Posted in: Movies, Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: dwayne "the rock" johnson, dwayne johnson, HRL, Hulk Hogan, the rock, wrasslin, wrestling, wwe
Hulk Hogan Demands a Rematch with The Rock over 30-Year-Old Headband Story
We've seen a wrestling feud start over a spilled cup of coffee, but a new rivalry between two of the biggest stars ever in the business has kicked up over an old headband. Superstar actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was doing press schmoozing for the upcoming release of Jumanji when he told a heartwarming story about catching Hulk Hogan's headband in a WWE crowd as a child.
"When Hulk Hogan came into the WWF in 1983 or 84, I can't remember — this is when he was getting ready to blow up," Johnson explained. "He's wrestling in Madison Square Garden. He had a white headband that said Hulkster. Do you remember that dude? He came in the ring at Madison Square Garden. I was sitting in the front row with my mom watching the matches, and he came out, he was wrestling Paul Orndoff, Mr. Wonderful, and he takes the thing off and he throws it to the crowd and I caught it. It was a big nerdout moment."
It was a memorable moment, but the joy wouldn't last for long. According to Johnson, after he went backstage — his dad, Rocky Johnson, was a famous wrestler at the time. Hogan saw Johnson with the bandanna, and explained that it was his last one and he didn't really want to throw it out to the crowd, and took it back from the young Rock. No, really. Johnson was happy to give his hero the headband back. But two weeks later, after Hogan had begun building up his famed (and kinda gross) collection of bandannas, he remembered that night and gave Johnson's dad a signed headband to give to his son.
Johnson shared the story on Twitter, tagging the Hulkster:
And Hogan took time out from his feud with Brutus the Barber Beefcake to respond, offering an additional headband to the megastar… but only in exchange for a rematch in the ring.
The pair famously faced each other in 2002 at WrestleMania 18. It's been 15 years since then, and Hogan's hips are constructed entirely of safety pins and chewed bubble gum… but we aren't going to lie. We'd still pay to watch that match.