The Main Event. February 5th, 1988.
The single most-watched wrestling match in North American history, as witnessed by 33 million people. No other wrestling program before or even since has come close to matching that number. And what was the big draw that drew that massive audience?
Well, it was the long-awaited rematch between Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. The sequel to the main event of Wrestlemania III, the event that arguably put the WWF on the map. 33 million people got to watch these two titans go at it once more. 33 million people got to see history made, when Andre The Giant pinned Hulk Hogan to win his first (and only) World championship.
Of course, the win was not without controversy. Andre scored the pin, but the referee – supposedly Dave Hebner – had fast-counted Hogan. Hogan had cried foul – like he usually did when things didn’t go his way – but this time with just cause. He had been screwed out of the title and to make matters worse, the man who had “beaten” him for the title would not even be champion for long, as he immediately declared his intention to surrender the “World World Tag-Team Championship” (his words, not mine) to the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, who was Andre’s manager at the time.
Eventually, the real Dave Hebner showed up and confronted the evil twin. Hogan stared at both bickering Hebners before beating the shit out of both of them. A measure of revenge, sure, but it did little to change the fact that he was no longer the World Wrestling Federation champion. His four year reign as champion had come to a close.
Of course, it would be ruled that the title change was non-valid and thus a tournament would be established at Wrestlemania IV to crown a new undisputed champion… but that’s another story for another time.
dtm666 