10 Wrestling Firsts That Happened Earlier Than You Think
6. Andre's First Slam
That the Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant programme that drove WrestleMania III was laced with complete and utter bullsh*t doesn't even matter. It's such a classic, transformative wrestling storyline leading into the ultimate 'Mania moment, and inarguably among the most important bouts in company history, capping Vince McMahon's most ambitious show with Hogan's huge bodyslam and ultimate triumph.
If you believed the company, this was the first time anyway had ever slammed the Giant to the mat. As you can probably guess by now, though, it most certainly wasn't.
Andre had hit the deck countless times before WrestleMania III. Hogan had even pulled the feat off himself at least five times prior to the bout, and there are plenty of other documented examples stretching back to May 1972, when Strong Kobayashi took the big man down while working for Japan's International Wrestling Enterprise.
WrestleMania III's impact justifies WWE's decision to promote it as a first-timer, and to be fair to those who fell for it, nobody who wasn't playing close attention to the dirtsheets would've known any better. Still, it remains one of McMahon's greatest fibs.