12 Richest WWE Matches Of All Time

4. Hulk Hogan Vs. Andre The Giant (The Main Event, 5 February 1988)

Donald Trump Stone Cold Steve Austin Vince McMahon Bobby Lashley
AP Photo/Richard Drew

Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant weren't strangers to having absolutely f*cking massive matches (more on that later), but it could be argued that there will never be one bigger than their shocking WWE Title trade from February 1988's NBC 'Main Event' special.

In front of a television audience larger than the populations of 82% of the world's countries, 'The Hulkster's four year reign was terminated in heinous and corrupt fashion by his giant foe, Ted Dibiase and an 'evil twin' referee.

33 million people saw the WrestleMania 3 rematch as a joint promotion of the company and network, giving WWE hope that a similar figure would inflate the WrestleMania 4 pay-per-view buyrate after the confirmation of a tournament to clear up the title mess was announced.

It wasn't to be. Fighting back after WWE counter-programmed Starrcade '87 with the Survivor Series the prior November, NWA/WCW responded with their first ever Clash Of The Champions telecast, demolishing McMahon's pay-per-view audience as he aimed to anoint Randy Savage as WWE Champion to cover Hulk Hogan's planned 'No Holds Barred' absence.

33 million people, though. Never before and surely never again will such an audience circle a single match.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett