Fact or Fiction: WWE's Future, Mark Henry, Triple H worse then Ole Anderson?
Submitted by Phantom Lord on Friday, August 29, 2003 at 10:24 PM EST



Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends as we bring you another fun and controversy filled edition of Wrestling’s Fact or Fiction. Once again joining you as always, I am Phantom Lord and with me is Da Ref and as your third commentator this week we brought in a very deserving person. Please welcome long time LOP Poster Dumass. Here is a brief introduction from the man himself.

Wow. It took me 19 years of watching, 12 years of wrestling, 8 years of complaining, 3 years of column writing, and me yelling at Scott Keith for one of his (In my opinion) bad reviews to finally get onto a major outlet of wrestling media. Ok, I know that sentence was filled with a lot of words, but you have to admit, I finally got here. Let's see, something about myself. I've been watching wrestling for all of my life (I have pictures of me as a 1-year-old watching Ric Flair do a 'Flair Flop' and me imitating it) and I became an actual (meaning I went to school for it) wrestler in 1991. I worked the Indies as a garbage wrestler and became a hit as one. When I decided that garbage wrestling was not working out as well as I'd like, I changed to a scientific wrestler and learned to cut a promo and became an even better piece of talent. I had to retire from wrestling for a bit in 2000 because all the injuries I sustained back in my early days were catching up with me. I started writing a wrestling column called 'The People's Voice' while I was out of wrestling. I passed it to any and all wrestling message boards I could find; and because of it, I grew a large underground fan following. I wrote my final column this last July. It reeked of controversy as I was expressing my hate and anger towards different groups of wrestling fans, wrestlers, the WWE, and Vince McMahon himself. I was bold enough to email it to a lot of the talent in different federations (including Bret 'Hitman' Hart) and was praised by the majority of the said talent for being completely honest. I'm running a promotion now and we're red hot in terms of fanbase and such, which is good. Umm....that's about it. I'd like to give the shoutouts to the following people/groups: All Pro Wrestling (AmDrag, you and me in a submission match...NOW), my boy Lyger, Miranda, Jenin, the guys at FanboyExtreme, the TWH crew, Sunny, and most importantly I'd like to say thank you to and RIP to Freddie Blassie (my dad forgave you for hitting him with a chair at that show back in '79).

Well that sets the tone for today’s edition of Fact or Fiction. On to the First Question

Fact or Fiction: After the events of the RAW World title elimination chamber match and on RAW, it’s safe to say that the WWE will be dead in 3 years time

Da Ref: I'll lean more towards FICTION on this one. It's an absolute nightmare what Vince has been doing with the company. Like what Dumass said, he gave the Intercontinental Title to a guy that has been more over as a tag team wrestler than a guy who has been hugely over as singles wrestler as of late. Meanwhile, he's kept a major title on a guy that has not exactly been a major draw for the company and the reason why there hasn't been anyone that has seemed like a legitimate contender is because the company hasn't built anyone up for that position. With that said, I still don't think WWE will go belly up. Their revenue doesn't just come from the house shows, the PPV's, and TV. Remember that they also have control of all of their merchandising including DVD's and VHS cassettes. Then, there's the fact that Vince gets a nice chunk of change if one of his wrestlers is signed to do a movie and I believe that also includes other endeavors. If anything, I think that the brand extension sill be dead in 3 years.

Phantom: Considering the fact that the elimination chamber match was made just so Triple H could have a 30 minute match despite only doing around 45 second worth of work, the fact that Vince McMahon is pushing himself and his family ahead of everyone else, and the most alarming fact that an upcoming WWE house show here in New York @ Madison Square Garden sold less then 2,000 tickets on its first day for sale, I can say FACT on this one. RAW has become a joke of a show. This week's past show was proof of that. Unless drastic changes are made, I can see Viacom not wanting to re-sign them when they’re contract with the WWE is up. Some of you will say I’m being over dramatic. Well I’m not. WCW was making the same exact mistakes the WWE is right now and once RAW is cancelled, the WWE will fall. Ratings might be strong, but after a while even Spike TV will say shape up or we are going to cancel the show.

