The NBA community cheered Dennis Rodman on after he debuted his WWE World Championship Wrestling in March 1997. However, his decision to reappear in this event, right in the middle of the 1998 NBA Finals, raised eyebrows everywhere. ‘The Worm’ reflected on the moment more than two decades later and revealed how Hulk Hogan had instigated this unconventional move.
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On Got Sole, Rodman recalled how Hogan called him before Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals to invite him to be a tag team partner. The Chicago Bulls icon had accepted this offer at first. However, he decided to step back after realizing the event was scheduled between Games 3 and 4 of the ongoing Finals.
Hogan continued to insist. He even offered his private plane to fly Rodman in for Detroit’s WCW Monday Nitro event and then fly him back to Chicago within an hour. Eventually, the 5x champion agreed to make a reappearance. He recounted this conversation, saying,
“One day he [Hulk Hogan] came and he said, ‘Dennis, can you be my tag team partner in Detroit?’. I said, ‘Alright, Hulk, I can do that’… He said, ‘Dennis, what are you doing? It’s gonna be tomorrow’. I said, ‘Tomorrow? I got a damn game man.’ He said, ‘I don’t give a damn. I will send you a private plane. You just fly down for the hour, I will fly you right back’. I said, ‘Alright, cool.'”
What followed was nothing short of cinematic. The Bulls humiliated the Utah Jazz 96-54 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Despite Rodman‘s contribution of 6 crucial rebounds, he appeared unfazed after the game. He soon hopped on the plane and headed for The Palace at Auburn Hills in Michigan.
Rodman teamed up with Hogan upon landing in Detroit. They represented WWE’s notorious faction, ‘nWo’, and joined forces to viciously attack Diamond Dallas Page with a chair.
However, Rodman was not keen on returning to Chicago immediately. He joined the rest of the ‘nWo’ crew at a backstage party with a group of women. He eventually made it back before Game 4, thanks to the persistence of then-Bulls head coach, Phil Jackson.
Despite skipping practice the day before, ‘The Worm’ was in top form. He recorded 14 rebounds in 29 minutes to help the Bulls secure an 86-82 victory. The Bulls carried this momentum forward and clinched the series by Game 6.
This incident showcased Rodman’s quirky and larger-than-life personality. His subsequent WWE appearances thus only added more unique layers to his colorful persona.
