Hulk Hogan reveals André The Giant’s shock ‘drinking spree’ in the hours before the ‘greatest WWE match of all time’
HULK Hogan has revealed how André The Giant sank two flasks of Crown Royal whiskey before his infamous Wrestlemania III fight.
Hogan said that André, who weighed over 500 pounds, went on a ten-hour drinking spree before the main event on live TV in 1987, which is since viewed as the greatest WWE match of all time.
And the French icon, who also starred in The Princess Bride movie, tried to get Hulk drunk too - by handing him shots of the whiskey, Hogan says.
Hogan has opened up about his stress and concern over André, who was dealing with several back and health issues, as he wouldn't prepare or plan any moves for their upcoming iconic screen grapple.
Incredibly irritable André shouted at the Hulkster moments before their clash when he suggested a body slam - which is how the infamous ring war ended.
Hogan, 69, breaks down in tears as he recalls his iconic rumbles with mentor André in A&E's upcoming season two of WWE Rivals.
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In an exclusive preview seen by The U.S. Sun, emotional Hulk recalled his worries for French fighter friend André Roussimoff before their iconic WWE title clash at The Superdome in Detroit in front of 90,000 fans.
'TWO FLASKS DEEP'
Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, said: "In the dressing room André wanted me to sit next to him, and when you sit next to a giant for ten hours that drinks two flasks of Crown Royal as you're sitting there, and he keeps handing you shots...
"It is real hard to dump them while he is watching you, because there is no way I could have drank what he gave me to drink and walked into the ring. It would never happen.
"So every time he wasn't looking I would dump that sucker."
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Seven feet, five inch tall André had refused to discuss how the pair would map out their moves in the run-up to the WWE Heavyweight championship fight.
So, 90 minutes before the showdown, Hogan asked André: "What do you want to do out there?"
André fired back: "Don't worry."
Hogan then asked: "Hey André, what do you think, I go up or go down?' (He said) 'Don't Worry.'"
Hulk added: "I asked: 'How is your back?' ... 'My back is good' and he has had a couple of flasks of Crown Royal in him.
"What do you think about a body slam? He goes 'no'.
"OK, I won't worry."
Hogan admitted: "For the first time ever in my career I went to the ring and did not know who was going to win or lose."
Hogan worried early on in the fight that it would be "awful."
"Right when the match started, I was going to try to pick him up, but when I went to do what I needed to do, he couldn't help me.
"I knew then this could be a problem."
However as the fight moved on, André changed his mind at the last moment: "I remember him coming up at me and he goes 'slam.'
"I didn't know what to do, except step into him.'"
The fight ended with Hogan lifting up André, slamming him onto his back on the canvas, before delivering a leg to his chest to secure the win.
The icon detailed how André put his well-being at risk to appear at their great fight.
"It was a heck of an ask to ask André to do what he did. He was in a lot of pain. Now that I've had ten back surgeries I know the type of pain he was in. We were worried about him."
ANDRÉ'S BOLD DECISION
Hogan remains grateful for André's decision to give up his unbeaten record at Wrestlemania, saying: "It was different to anything that has ever happened.
"He didn't have to do that. He could have done André and retired undefeated.
"The greatest moment, as far as my career, has to be that Wrestlemania without a doubt. It was the right time, right people, right place. It was just perfect."
Tearful Hogan remains upset that 46-year-old André, who suffered a pituitary gland disorder resulting in the overproduction of growth hormones, died of congestive heart failure in 1993.
Hogan, who retired from Wrestling in 2012, says that André was responsible for WWE becoming a billion-dollar entertainment business.
"He is the biggest and greatest superstar this business has known and will ever know.
"He laid the groundwork for Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and anybody that walks through these doors of the WWE Universe.
"It would not have happened if it were not for André."
MENTORED BY THE GIANT
Hogan too owes his ring talent and career to André, who he lost to many times in the 1980s before their Wrestlemania III showdown.
His out-of-control ego was squashed by the "biggest man I had ever seen" who then crafted him into a talented grappler.
"I was full of myself, afraid of him," Hogan said.
"I became delusional. I thought I could beat him. He beat the crap out of me."
"I finally understood he was trying to help me because he saw something in me, that nobody else saw.
"I think André pretty much kept me pointing in the right direction when I could have taken off the wrong way a bunch of times."
On Sunday, February 19 at 8pm ET/PT, WWE on A&E returns with season three of Biography: WWE Legends followed by season 2 of WWE Rivals.
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The series continues A&E and WWE's ongoing programming partnership giving an intimate look into the lives and careers of some of WWE's most iconic legends.
Biography: WWE Legends begins with exploring the stories of NWO, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and Chyna, while WWE Rivals hosted by actor and former WWE writer, Freddie Prinze Jr, will discuss infamous matchups including Hulk Hogan vs. André The Giant, Undertaker vs. Mankind, and The Rock vs. John Cena.