Dumass: I'd like to give Vince the benefit of the doubt, but then he took the IC title away from the incredibly over Booker T to give to the "Where's Edge to get me over with the crowd" winner himself, Christian and not 'I'm so over' RVD at a house show; so I'm going to go with FACT on this. It's the same as when WCW gave us the 'one finger match' for the WCW title on that fateful Nitro in 1999. It was a clear message that Hogan and Nash, whether we like it or not, will always be the ones they will force us to watch. Same rule applies here. Goldberg (as much as I hate him) was a threat to Triple H's title. So what do Vince and The Game think up? Have Goldberg make jobbers out of Jericho, Orton, and Michaels (which is a gigantic feat in itself) and when it's time for Triple H....take the 3 count in a matter of a few minutes over a damn sledgehammer shot! What a way to screw your whole main event roster over and dump the one thing that may possibly be the only good for the Raw brand. Good going Vince! Now all we have to do is stand by and watch you destroy your own company and I'll be justified in what I've been ranting and raving about these past few months. Phantom, I think, thought up this question and originally it was supposed to be one year. I had him change to 3 years because (1) It took 2 years for WCW, after the 'finger of doom' match, to be destroyed and (2) Smackdown might level off the hate for about another year or so, unless they push that moron Big Show down our necks. Oh wait.

Fact or Fiction: With the WWE falling rapidly, now is the time for NWA-TNA to make it's move to get a national TV deal.

Dumass: Y'know, I'd like to think that I do help people that can't help themselves. I emailed Jeff Jarret about a week ago telling him that he should start looking for a cable company now since the WWE is starting to go down the shitter. He hasn't replied back, so I'm going to assume he does read this column. Hey Jeff, FACT!! NWA-TNA should be putting a gun to the head of the USA channel and demanding a TV deal. The WWE is obviously weakened to the point where all someone has to do is not watch and *BOOM*, it'll hurt them incredibly. Why not try and get a TV deal? They would completely own the wrestling ratings if they became the competition. Now, NWA-TNA isn't my particular brand of wrestling tea, but the WWE is in dire need to get their heads out of their asses and actually try and put on a better show than what is on now. What better way to do that than going against an upstart, young company like NWA-TNA? It's simple. WWE = Losing Money. NWA-TNA = Making Money. NWA-TNA + TV Deal = More Money and Competition that WWE sorely needs. Simple as that. Basic Dumass-anomics! Come on Jeff!! Make the damn call man!! The fate of wrestling in television is in your hands. Oh and email me those pictures of Lollipop 'washing your car' that Bob Ryder said you had.

Da Ref: FICTION. The company still needs work. I've always been impressed with the way NWA-TNA has built up their important matches. I think what they've been doing with AMW/Swinger & Diamond has been just what has been missing with a lot of angles as of late. They've been building up A.J. Styles as a serious NWA World Champion and he's been able to make people not realize that he's really a cruiserweight. I think that Jeff Jarrett being on the outside of the World Title hunt as of late with guys like Raven, D-Lo Brown, and Frankie Kazarian getting title shots shows that the company wasn't made just to put a title on him. However, they're still a young company. If they secured a national deal right now, their product would have to be a lot more polished than it is now.

Phantom: You better believe this is a FACT. The WWE while not down for the count is beginning to wobble. If say USA or FX were to offer them a deal, TNA could easily give the WWE a serious run for its money in 2 to 3 months tops…perhaps sooner considering how much better the sports entertainment is on TNA then the WWE. It kills people to admit this, but Vince Russo is a genius at what he does. Right now he and The Jarretts and everyone else involved with the production of TNA have a great show put together and they give you 2 hours of quality action each week. With the promotion arm of USA or FOX behind them there would be no limit to what they could do if put on the air. So if I was Jerry Jarrett, I would be looking to pull the trigger on a TV deal right now.

