Andre the Giant Page #8

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It made me

just as big in my mind.

I wanted to be him,

he was the guy.

On the surface,

this is earth-shattering.

Andr and Hogan are going

to have a match

after being buddies for so long

and they've

never fought before.

In reality, of course,

they had fought before.

Meltzer:

They'd only wrestled

all over the country.

They'd wrestled in Florida,

they wrestled in Georgia,

they'd wrestle in Alabama,

they'd wrestle

in the northeast.

And they would often

be a tag team.

And it was

a great attraction,

Andr the Giant

and Hulk Hogan tag team

against whoever the villains

were at the time.

I can't think

of a better partner,

a better person

that'll stand toe to toe

and fight with me

all the way

than the big boss

Andr the Giant.

For the purposes

of "WrestleMania III,"

none of that ever happened.

That was a hard and fast rule.

Anything that happened

before "WrestleMania III,"

forget about it.

The majority of the fans

that are new cable fans

have not seen these

two guys wrestle before.

Now, I'm sure that

Hogan and Andr

had wrestled sometimes

in the New York area,

but the world had not seen these

guys go against each other.

Wait, what's going on here?

Hold on, man.

What are you

doing with him?

Shoemaker:

Hogan and Andr

are both on "Piper's Pit,"

and Andr comes out

with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.

You're the reason I got

into professional wrestling,

you were like a God to me,

a role model!

You can't be here

with him, man.

Shoemaker:

Aligning yourself with

Bobby "The Brain" Heenan

is the most evil thing

a professional wrestler can do,

except maybe slapping

an old lady.

He's sick and tired of you

and what you stand for.

Shoemaker:

It's the first time

any wrestling fans

had seen Andr turn heel.

He had worked heel in Japan,

but again,

if it didn't happen

on American TV,

it doesn't count

for the WWF.

You're so jealous

of this man

you can't stand it!

This is the man for 15 years

that is undefeated.

But did you ever once--

No, man, you're wrong,

you're wrong!

The company told the story

so perfectly.

This was Cain and Abel.

Look at me when

I'm talking to you.

I'm here for one reason,

to challenge you for

the World Championship match

in "Wrestlemania."

( cheering )

Andr, please, no,

it's not happening.

I wanted to have it be

such an emotional moment.

I knew when Andr

ripped the shirt

if I could shed a tear,

that that would seal the deal.

We're friends, Andr, please.

Heenan:

You can't believe it?

Maybe you'll

believe this,

Hogan!

( cheering )

What are you doing, man?

I had Vicks VapoRub

on my finger,

and you could see me

as he's ripping the shirt,

I'm trying to stick it

in my eye,

but he's jerking me back

and forth...

I really didn't need it.

It was just so upsetting

that he did that

that I was

in the moment anyway.

What is he doin'?

You're bleeding.

- What's-- Andre...

- Come on.

Hogan:

We wanted a clear-cut

good and bad guy.

Andr became bitter

and jealous and evil.

The significance made

the fans go, "You know what?

We want Hulk Hogan to beat

this big, nasty giant now.

Now we're all

on Hulk Hogan's side."

Are you or are you not

gonna fight him

at "WrestleMania III"

for the World Heavyweight

Championship?

Yes or no?

Yes!

( cheering )

Announcer:

We are here for

the most auspicious signing

for any heavyweight title match

in history, as you all know.

Lawler:

It was monumental,

Because Andr had been

such a revered character

for so many years.

He was the kind of guy

that people could relate to

and felt that they knew

the real Andr

and that he was genuinely

a good guy.

All of a sudden we're gonna

create a new character,

totally different from anything

that people had ever seen,

and that's the bad guy

Andr the Giant.

You never once gave this man

an opportunity.

Now he's got

that opportunity.

Sign it

if you're gonna sign it!

In the fans' eyes,

they were shocked.

When you tore my shirt off, man,

when you tore the cross,

you tore the heart

and soul out of all

the little Hulksters, man.

Not just me.

Shoemaker:

For fans of my generation,

that wasn't just the first time

we'd seen Andr as a heel,

that was the first time

that we'd even thought about

morality on that level.

We can't possibly imagine

Hogan losing.

But we also can't imagine him

beating Andr the Giant.

You know, it's crazy,

but we would really talk

about these things

like you're talking

about Ali-Frazier.

Both are physical phenoms.

Andr stands at 7'4"

and weighs 525 pounds.

We were kids, but we were

breaking this down like

it was a real sporting contest,

even though on some level

we knew it was fake, right?

But it's just like,

"How could this possibly go?"

Hulk Hogan,

champion for over three years,

Andr the Giant,

undefeated for 15 years.

It promises to be

the greatest title bout

in wrestling history.

Hulk Hogan versus

Andr the Giant

in "WrestleMania III."

Sunday afternoon,

March the 29th.

Andr was in dire straits

when it came to his health.

He had had the back surgery,

and he was walking around

on a cane.

And I said to myself,

"That's gonna be your main event

for "WrestleMania III?"

How are these two guys

gonna pull this off?"

Andr didn't let Hogan

know a whole lot

about what he could

or couldn't do in the ring.

And I think that kind

of weighed on Hulk Hogan

in the back of his mind

for a match of that magnitude.

It bothered him.

Hogan was really concerned

that Andr wasn't gonna,

quote, "Put him over."

And Andr did not want

Hogan to know.

Terry had so much respect,

again, for Andr,

he just wouldn't

come up to Andr and say,

"Are you gonna put me over?"

You know?

He wouldn't do that because

that would be disrespectful.

So it was always

this bit of doubt.

And Hogan kept coming to me,

"Are you sure the boss

is gonna put me over?"

"No problem."

"Are you sure?"

"No, he's gonna do it, Terry."

He was nervous.

Because Andr kept playing

to him:

( imitates Andr )

"I'm gonna do what

I wanna do."

And Hogan would hear that,

"What the f***?"

I kept asking Vince, "What are

we gonna do for a finish?"

He goes,

"Hey, don't worry about it,

I'm gonna talk with Andr."

Finally we're

in Detroit, okay?

The night before

"WrestleMania."

He goes, "Well, what do

you picture the match as?"

I said, "Give me

your yellow legal pad."

So I get Vince's legal pad

and I go, "Okay, walk

to the center of the ring,

start arguing,

I'll start shaking my head.

Andr throws a punch,

I block it,

hit him one punch,

two punch,

I go to the slam,

he falls on top of me,

one-two, almost pins

right out of the chute.

Picks me up, slam me again,

step on my back"--

I wrote it all down.

Wrote the hole match

from top to finish,

and then I left

the finish open.

Gave Vince the legal pad,

Vince goes

to talk to Andr.

Andr loved to bust balls,

and, you know,

he was busting Hogan's,

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