There are many dream professional wrestling matches we've never been lucky enough to see. However, somewhere at the top of the list has to be Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Hulk Hogan, a bout that didn't ever happen in a WCW or WWE ring.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross addressed that on a recent edition of his "Grilling JR" podcast. As Head of Talent Relations at the time both men were in the company, he knows the real story behind why they never locked up.
According to Ross, the match was indeed considered for WrestleMania X8 in 2002, but the Texas Rattlesnake's "perfectionist" nature meant he wasn't willing to be part of a bout that ran the risk of falling short of fan expectations.
"Oh, I know it’s true. I talked to Steve about it. He confided in me a lot, because he could trust me. He didn’t think they had chemistry. Conrad, sorry, 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. So that’s the story there. It wasn’t anything. It had nothing to do with the finish. It had to do with Steve wanted."
"He was a perfectionist. He wanted to have a great match, not a good match, but a great match. And he simply thought he could not get that done. Stone Cold versus Hogan. Again, Steve just had no confidence that the match would be good. It would let the fans down in Steve’s opinion, so he thought that they couldn’t live up to the hype. I can’t see that match being a success. Rock was more of an entertainer, and at that stage of Hogan’s career, he was an entertainer."
At WrestleMania X8, Hogan had his now-legendary "Icon vs. Icon" match with The Rock, while Austin faced Scott Hall in what proved to be a disappointing clash.
Ross also shared some insights into what it was like working with Hogan behind the scenes, perhaps further explaining why Austin might have been reluctant to share the ring with his fellow megastar.
"[Hogan] didn’t trust anybody, Conrad. He thought everybody had an ulterior motive, and that was out to get him. And, you know, I don’t know why I would have went to the trouble of negotiating with him, which is another adventure, or anything like that. He was more concerned, seemingly, demeanor, this is my opinion, he was certainly more concerned about creative and how he was going to be used than the money he was offered on his contract, being a member of the team."
"Savage is another guy, and he was a deluxe pain in the ass to deal with, just because of his paranoia and his lack of trust. There was always an issue, always an angle, always an ulterior motive, and that was just hard to manage on a daily basis… I have great memories of Hulk Hogan as a talent, because, like I said, to say a guy is the greatest baby face in the history of the business is a big statement. Oh, yeah. And it certainly is said with respect and admiration. I believe that. But golly, he had to be assured of that almost every day. And that’s that, got to be old."
You can hear more from Ross on Hogan's legacy in the player below.