Fact or Fiction: The WWE should just buyout the remainder of Mark Henry’s contract and let him go since he will never be over in any shape or form

Da Ref: That's been FACT for at least four years. When the WWF signed him in 1996, they did so because he was going to the Olympics and they were basically wanting to get some coverage surrounding the event. They believed that they were looking at someone who was going to take a medal in weightlifting. Yet, what happened? Henry ended up not even placing in the top 5. So then, they brought him into the company as a wrestler and he flopped. After that, they sent him to OVW for what has seemed like an eternity and he hasn't really improved. Meanwhile, he still has about three years left on his contract. Right now, WWE is losing money on their product. While I don't think it would solve all of the company's money problems, I do believe that buying the rest of Henry's contract out could at least free up some money in the long run.

Phantom: Do I really need to explain this one? FACT. Mark Henry is what you call a bad investment. If he actually won an Olympic medal, then maybe he would have been something. Vince wanted a new Ken Patera and what he got was a fat black guy who’s biggest claim to fame was he slept with an 80 year old woman on live tv. Mark Henry is a very lazy wrestler and he is very reckless with simple moves. Vince, do us all a favor. Cut your losses and buy the fat asses contract out. If making him get a blowjob from a tranny won’t get him to quit…nothing will.

Dumass: FACT with a vengeance!! Mark Henry hasn't done much for the WWF/E and his only claim to fame is that he knocked up Mae Young with a hand. Oh boy, I sure smelled the ratings on that one. Oh wait...those aren't ratings. That's shit! Henry has become a novelty for Vince (top the fact that Vince doesn't like black people anyway), and because of the novelty, he'll never be over with the crowds and will continue screwing Raw up even more (which in some cases is a slight improvement over the 'crap'rific segments we experience now). I say dump him. Don't pay him off or anything. If he sues, Vince can say that Mark wasn't holding his end of the contract in actually ENTERTAINING the crowds. He'll lose the suit and go to NWA-TNA to start a MAJOR FUED~! with the Harris Brothers; wherever they are now.

Fact or Fiction: Using gimmicked props (Like the flaming dumpster) does nothing to get over the person it’s being used on and it’s simply a waste of money and production time

Dumass: FICTION because I've seen a ton of props used to get people over. Al Snow's Head (of ECW and WWF fame), the Sandman's (and Justin Credible) Cane from ECW, Jimmy Hart's Megaphone, and several others. Problem here is that a flaming dumpster isn't going to get you over because it's an uncommon prop. If they had something like Undertaker's urn or Brutus Beefcake's scissors, then maybe it would have worked out a lot better. But props are only good if they mean something. You can't give Kane a flaming dumpster just because it looks cool and because of shitty thinking like that, he'll get insanely over; besides, the WWE has already tarnished that whole gimmick with the Katie Vick thing (Kane lived in a basement for years and years, except for this one day he instantly went to college, went to a party, was accepted, got a girl, and drove home. Huh?). If the wrestler can make the prop interesting enough for people to care about it (the master of this is Al Snow), then it's worth the production time and screen time.

Da Ref: FACT. The first time you see something like a flaming dumpster, it's a sight to behold. However, you can't tie the same gimmick to a guy for a long period of time or it'll lose its impact. Besides, a wrestler that is over primarily for a gimmicked prop isn't over. The prop is what's over. In order for a wrestler to be over, he or she has to make the audience believe in their character, no matter what the character is. They have to go all-out with that persona and make the audience get up and react like they should.

Phantom: I was going for stuff like being thrown through a fake stage and the flaming dumpster this week. FACT on this one, but its by a slim margin. If done right, it works wonders to get someone over as a badass. We all remember Kevin Nash power bombing Eric Bischoff through the stage. That stuff works great. But when it’s so obviously fake like this week on RAW with the sides of the Dumpster lighting up like a valve was just turned on, it does nothing for either person involved. Sure it looks cool, but other then that purpose it serves no purpose. But because of the few times it does, that’s why I’m saying Fact on this one.

