Thirty years ago today Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant met in the middle of the Pontiac Silverdome in front of 93,000 screaming fans for Wrestlemania III. The event was labeled “biggest main event in sports entertainment” and to this day, remains one of the most pivotal events in WWE history.
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The match came to be after long time fan favorite Andre the Giant turned on his buddy Hogan, challenging him to a title match at WrestleMania. The Hulkster had been the WWF Champion for three years and the storyline was that Andre, who had been undefeated in the WWF for fifteen years, was insulted that he was never offered a championship match by Hogan. In a moment that scarred me as a child, Andre would side with Bobby Heenan and rip the cross off Hulk’s neck as he demanded a match at WrestleMania.
The match itself is a snoozefest by today’s standards, but I promise you at the time it completely lived up to the hype. Even in his worsening shape, Andre posed a massive threat to the man who had thousands of Hulkamaniacs saying their prayers and eating their vitamins.
In the early going, Hogan attempted to slam Andre but the task was too great. Andre would methodically dominate most of the match, however, Hogan gained momentum when a big clothesline took the Giant down for the very first time. The Immortal one would then make a second and, this time, successful attempt to pick up the big man and slam him to the ground. 93,000 screaming fans completely lost their minds seeing Hulk do what actually looked physically impossible. The moment has since been referenced as the “slam heard ’round the world” and remains one of the most iconic moments in WrestleMania history.
The success of the pay per view would do even more than its predecessor to put WrestleMania on the map as a must-see event for decades to come.
While the match would go down as one for the ages it’s interesting to note that Hogan and Andre had actually met earlier in their WWF careers when Hogan was a heel being managed by Classy Freddie Blassie. Even more interesting is to watch their first encounter and see the ease with which Hogan picks up a much slimmer Andre and slams him to the mat. The encounter was never mentioned during the build up to their WrestleMania match.
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