Hulk Hogan Told “You’ve Got To Really Bring It” Ahead Of Match Against The Rock

Hulk Hogan was told to be at his optimum ahead of WrestleMania 18 match against The Rock.

In one of the most famous matches in Mania history, Hogan was set to go one-on-one with The Great One in Toronto. This would be Hogan’s first televised singles match in almost two years following the events that infamously took place at the WCW pay-per-view Bash at the Beach 2000.

Hogan recounted the phone call that he had with Vince McMahon ahead of the iconic match while appearing on Joe Rogan. Having left WWE in 1993, McMahon warned Hogan that the landscape had changed vastly:

“I got a call from Vince. He goes, ‘We’d like you to come up and work with The Rock at WrestleMania. I said, ‘Well, yeah, I can still go if you need me to come up there. We can make it work. He used to call me monster. He said, ‘Monster, things are different up here now. If you ever come up here, you got to really bring it’ because you know The Rock does this thing in the ring, like bring it, so I didn’t say anything.

As a smartass, I’m thinking it if you want me to bring it, you’re gonna be asking me to take it back when I’m done with this bullshit. So anyway, you know, we went up there, had the match. There was a bunch of stuff that happened before the match that was a little bit different than weeks before. 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. The place was just slammed in Chicago, just crazy. I mean, I had so 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. He pulls me back in and right when we’re face to face, he rock bottoms me and dumps me in the middle of the ring on the back of my head.”

Hulk Hogan Details Pain Medication Use

In the same interview, Hulk Hogan revealed that he has been in a lot of pain following a 40-plus-year career of taking bumps inside the ring, resulting in multiple surgeries. To attempt to combat the pain, the WWE Hall of Famer has previously used Fentanyl, which Hogan has stated nearly resulted in his death.

H/t to Wrestling News