Steve Austin pays his respects to Hulk Hogan.
Hogan unexpectedly died on Thursday morning at age 71. Waves of people from around the pro wrestling world shared their memories of Hogan, including Vince McMahon, Ric Flair and The Rock.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin also reacted to the news, sharing a statement on his Instagram account. The caption was accompanied by a photo of the pair together. Based on the shirt Austin is wearing in the photo, it likely was taken backstage when Austin and Hogan appeared at the WWE RAW Reunion in 2019.
“Hulk Hogan was born to be a Professional Wrestler. Larger than life. Charisma for days. He was in a stratosphere all on his own. His contributions are immense. His influence will be forever.
Hulkamania lives on. My condolences to his family and loved ones,” Austin wrote on Instagram.
Austin and Hogan were arguably the two biggest wrestling superstars of their respective eras. Despite working in WWE for a brief time in the early 2000s, they only competed in one match against each other. This was a three-on-two handicap match that pitted the nWo’s Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall against Austin and The Rock on the March 11, 2002 episode of WWE RAW.
Despite not having multiple matches against each other, Hogan and Austin shared the ring several times for speaking segments. This includes when they (and The Rock) opened WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans.
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