While a sizable number of WCW stars made their way to WWE following the former company's demise, very few of them found success in the new environment. According to former WWE and WCW star Kevin Nash speaking on "Kliq This," that was "by design," as WWE didn't want many stars from the opposing company to become popular. The "Invasion" storyline involving WWE and WCW was largely seen as a failure, but WWE's purchase did lead to a few great moments, including at WWE WrestleMania 18.
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"Hogan and Rock [had] a match at WrestleMania 18 that's pretty epic that whole run," Nash said. "Hogan came out of that to me, he entrenched himself across three generations as the generational star. He looked like a million bucks and he was probably 48 years old when he got in the ring that night in Toronto."
Nash defended Hogan against some of the common criticisms that are used against the massive star, such as the idea that he "politicked" his way into success. As for WrestleMania 18 in particular, Nash believes wrestling fans willed the Hogan-Rock feud into existence, making it hard to argue against the match taking place.
When the time came, despite The Rock being positioned as the babyface in the storyline, the WrestleMania crowd made it clear that they were behind Hogan on that night. Nash commended Dwayne Johnson for the way he handled the surprise reaction.
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"Dwayne could've made that very difficult for Hulk," Nash said. "When they started [chanting], 'Hogan! Hogan!' Dwayne switched gears a little bit. That was huge."
The Rock wound up winning the match, with Hogan soon turning face and allying with his WrestleMania opponent to feud against the NWO Nash and Scott Hall. Looking back on the WrestleMania bout, Nash feels that it strongly contributed to the lasting legacies of both Hogan and The Rock.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Kliq This" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
