Hogans return to WWE

[Sir Auron]

I'm curious to know some information on Hogans return to WWE in 2002. I guess this goes back to 92/93, and the steroid trial, because did Hogan and McMahon speak to each other after Hogan testified against McMahon?

Did Hogan and Vince ever speak to each other while Hogan was at WCW? If they did, how was their relationship at that point. Surely they were competitors, but did all their confrontations end with a hateful tone?

And I guess, since its not Hogans style to beg McMahon to bring him back, as Hogan knows about his position in the business, and so does Vince, so if they were to work together again, it would be up to Vince to contact him, and not the other way around.

So when did Vince contact him, and was Hogan positive to a return with once? When Hogan came back, how was the reactions from the fans before WM18?

If they were like they have been lately, with fans going wild for Hogan, was that something Vince and Hogan expected? And at WM18, did Hogan and Rock expect the crowd to be pro Hogan (that match should have been at the end, as it was one of the biggest matches in the history of wrestling, and far bigger then the WWE title, it was a one of its kind matches, which only happens once every millennium or so)?

I know these are a lot of questions, but I'd appreciate it, if you guys could provide me with answers.

[SK3]

Vince actually tried to get Hulk to rejoin WWE as far back as 1997. There's a long-told story of Vince approaching Hulk during the filming of 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain, about coming back. Hulk opted to stay with WCW at the time.

Hulk and Vince did speak in the years following the trial, although it was not under the best of circumstances (it was at the funeral of Owen Hart).

In 2001, Vince contacted Hulk about coming back in time for WrestleMania X-Seven to work a match against Triple H, but the two sides couldn't come to terms. Incidentally, the storyline prepared for the match was given to Undertaker. Which is ironic, considering Undertaker's title match with HHH at Backlash 2002 was pulled in favor of Hulk getting the shot.

When Hulk returned in 2002 in his Hollywood Hogan persona, he was met with some overwhelmingly positive reactions from fans, which worried WWE since they were trying to book him as a face. I do recall at least one RAW where he did get a negative reaction though, based on his heel status.

WWE had some idea of the reaction Hulk was going to receive at WMX8. The weekend of the card, Hulk had destroyed The Rock in fan polls regarding who they wanted to win the match, and there's a famous story of customs officials telling Hulk "Beat him!" So, yes, WWE was more or less prepared for the reaction, hence why they worked in the "Hulking up" routine and all, just in case.

[Sir Auron]

Interesting, thanks for the info. But was it decided with once that Hogan would battle Rock at WM18, or did they have plans of using Hogan in NWO mode (with Hall and Nash) for a while (a year or so)?

And was there any plans to put Hogan over instead of Rock at WM, or did Hogan not mind jobbing to Rock at all? Personally I would have rather seen Hogan go over. But I guess it worked out for the best in the end.

[SK3]

Originally, the talk was Hogan vs. Austin. Austin refused to work with Hulk for whatever reason, and the match was proposed to The Rock instead, who jumped all over the idea.

There was talk of Hulk going over. In fact, Vince wanted Hulk to don red and yellow for the match, to surprise people. Hulk hopped on a jet to his Florida home to grab some old gear, and came back to Toronto with it. Vince decided to not use the colors at that point, and both men agreed Rock should go over. In Hulk's eyes, Rock was the guy who had the film coming out and was the face of the company at that time, and needed the win more than he did.

[DanC]

I see him jobbing at WM18 but I thought they'd at least let him even the score at No Way Out. I understand setting up the fued with Vince but there's a million different way of accomplishing that.