André the Giant–Hulk Hogan rivalry

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Hulk Hogan (top) and André the Giant (bottom) during the Superdome Showdown professional wrestling event on August 2, 1980, in New Orleans

The André the Giant–Hulk Hogan rivalry was a professional wrestling rivalry between wrestlers André the Giant and Hulk Hogan that took place in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE).

The rivalry is considered by many to be one of the most important in professional wrestling history.[a]

History

Early matches (1978–1983)

Hogan, then wrestling as Terry Boulder, wrestled Andre five times in Southwest Championship Wrestling, twice in 1978, and three times in 1979. Also on May 5, 1979, in Dothan, Alabama, they had an arm wrestling match that ended in a no contest when Hogan overturned the table and his manager, Billy Spears, interfered.[6]

Hogan joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1979, after two years of competing for smaller, regional promotions. Andre was at the time a six-year WWF veteran who also toured the regional circuit and Japan.

Their first WWF encounters came in the spring of 1980, when André competed as a

Fred Blassie
confronted André as he was being interviewed and challenged him to a match, to which André accepted. During the match (aired the following week), Hogan again successfully body slammed André but André gained the upper hand. Hogan then loaded his elbow pad with a pair of brass knuckles and struck him in the forehead, causing André to bleed; Hogan fled the ring before André yelled for him to come back. The two met several more times during 1980, with Hogan body slamming André in most of their matches before André would rally for a win, often by pinfall.

Throughout 1982 and 1983 while both were working in New Japan Pro-Wrestling the two had several additional matches, though during these matches André was the heel and Hogan was the face.

1982–1986: As friends

Hogan left the WWF in 1981 and, after filming scenes for the movie Rocky III began competing for a rival company, the American Wrestling Association, or AWA, for which Andre also competed on occasion.

Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, a heel manager whose protégés included AWA World champion Nick Bockwinkel, immediately saw Hogan and Andre as threats to Bockwinkel's title and began targeting both of them. Hogan and Andre became allies, and from 1981 to 1983, often competed as tag team partners, facing Bockwinkel, Heenan and other members of the Heenan Family. The Hogan-Andre tag team won most of these matches, often by disqualification.

The friendship continued into 1984, when Hogan returned to the WWF. On the night that Hogan won the WWF World Heavyweight championship from the Iron Sheik, Andre was among the wrestlers who congratulated Hogan during a post-match celebration. The two teamed later in 1984 in a handicap match during an event at the Brendan Byrne Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, defeating Big John Studd and then-WWF Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch. Heenan joined the WWF in 1984 and again targeted Hogan and Andre. During the next two years, Andre and Hogan teamed against several Heenan family pairings, most notably Studd and King Kong Bundy (with Heenan joining them on occasion). As was the case in AWA, the Hogan-Andre team almost always came out the winners.

The friendship of Hogan and Andre played a crucial factor in the events leading up to their 1987-1988 feud.

Build to WrestleMania III (1987)

Bobby Heenan (front), a Caucasian man in a black sequin jacket, leads André the Giant to the ring
Bobby Heenan (left) managed André (right) during his feud with Hogan (pictured March 1989)

After a leave of absence and a stint as competing as part of

Rick Steamboat
competed instead in André's place, with no official explanation given for André's absence. André did make an appearance at a televised show at Madison Square Garden, getting into the ring after Hogan had won a match; André simply picked up the WWF World Heavyweight Championship belt, looked at it, and gave it back to a bewildered Hogan before leaving ringside. Announcers Gorilla Monsoon and Gene Okerlund thought André's unannounced appearance was strange but didn't think anything more of it.

Things began happening on an edition of

WWF World Heavyweight Champion for three years; André came out to congratulate him,[10] but later Hogan remarked how André's handshake felt a little too firm. On the following week's Piper's Pit, André was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "the only undefeated wrestler in wrestling history." WWF billed him as having been undefeated for 15 years,[11] despite having lost several matches via countout and disqualification. Hogan came out to congratulate André but spoke mostly of himself, causing André to walk out in the midst of Hogan's speech.[12][13] A meeting between André and Hogan was scheduled to take place the next week on Piper's Pit (February 7, 1987).[14]

When André came out he was accompanied by Bobby Heenan. Heenan accused Hogan of being André's friend only so he would not have to defend the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against him. Hogan disputed this, but André challenged Hogan to a match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania III. Heenan, following Hogan's apparent disbelief, stated "You can't believe it, maybe you'll believe this, Hogan" followed by André ripping off Hogan's shirt and crucifix, with the crucifix causing Hogan's chest to bleed.[15]

On a “Piper’s Pit” segment aired a week later, Hogan reflected on his friendship with Andre and how he felt betrayed when he was now with Heenan. Piper asked Hogan point-blank whether he would face Andre at WrestleMania, to which Hogan responded with an emphatic “YES!” The friendship angle continued to be emphasized at a contract signing (aired several weeks later), where Hogan angrily accused Andre of betraying their friendship; Heenan pressed on with his claims that Hogan used their friendship to duck a title match, while Andre claimed he purposely held back on some of his teachings to Hogan before predicting victory.

