2. Hulk Hogan Beats Andre The Giant WrestleMania 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MspydgUyDms There are a lot of matches from the 1980s that garnered great crowd reactions and gave us memories to last a lifetime, but nothing can top Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant at WrestleMania 3. The elements were perfect for it. It was in front of a reported 93,000 fans (WWE tends to lie about attendance, mind you) in the Silverdome in Detroit. Hogan was the WWE Champion that had held it for a couple of years by this point as he beat all challengers put in his path. Then there was Andre The Giant, who they say hadn't lost a match for 15 years. True? Who knows, but if you say it enough in wrestling the people will believe it. With Andre now a villain thanks to an alliance with his manager Bobby Heenan, the atmosphere for this showdown was incredible. The fans didn't shut up. You couldn't hear anything because it was so loud in there. It's not like it was an exciting. Andre could barely move and Hogan wasn't known for working against opponents bigger than him. To their credit, they gave it their all. When Hogan knocked Andre off his feet the crowd went wild. It took him about 10 minutes for that to happen. Then the body slam seen and heard around the world. Seriously, they must have replayed that slam more than any wrestling highlight in history. Hogan finished it off with the leg drop and retained the WWE Title. "Unbelievable. I never thought it could be done." - Jesse Ventura on commentary. They booked Andre like such an unbeatable monster that nobody believed he could lose, but Hogan did it and that made him an even bigger star than he already was. It's one of the most memorable matches in wrestling history and the crowd played a big part of it too.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.