On a tribute episode of “Talk Is Jericho,” veteran wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer shared the behind-the-scenes story of the infamous and controversial match between Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam 2005.

He detailed the backstage power struggle between the two icons, which led to Michaels’ memorable and comedic overselling performance.

A Clash of Egos

Meltzer explained that the core of the issue was a fundamental disagreement on their respective places in the industry at that time.

“Those two, at that point did not get along, because I think Shawn thought that at this point he was Hogan’s equal,” Meltzer said.

“Because Shawn’s one of the greatest wrestlers in the ring there’s ever been, and a superstar, right?… And Hogan saw Shawn as the Midnight Rocker… a little guy.”

“I’m Winning Both”

The original plan was for a series of two matches, but the two legends could not agree on the outcomes. “They fought back and forth. Shawn want to win the first one. ‘We’ll set up a second one. You can win the second one.’ Hogan goes, ‘we can do two, but I’m winning both,’” Meltzer revealed.

“So of course, you can imagine how that made Shawn feel, right? So they’re having problems.”

Comedic Overselling

This backstage animosity famously spilled into the ring, where Shawn Michaels put on a legendary performance, comedically overselling all of Hogan’s offense to a degree that made the match a spectacle.

“They do the match, and it’s a famous match because Shawn oversells to this comedic point,” Meltzer said.

“Basically goes on TV the next day and says, you know, ‘you could watch that match. It was all fake’… to make the match into a joke.”

Hogan’s Payday

Meltzer also shared a personal anecdote from after the event, when he received a phone call from Hogan, who was unhappy with his pay for the show.

“So Hogan gets his his pay from the show, which was quarter of a million dollars. Okay? He was mad,” Meltzer recalled.

“For whatever reason, one of his friends goes, ‘call Dave, because he’s going to know how the pay per view did.’… Get a phone call from him and it’s just like, ‘how did the Pay Per View do?’ And I said, ‘640,000 buys.’ And he goes, ‘I got 250,000. Was I ripped off?’ And I go, ‘you were way, way, way ripped off.’”

The match remains one of the most talked-about and bizarre main events in SummerSlam history, a perfect storm of two iconic superstars with massive egos clashing on one of the biggest stages of the year. The full, in-depth discussion can be heard on the “Talk Is Jericho” podcast.