he's a professional.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm pretty believe me. I can hit you with a hammer brother. You'd be good You know, but what?

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 0: Yeah It's a hammer,

Speaker 2: you know, you know who first he's so good at pulling stuff up. Pull up Rocky III where I get Sloan in the corner, I throw that straight in punch to him. Oh, okay, yeah. Because he said, oh, I don't want to get hurt. I said, you just stand there and don't move.

With this straight in punch, he goes, I've never had anybody throw a punch that looks like it was gonna kill me. Yeah, no, I think this is it right here. Look, look, look, look. That was straight into his forehead. Yeah.

He goes, you didn't even hit me. I said, well, I'm not supposed to. But I did make contact. So anyway, long story short, hit him with a hammer, drag him outside the building, put him in an ambulance, put chains around the ambulance, right? I go get in a semi truck without the trailer on it, just the cab of the semi, and of course as I'm getting in the cab of the semi, they pull Rock out of the ambulance.

And I run that ambulance over with the semi. Vince goes, do it again, do it again.

Speaker 0: Yeah, this is so hilarious.

Speaker 2: So anyway. The

Speaker 0: ambulance is chained up.

Speaker 2: Yeah, so dude, so now the rock's in there, we just slide him out When they cut to me, here you go. And so at the end of the day, I did everything I could to be the worst, most evil person in the world, bad guy. And we go get in Toronto for WrestleMania after I've done all these horrible things. Oh my God. Now I had to back up and run him over again.

Now after I do all these horrible things, and I come out of the building at WrestleMania, and the place is cheering me out of the building. I'm going, my God, how are we gonna fix this? Cuz The Rock is splitting to go to the Scorpion King. And I'm passing the torch, giving him the rub, everything I can to help him be the greatest wrestler ever. And because that guy was so good in the ring, bro, and I never worked him before, but second, third generation wrestler, instinct, timing, placement, he had everything.

It took us about 7 or 8 minutes to get it all turned back around. And he had certain input that we did, and I said, well, if some of that stuff doesn't work, we're not doing it. But it was just the craziest situation because-

Speaker 1: This is it, dude. This is like the craziest shit of all time I mean look everybody's arms are up in the air

Speaker 0: Tony is aroused. I mean it's unbelievable. You have

Speaker 1: to realize that these this is like it

Speaker 0: You at this time 53 or 54 that's amazing.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I had a hip replacement.

Speaker 0: That is amazing

Speaker 2: and 2 knee replacements

Speaker 0: that at 54 you were still this jacked. That's incredible. Another 1. Another 1.

Speaker 1: WrestleMania 18, after being in 12345.

Speaker 2: And the next year I took Vince McMahon to Safeco Field And actually had a blast with Vince, got to beat the shit out of Vince, that was fun. And he brought his all in. That crazy nut was all in, he loved it.

See all PowerfulJRE transcripts on Youtube

Hulk Hogan on Facing The Rock at Wreslemania 18