Fact or Fiction: The WWE is starting to set up the old ways of actual managers (IE: Coach and Christian and Teddy Long and Rodney/Henry) to boost ratings and help underachieving wrestlers shine

Da Ref: That's FICTION. Coach as a manager? The guy is horrible as an announcer. What makes you think he's going to be able to get Christian over? As far as Teddy Long, I think he does a good job as a manager. I remember watching him in WCW and thinking that he made a good transition from referee to manager. I think he has what it takes to help get a guy over. However, the guys he has with him are guys that the crowd can't really get into.

Dumass: FICTION. The WWE has lost any respect to managers for a long time now. Giving wrestlers to valets to get them over doesn't work. If a wrestler needs a valet, then you should fire them because they cannot generate their own heat. Managers are different than valets because managers are supposed to make the wrestlers look good. Problem with today's wrestling is that managers are hard to come by and even harder to be accepted. Gone are the days of Slick and Bobby Heenan hyping up their talent to look like a threat; and even more gone are the days when the wrestlers stayed quiet and just had Freddie Blassie and Lou Albano do the talking for them. Nowadays, the WWE gives a chick to Scott Stiener or Rico and expects them to be completely over with the fans. The time of managers are dead because now wrestlers think that they can cut promos and can talk on the mic to make their character look good. Some can (Jericho is a main example), but the majority can't. It started to go downhill when Hogan left Blassie to talk for himself. Problem is, later in his career, Jimmy Hart had to be with Hogan in order for Hogan to be over again.

Phantom: Total Fiction. If the WWE had any intention of having actual managers then Teddy Long would have been paired up with the A.P.A for DOOM in the 21st Century. The Coach only will get over as a heel because he is a very annoying white man trapped in a black man’s body. That was SARCASM people. Seriously I mean turn the Coach heel was about as desperate as a creative mind can get. And why would Christian need his help to begin with. Logically it would made sense for Teddy Long to convince Coachman to turn heel because the man stole his job. At least then the brother could finally get his playa’s card, Beleide That.

Fact or Fiction: Shane McMahon will not be able to save Kane’s job in the long run like was able to do for Steve Blackman and Test

Da Ref: FACT. Even with this whole thing of Kane being some evil that he needs to be brought in by the police, the aura of Kane died when he was unmasked. No, let me correct that. The aura of Kane died when the Undertaker switched gimmicks. While it was farfetched, it was reasonable for Kane to be doing a lot of the things he did because there was someone already established with the company who was doing those and according to the storyline, they were brothers. Then, you have the fact that Kane has been almost like the Lex Luger of the WWF/WWE when it comes to heel turns. After a while, you needed a scorecard to keep up with what he was that week.

Dumass: I'm amazed Kane still has a job. FACT. Shane has always been there to make wrestlers (and Vince) look good. That's his job when wrestling. He made a man outta Test (too bad it only lasted about a week or two), gave some substance to Steve Blackman, and made Kurt Angle an legitimate old school wrestling badass. Sure it's all spots and blown ones at most, but the crowd still cheers for him and applauds him after the match for doing something that wasn't written in his contract. But with Kane, he won't be able to save his job or his character. Kane has been thrown down to the ground for too long. Inconsistencies, ridiculous angles, and no credibility to really begin with; Kane lasted a lot longer than he should have, and that's not a good thing. Hopefully with throwing Kane into a flaming dumpster, it will solidify a harsh truth to all the 'intense' fans of the Raw brand and how they treat their 'company men' and the fans that care about them so much; like garbage.

Phantom: I’m gonna say Fiction on this one. I think Shane can save Kane’s job by simply allowing Kane to damn near kill him on ppv. We all want to see Shane get splattered and history has shown that the people who beat his ass senseless on a ppv usually keep their jobs. Besides Kane didn’t walk after the Katie Vick angle. That right there makes him a “Loyal Company Man” and earns him brownie points with Vince.

