Hulk Hogan reveals shocking André The Giant ‘drinking binge’ in hours leading up to ‘Greatest WWE Match Ever’

HULK Hogan has revealed how André The Giant sunk two bottles of Crown Royal whiskey before his infamous Wrestlemania III match.

Hogan revealed that André, who weighed over 500 pounds, went on a 10-hour drinking spree in 1987 before the main event on live television, which has since been hailed as the greatest WWE match of all time.

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And the French icon, who also starred in The Princess Bride, tried to get Hulk drunk by handing him shots of the whiskey, Hogan says.

Hogan has spoken openly about the stress and concern for André, who has been struggling with multiple back and health issues, as he would not prepare or plan any moves for her iconic Screen Grapple.

Incredibly irritated, André yelled at the Hulksters just before they collided when he suggested a body slam – and thus the infamous War of the Ring ended.

Hogan, 69, bursts into tears as he recalls his legendary rumbles with mentor André in the upcoming second season of WWE Rivals’ A&E.

In an exclusive preview from The US Sun, the emotional Hulk recalled his concerns for French fighter friend André Roussimoff ahead of their legendary WWE title match at Detroit’s The Superdome in front of 90,000 fans.

‘TWO BOTTLES DEEP’

Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, revealed: “In the dressing room, André wanted me to sit next to him, and if you’re sitting next to a giant drinking two bottles of Crown Royal for ten hours while you’re sitting there. And he keeps giving you shots.

“It’s really hard to drop them while he’s watching you because there’s no way I could have drunk what he gave me to drink and walked in the ring. That would never happen.

“So every time he wasn’t looking, I dropped that sucker.”

The seven-foot-five-inch-tall André had declined to discuss how the pair would plan their moves ahead of the WWE Heavyweight Championship fight.

90 minutes before the showdown, Hogan revealed he had asked André, “What do you want to do out there?”

André shot back: “Don’t worry.”

Hogan then asked, “Hey André, what do you think, am I going up or going down?” (He said) ‘Don’t worry.’

Hulk added, “I said, ‘How’s your back?’ … “My back is good” and he had a few bottles of Crown Royal in him.

“What do you think about a body slam? He says ‘no’.

“‘Okay, I’m not worried.'”

Hogan admitted, “For the very first time in my career, I walked into the ring not knowing who was going to win or who was going to lose.”

Hogan feared early on in the fight it was going to be “terrible.”

“As soon as the game started I wanted to try to pick him up, but when I wanted to do what I had to do, he couldn’t help me.

“I knew then that it could be a problem.”

However, as the fight continued, André changed his mind at the last moment: “I remember he came up to me and he slammed.

“I didn’t know what to do other than get inside him.”

The fight ended with Hogan lifting André up and slamming his back onto the canvas before pinning a leg to his chest to secure the win.

The icon describes how André risked his well-being to perform in their big fight.

“It was a damn request 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 what kind of pain he was in. We worried about him. “

THE BOLD DECISION BY ANDRÉ

He remains grateful for André’s decision to give up his undefeated record at Wrestlemania, saying, “It was unlike anything that has ever happened.

“He didn’t have to do that. He could have finished off André and gone undefeated.

“The greatest moment of my career has to have been without a doubt that Wrestlemania, it was the right time, the right people, the right place. It was just perfect.”

The tearful Hogan remains upset that 46-year-old André, who suffered from a pituitary disease that led to an overproduction of growth hormone, died of congestive heart failure in 1993.

Hogan, who retired from wrestling in 2012, says André was responsible for WWE becoming a multi-billion dollar entertainment company.

“He is the biggest and greatest superstar this business has ever known and will ever know.

“He laid the foundation for Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and everyone who walks through those doors of the WWE Universe.

“Without André it wouldn’t have happened.”

MENTORED BY THE GIANT

Hogan also owes his ring talent and career to André, to whom he lost many times in the 1980s prior to the Wrestlemania III showdown.

His runaway ego was crushed by “the greatest man I’ve ever seen” and then molded into a talented grappler.

“I was conceited, scared of him,” Hogan said.

“I went delusional. I thought I could hit him. He beat me to death.”

“I finally understood that he was trying to help me because he saw something in me that nobody else saw.

“I think André pretty much made me point in the right direction when I could have started in the wrong direction a couple of times.”

On Sunday, February 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT, WWE returns on A&E with Season 3 of Biography: WWE Legends, followed by Season 2 of WWE Rivals.

The series continues the ongoing programming partnership between A&E and WWE and provides an intimate look into the lives and careers of some of WWE’s most legendary Legends.

Bio: WWE Legends begins 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 like Hulk Hogan vs. André The Giant . Undertaker vs Mankind and The Rock vs John Cena.

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