There’s a couple of dream matches that have slid by without ever happening. The Rock (at his most popular) vs Bret Hart (at his best), Stone Cold vs Goldberg, Kane vs Brock Lesnar, Bret Hart vs Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar vs Bret Hart (to name a few), but there was one match that could have happened, it got teased & then it just never happened. The Rock vs HBK.
I always wondered why this dream match didn’t happen, knew about the controversy with HBK disrespecting the Rock’s grandmother when he was a teenager, but since they ended up working together when they were in the corporation, I thought they’d move past it.
It Turns out that around the time HHH won his first WWF championship (the raw after Summer Slam 99), The Rock was his first challenger on that following Smackdown, with HBK as the special guest referee.
Toward the end of the match, I always thought the superkick HBK gave the Rock, looked stiff, and he even spits at him afterward.
Turns out backstage the Rock talked to HBK about it, and HBK told him he should “leave the business if he couldn’t handle the pain”, then The Rock put his hands on him.