Andre did not like Hulk Hogan when they first met and, in fact, Hogan once said Andre beat him up for the first eight years until he smartened and began to respect the business, thus earning Andre's respect and forged a friendship until Andre's death.

"I sat in the dressing room with Andre for like eight hours, watched him drank two-fifths of Jack Daniels, watched him do a bunch of other stuff for the pain in his back," Hogan recollected of the day of WrestleMania 3. "I said, 'Boss, hey, what are we gonna do out there?' (Andre) 'Don't worry.' 'Hey, boss, what do you think, can I try to slam you?' (Andre) 'No.' And I'm like, 'Oh hell, I'm going to get killed.'"

Hogan revealed what Andre did for him in the ring.

"All of sudden he went, 'Slam.' I went, 'What?' And he screamed at me again, 'Slam.' And he just — when he came at me I just gut him, and I got him up to here and I had him here. I went, 'Oh my god,' I don't think, and then I just said 'to hell with it,' and when I turned him my back tore, my biceps tore in both places, and I slammed him, and dropped the leg thinking he was gonna kick out but he didn't. And I went, 'Oh my god, that big son of a b****,' he just put a rocket launcher on me."

Hogan was already a household name going into WrestleMania 3 in Pontiac, Michigan, but body slamming and scoring the win over Andre solidified him as a worldwide phenomenon.