During the March 14 (taped February 21) edition of

Saturday Night's Main Event X at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, both were participants in a 20-man Battle royal.[16] Although neither won, André stated he gained a psychological advantage over Hogan, due to eliminating him from the contest.[17] André also was billed as a corner man for several of Hogan's opponents, almost always members of the Heenan Family
, at a few untelevised house shows prior to WrestleMania III.

At WrestleMania III, André's was billed at 525 lb (238 kg),

El Canek and Stan Hansen, among others.[22][23]

Following the match, André took a leave of absence while Hogan concentrated on title defenses against Race, Hercules, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, the One Man Gang and Killer Khan, among others.

Feud continued (1987–1988)

In May 1987, on Saturday Night's Main Event XI, Heenan and Andre gave an interview with Gene Okerlund. During the interview Heenan and Andre claimed – by virtue of a bodyslam attempt by Hogan about a minute into the match, wherein Andre fell on top and (by Heenan's claim) the referee completed the three count – they were cheated by the referee and that Andre was the rightful champion and still undefeated. Heenan demanded an investigation and a subsequent rematch if the WWF wouldn't strip Hogan of the championship.

At the inaugural Survivor Series event André and Hogan were named as captains of their respective teams. After earlier confronting each other in the ring early in the match, the two finally met midway through the match, battling for approximately one minute with Hogan dominating André; however, just as Hogan was about to knock André from the ring, heel wrestlers King Kong Bundy and the One Man Gang interfered from outside the ring and caused Hogan to be counted out. André went on to be the sole survivor of the match, pinning Bam Bam Bigelow.[24] After the match Hogan returned to the ring and attacked André, knocking him out of the ring.

Hogan defended his title against Bundy on

Saturday Night's Main Event XIII
. Andre was in Bundy's corner and interfered in the match. The referee stopped the match and ejected Andre from ringside. Andre was irate but obliged with the request in order to prevent Bundy from being disqualified. Bundy would go on to win the match via a count-out and demanded a rematch with Andre in his corner.

After Hogan won a rematch against Bundy on

Hacksaw Jim Duggan broke a 2x4 over André's back (which Andre no-sold) that gave the faces the opening they needed to pull Hogan to safety.[25][26]

In the meantime, Hogan was busy defending his title against

The Main Event I, which aired live on February 5, 1988, on NBC. An in-ring contract signing was staged at the first Royal Rumble, aired January 24, 1988, where DiBiase promoted André to "give your stamp of approval" by grabbing Hogan, slamming his head into the table and then tipping the table on top of him before leaving the ring. The next evening, at a televised house show at Madison Square Garden, André was the cornerman for DiBiase and his bodyguard, Virgil, in the latter two wrestlers' tag-team match against Hogan and Bam Bam Bigelow
; despite multiple times where André interfered, Hogan and Bigelow rallied for the win.

Hogan vs. Andre II (The Main Event)

At The Main Event, André won the match and WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Hogan, even though Hogan's shoulders were not on the mat during the entire three-count; the referee was distracted by Virgil during Hogan's pinfall attempt of André immediately before, setting up the finish. Immediately after winning, whilst still inside the ring and interviewed by Gene Okerlund, André publicly contractually surrendered the title to DiBiase, however the transaction was subsequently declared invalid by then-WWF president Jack Tunney and the title was declared vacant.[28] The broadcast was seen by 33 million people.[29]

(Following the match it was revealed that appointed referee Dave Hebner was "detained backstage", and Hogan during his post match interview accused DiBiase of paying someone to get plastic surgery to look like Dave. It was revealed to have been Dave's twin brother, Earl Hebner.[30])

Hogan vs. Andre III (WrestleMania IV)

A 14-wrestler tournament was set up WrestleMania IV, for the winner to claim the vacant WWF World Championship; as part of the tournament, Hogan and André were given first-round byes and would automatically wrestle in the quarter-finals. In the meantime, Hogan and André battled on opposing sides of tag-team matchups, Hogan often paired with either Bigelow or Hacksaw Jim Duggan and André with DiBiase, with Hogan's team always victorious.

At WrestleMania, André and Hogan fought to a double disqualification in a WWF title tournament match.[31] In the end, Hogan's friend "Macho Man" Randy Savage won the title, defeating DiBiase in the finals. The Hogan-André feud then simmered when Hogan took a leave of absence during the spring and early summer of 1988 (to film the movie No Holds Barred) while André feuded with Duggan.

Wind down of feud

Interest in a possible resumption of the feud came in the summer of 1988 when Savage began issuing an open challenge for the WWF World Championship, leading to a two-on-one attack by André and DiBiase. Savage recovered and the next week declared he and Hogan would face André and DiBiase at the inaugural SummerSlam pay-per-view held at Madison Square Garden.

