[1980-08-09-WWF-Showdown at Shea] Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant

[Loss]

Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant
WWF Showdown at Shea
August 9, 1980

Availability

WWF Showdown at Shea
WWE Hulk Still Rules DVD

Watch

Preview on WWE.com

[paul sosnowski]

Hulk Hogan comes out to the ring wearing his famous collector's item gold cape, that Matt Morgan once stole from him in TNA. He is accompanied by Classy Freddie Blassie,who is also wearing shiny gold attire. Vince McMahon (Jr) is your ring announcer!!! Hogan and Andre both have a lot of hair! This is not their first meeting, they have had others in the past and there will be many more in the future. They wrestled two weeks ago in Philadelphia, and last week on August 2nd for Bill Watts's Mid-South at the Superdome in New Orleans. They will face each other again for International Wrestling in Montreal on August 25th.

 

The two mighty behemoths start with a mighty mean guy staredown, much better than the one at WMIII. They lockup, Andre immediately shoves Hogan back into the corner. Hogan comes back, grabs a side headlock, Andre whips him into the ropes for a shoulder block, but neither man moves or is knocked down. Now Andre takes the headlock, shoulder block for the same result. Andre grabs both of Hogan's arms and pulls them behind him, then headbutts Hogan twice in the upper back. Then he lifts up his leg and drives his foot into Hogan's back. Hogan attempts to reverse it with a test of strength, but Andre holds on. Hogan backs Andre into the corner and nails him with a shot to the chest, Andre retaliates with a big chop. Andre charges at Hogan in the other corner, and hits another huge headbutt, Hogan follows up with a bearhug on the Giant. Andre finally breaks free with another big headbutt. Hogan rolls to the outside to consult with Freddie Blassie. Hogan climbs the steps to get back in the ring, but Andre picks him up for a suplex. Andre misses a big splash!!!

 

Hogan kicks Andre, elbowsmashes his back and nails him with three big punches to the head, but Andre grabs Hogan's arm into a hammerlock. Hogan actually tries to pick up Andre with one arm for a slam. Instead, Andre scoops Hogan and bodyslams him, but the referee gets kicked in the head and goes down. Andre goes to check on the ref, Hogan charges at him with a running knee to the back, kicks Andre in the gut and slams the Giant for a pinfall attempt, but still no referee. Andre gets up, slams Hogan and suddenly there is a second referee in the ring. Andre hits a big splash and the ref counts one of the fastest three counts I have ever seen for the victory and the pinfall at 7:44.

 

Seriously, Hogan kicked out at like one and a half. Freddie Blassie is pissed and jumps up on the apron, he meets Hogan in the corner and hands him a foreign object, Hogan loads up his elbow pad and goes after the Giant again. Hogan drives a double sledge fist into Andre's back, and whips him to the ropes and hits the AXE BOMBER, with a loaded elbow. Andre is busted open and bleeding heavily as Hogan and Blassie retreat to the dressing room. 2 and 3/4 ***

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[SAMS]

1980-08-09
WWF - Showdown at Shea
Andre the Giant vs Hulk Hogan
Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York, USA
Card
★★

Now this was something that projected better within the large space that was Shea Stadium. In the end we had a ref bump, Hogan slamming Andre (7 years prior to WMIII), then Andre getting the win with a slam of his own, followed by a splash and a second referee came flying out of nowhere to count three, even though it seemed like Hogan kicked out at 2 and a half.
The footage I watched had Michael Cole and Mick Foley commentating over the archive footage and it would be an understatement to say that it was a little distracting. I thought the match highlighted some of Hogan’s flaws at this time, as he too often resorted to rest holds like a bear hug instead of doing something interesting. But I did think that this was a pretty excellent performance once again from Andre. He’s shown multiple times this year already that he can make what he does look big and look threatening. When he lays the hammer, even on a guy Hogan’s size, it has weight, both physical and metaphorical. I don’t really like his splash, especially when he misses as he always lands on his knees to break the fall, but moves like his headbutt to his opponent’s back really hit the mark for me.