Hulk Hogan has set the record straight on one of his most iconic matches.
Hogan’s slam on Andre The Giant at WrestleMania 3 remains one of the most famous spots in all of professional wrestling. So much so that the slam is replayed at the start of every WWE broadcast today in the opening Then, Now Forever, Together video package. Billed at 520 lbs, The Giant very much lived up to his name and was an imposing force in the ring, making Hogan’s slam impressive enough. However, according to Hogan, the feat of strength was even greater as his opponent was much heavier than his billed weight.
Speaking with Santi Zap, Hogan stated that Andre The Giant’s weight was closer to 700 lbs than it was to 500:
Well, first off, you’re wrong about one thing, okay, that night he weighed 660 [pounds]. If you watch Andre’s career, sometimes they would say 500 pounds. He was never 500 pounds. He was always 550. That’s the lightest he ever was. And sometimes when he ate and drank too much, you’d see his belly swell up like a balloon and everything else kind of swelled up. So he got really heavy when his health wasn’t that great. And he was coming off a huge back surgery.
So that night, actually in ’88. it was over 30 years ago, 33, 34, 35 years ago, I was a lot younger back then. And I was actually training with heavyweights and I didn’t think I could slam him at Mania three again.
Continuing to recount the memorable match, the Hall of Famer described how he nearly lost the match early on but would get his strength back later on:
About 30 seconds into the match I went to yoke him up and I got him chest high that position you’re talking about, I fell back and almost lost the match in the first 30 seconds. He got like a two-and-a-half count. But as he got tired and I started feeling better, the longer the match goes, it’s almost like the more energy I would get from the people and start shaking and go crazy. I found the perfect spot where he was kind of off balance, he was kind of floating towards me.
I happened to get underneath him and when I got to that position again that you were talking about I just said to heck with it and I turned him and he went down. It was a one-time deal brother, never again. I didn’t think I could do it but when you’re in front of 94,000 Hulkamaniacs, you know, you got to do what you got to do, brother.
Hulk Hogan Discusses Scrapped Retirement Match
Having his final WWE match in 2006, Hogan never had an official retirement match in the company before making the decision to never wrestle again for health reasons. However, in an interview earlier in the year, Hulk Hogan stated that there were plans for a retirement match against John Cena.
If you use any quotes from this article please credit Santi Zap and leave a h/t to Inside The Ropes.