Hulk Hogan: 5 Awesome Matches And 5 That Sucked

3. Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant €“ WrestleMania III

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwbaywz8QO0 David vs. Goliath The capacity attendance for WrestleMania III is still the highest that the company has ever seen. 93,173 people witnessed in person a match that still arguably holds the position of being the biggest of all time, between Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant. As the Pontiac Silverdome gradually faded from the daylight of Aretha Franklin's stirring rendition of America the Beautiful, into regal, judging darkness, the stage was set for one of the most epic showdowns in the company's history. Andre stomped into the stadium like a miniature Godzilla, to an overwhelming tidal wave of boos, amplified even more so by his signature lack of entrance music or bombastic fanfare. Hogan's entrance was the opposite, as Gorilla Monsoon rightly put, 'the roof of the Silverdome was about to explode'. The stare down that followed was another one for the ages. The match itself was a slow, plodding affair; such was the nature of Andre The Giant's limited ring style. However, the lack of movement was more than expertly concealed by the storyline of the match, which portrayed the ultimate David vs. Goliath tale. Andre was on top for the majority, whipping Hogan around like he was a piece of rotting meat, slamming him with gusto and standing on him with 500+ pounds of beer fed body weight. From time to time, Hogan discovered ways to escape, but the giant found more than one way to knock Hulkamania back down onto its backside. After a lengthy bearhug (as is typical of Hogan's matches) followed by a string of unsuccessful shoulder blocks on The Hulkster's part €“ a literal representation of the unstoppable force versus the immovable object €“ the match spilled out of the ring and then quickly back in it again. One of Hogan's shoulder blocks was finally effective and the crowd exploded when the giant was toppled. This was followed by the defining moment of Hogan's entire career, as he hoisted Andre into the air - in the style of Superman €“ slammed him to the mat and executed an atomic leg drop for the three count. Once again, it wasn't necessarily a great match, but it did provide at least two everlasting visuals that perpetually resonated years into the future of professional wrestling. That's definitely an accomplishment.