Hulk Hogan will have you believe he was the last man to wrestle Andre the Giant, when he slammed him to win the main event of Wrestlemania III.
He claimed that Andre died soon after the event (among a number of incredible lies by the WWE Hall of Famer), despite him wrestling for another 6 years before passing away in 1993.
In fact, Hogan wrestled Andre literally the next year at WrestleMania. Hogan vs Andre took place at WrestleMania IV, wrestling as part of the WWE Championship tournament to declare the new champion. The pair wrestled to a double-disqualification, meaning neither of them advanced to the final.
His 1987 loss to Hulk Hogan in the Wrestlemania main event wouldn’t the last match in his career. It wouldn’t even be Andre’s final match in the WWE, let alone in his travels across the North America.
Andre The Giant’s last match in North America was in Mexico on May 17, 1992, when he teamed with El Canek & Villano III in a victory against the trio of Black Scorpio, Buffalo Allen & Great Kokina.
While these names may sound unfamiliar, The Great Kokina would later compete in WWE as Yokozuna, winning the WWE Championship on two occasions, from Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan. This match was during Andre’s last UWA tour, a year before his death.
After this tour, he would travel to Japan for the last tour in his life. He went over to Japan to wrestle for All-Japan Pro Wrestling, the company heralded by the legendary Giant Baba and considered one of the biggest promotions in the country.
Due to his age, size and failing health, Andre the Giant competed mainly in six-man tag team matches, usually alongside Giant Baba and a third partner. His movement in-ring was limited and he could barely get up off the floor without assistance, so the matches themselves were nothing special to watch and were frankly a bit sad.
Andre the Giant’s last match saw him team with Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura defeat Haruka Eigen, Masanobu Fuchi & Motoshi Okuma on December 4th, 1992.
He barely appeared in the match at all, owing to the poor health he was suffering with due to his immense size. Andre tagged in at the end to help his side win, hitting only a couple of pained-looking moves, as he winced with every movement.
Andre The Giant won the match by hitting his opponent with a poor-looking clothesline, in which he had to hold onto the ring ropes for balance due to his immense size. He then sat on his opponent, once again balancing on the ropes, to get the three count and end his last match with a victory.
Just one month later on Thursday 28 January 1993 in his hotel in Paris, France, Andre the Giant passed away from heart failure.
He was soon inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame, which was established after his death.This made him the sole inductee for many years, as it was not until 13-years later when the Hall of Fame became a yearly tradition in the WWE.
WWE later named a Wrestlemania Battle Royal in his honor, starting at WrestleMania 30. The first Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal was won by Cesaro, who last eliminated The Big Show (with a slam that emulated Hulk Hogan’s body slam on Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III), paying tribute to The Frenchman in the process.
Andre The Giant Has The Shortest WWE Championship Reign Of All Time
Andre The Giant has the unwanted record in the WWE of holding the WWE Championship for the shortest time possible.
It is easy to forget he held the title at all, even though it took place on the most-watched program in WWE history, with 33 million people tuning in to see the two top stars in the company battling it out for the biggest prize in sports.
Flanked by his then-manager “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, Andre The Giant took on Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship, weeks after he had turned heel for the first time in his career – much to Andre’s anger and fury backstage.
Click here to learn more about Andre The Giant’s record-setting WWE Championship reign.