Hulk Hogan pictured in March 7, 1989 at the El Paso Civic Center for a WWF "Superstars of Wrestling" event. (He would fight Big Boss Man this night while André the Giant faced Jake "The Snake" Roberts.)

André and Hogan fought in a steel cage match held at WrestleFest on July 31, 1988, in Milwaukee, which Hogan won (after knocking André from the cage and causing him to be tied in the ring ropes).

The Twin Towers
).

Andre and Hogan met one more time in their careers, that coming in March 1990, shortly before

The Colossal Connection); the Colossal Connection were tag team champions but this was a non-title match.[34]

Kayfabe

In real life, Andre and Hogan were friends.[35] A picture even exists of Andre attending Hogan's wedding to his first wife, Linda.[36]

Notes

  1. ^ The Hogan-André rivalry has been cited as one of the greatest of all time by WWE,[1] Sportsnet,[2] GameSpot,[3] Slam! Sports,[4] and The Outline.[5]

References

  1. ^ Melok, Bobby (April 5, 2019). "WrestleMania's 10 greatest rivalries". WWE. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  2. ^ Joyce, Gare (July 1, 2016). "Greatest sports rivalries: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant". Sportsnet. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  3. ^ Cartelli, Lance (February 22, 2017). "The 21 Most Legendary WWE Rivalries Of All Time, Ranked". GameSpot. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  4. ^ "Andre the Giant Obituary". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on May 7, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2019. His match against Hogan at WrestleMania III was probably the highest peak that wrestling ever hit in North America.
  5. ^ Gordon, Jeremy (April 11, 2018). "HBO's 'André the Giant' documentary has one giant distraction". The Outline. Hogan is featured liberally in the documentary, talking about his personal relationship with Andre, his reputation around the industry, and most crucially, their iconic match at Wrestlemania III.
  6. ^ "1977-1983".
  7. ^ "1980". thehistoryofwwe.com. 16 January 2023.
  8. ISBN 978-1-4928-2597-5
    .
  9. ^ a b Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology (DVD). WWE. 2006.
  10. ^ Krugman (2009), pp. 132–133.
  11. ^ McAvennie, Mike (March 30, 2007). "The Big One". WWE. Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  12. ^ Krugman (2009), pp. 134–135.
  13. ^ "WWF @ East Rutherford, NJ – Meadowlands – January 5, 1987". The History of WWE. Archived from the original on May 10, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
  14. ^ "WWF @ Tampa, FL – SunDome – January 26, 1987". The History of WWE. Archived from the original on May 10, 2011. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  15. ^ Krugman (2009), pp. 136–139.
  16. ISBN 978-1-4928-2597-5
    .
  17. ^ WWE (July 8, 2013). Battle Royal with Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant – via YouTube.
  18. ^ "Wrestlemania III". VHSCollector.com. June 16, 2019. Archived from the original on November 21, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  19. A&E Network
    .
  20. ^ Assael & Mooneyham (2002), pp. 71–72.
  21. ^ "WrestleMania III – André the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan – WWE Championship". WWE. Archived from the original on January 16, 2006. Retrieved February 15, 2011. It was billed as the biggest main event in the history of sports entertainment: Hollywood Hogan vs. André the Giant. Hogan, in his third year as WWE Champion, was set for the biggest challenge of his life in the form of the 7-foot-4, 520-pound Roussimoff, who betrayed his former best friend in exchange for his long-awaited shot at the championship.
  22. ^ Krugman (2009), p. 157.
  23. ISBN 978-1-58261-818-0
    .
  24. ^ "Survivor Series 1987 – Main Event". WWE. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  25. ^ "Saturday Night Main Event – Jan. 2, 1988". WWE. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  26. ISBN 978-1492825975
    .
  27. ^ Krugman (2009), pp. 172–175.
  28. ^ "Andre the Giant's first reign". WWE. Archived from the original on June 24, 2005. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  29. ^ "The Main Event results – February 5, 1988". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on June 1, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
  30. ^ "A WWF Magazine Investigative Report: Dave Hebner's Shadow," WWF Magazine, June 1988, p. 30.
  31. ^ "WWE Title Tournaments". prowrestlinghistory.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  32. ^ Insell, Jared (March 5, 2006). "WWF Wrestlefest '88 Review". The History of WWE. Archived from the original on September 1, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  33. ^ "SummerSlam 1988 main event match details". WWE. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  34. ISBN 978-1493566891
    .
  35. ^ Maloney, Katie (January 31, 2021). "Hulk Hogan Says Andre the Giant Was Like a Brother in Moving New Post". Outsider.com. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  36. ^ "Hulk Hogan wedding photo". Strength Fighter. May 28, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2021.

Further reading

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