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Dwayne Johnson recalls childhood encounter with Hulk Hogan in moving farewell: ‘I’ve never felt anything like that…’
Dwayne Johnson shared a personal story, a wrestling legacy, and a loud thank you to the man who helped build him into it all, Hulk Hogan.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson took to Instagram with a tribute today, July 25, that hit wrestling fans straight in the chest. In a post packed with throwback vibes and raw emotion, Johnson honored Hulk Hogan, the larger-than-life icon who passed away on Thursday at the age of 71.
Alongside a video of their legendary WrestleMania 18 match playing on an old-school box TV, Johnson walked fans through a full-circle moment that began when he was just a kid with a front-row seat to history and ended with him sharing the ring with his childhood hero.
From headband to headliner
Before he was The Rock, 12-year-old Dwayne Johnson was just another kid in the crowd at Madison Square Garden. That night in 1984, he caught Hogan’s “HULKSTER” headband and gave it back to him backstage.
Hogan was stunned, as it had been his last one: “You were shocked and so happy after the match because you told me that was your very last headband and if it weren’t for me, you’d have no way of getting that exact one made again.”
The wrestler-turned-actor revealed that Hogan had also promised his young self a thank-you gift in return. A month after the event, Hogan kept his promise: he handed young Johnson his own headband with a smile and a “thanks, kid.”
Seventeen years later, they were face-to-face in the ring at WrestleMania. “Still a kid at the age of 29,” Johnson wrote, remembering the electricity when Hogan kicked out of his Rock Bottom finisher. “I’ve never felt anything like that in my entire wrestling career.”
A torch passed, but a legacy cemented
The Rock made it clear: Hogan did not just pass the torch—he lit the whole arena. “You drew the house,” Johnson wrote, nodding to Hogan’s unmatched star power. “You sold out every arena and stadium across the country.”
“From deep in my bones and on behalf of this wild and crazy world of professional wrestling that we love, I say to you now, and forever…,” he closed, “thank you for the house, brother... Thank you for the house.”
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