Fact or Fiction: Chris Benoit will be given Paul Heyman as a manager and will become the World Champion by the end of 2003

Phantom: I’m gonna say Fact on this one, but Benoit won’t win the WWE title till maybe the Royal Rumble. That’s my safe bet anyway. Paul Heyman will most likely come back as Benoit’s agent because he feels that Benoit has been screwed over for to long. Benoit could go after Angle for stealing his thunder or go after Brock Lesnar since Heyman has a personal vendetta with him. Either way it will provide for some great matches assuming hell has not frozen over and A-Train vs. The Undertaker is the title match at the Royal Rumble.

Dumass: I'd like for it to happen, but sadly no. FICTION. Chris Benoit might get Paul as a manager, which is something he's in no hurry to get, but will need in the future. I predict he will get the title in the near future, maybe in early 2004, and then be paired with Heyman for the mic help and charisma value. It's a truth that Paul can put anyone over given time and the opportunity. Look at Brock Lesner. Thing is, it'll be hard to make Benoit be like Brock now and talk all the time. Benoit was taught to wrestle, not cut promos and he'll gladly tell you that while he's making you cry through some submission he's slapped on you. Heyman might be a huge factor to Benoit, making him a heel (and thus becoming a great contender for Angle later) or keeping the face mentality and start to feud with Lesner or Show (two guys he's proven to get terrific matches out of). It's a little early to predict this, but I'm going to stick with what I said. I know that they won't give the title to Benoit because he's hung up on winning the US title at this moment; but he will get his shot again next year, and will win it. It's all a matter of how, a face or a heel.

Da Ref: As much as that could work, I have to believe it's FICTION. There's talk that Heyman isn't all that eager to get back to the ring. Plus, it appears that Benoit is going to be working a longterm program with Rhyno and the possibility of him just turning heel doesn't seem like it can happen logically.

Fact or Fiction: Paul London will have to change his finisher, the London Calling(SSP), because Billy Kidman seems to have a fit when he sees other people use it.

Da Ref: FICTION. All of that implies that London will be featured as a big player. Yet, the guy's a Cruiserweight and besides Rey Misterio Jr, name another legitimate cruiserweight that has made a major impact. London has been getting nearly the same press as Spanky was before he was signed to a contract. Yet, Spanky has spent his time either jobbing on Smackdown or...well, jobbing on Velocity. With London, who says that they'll even let him go over on someone? In that case, why would he need a finishing move?

Phantom: I’m gonna say FACT on this one. Billy Kidman threw a fit about A.J. Styles using it and I fear he will do the same here. It’s a shame because Kidman has the most overrated S.S.P on the planet. Most of the time he can’t even hit it right. Styles and London do the move the way it was ment to be done. But of course A.J. came up with the Shooting Styles Press (S.S.P to the floor) and London has a S.S.P into a clothsline that is a sight to behold when it’s done. So Billy can keep the S.S.P and nearly injure himself on each attempt while London improvises the move into something to mark out for.

Dumass: Oh WAH!! BOO HOO FOR KIDMAN!! I DON'T CARE!!!! Seriously, if Kidman is going to have issues with London using the SSP, then I say we have a Move vs. Move match. Paul London vs. Billy Kidman - whomever loses drops the SSP. It'd be like that one match with the British Bulldog vs. the Warlord - Powerslam vs. Full Nelson. Seriously, Kidman needs to worry about a lot more than whether he should complain about London using his move; though I bet he was riding in the back of the ambulance that Brock was in after Wrestlemaina XIX screaming, "You stole my move and now you broke your neck!! Ha ha!! Serves you right!! Don't ever do my move again because it's mine, not yours!! Ha Ha!!!" [/5 year old screaming]

Retro Fact or Fiction: In the long run, Triple H and his abuse of power will still not compare to what Ole Anderson did in WCW

Da Ref: I'll say FACT based on just the legendary status that Ole achieved when it came to booking. Helmsley has pulled some serious BS and will probably continue to do so unless he ends up cheating on Stephanie and they break up. However, Ole was the one behind the Black Scorpion, which was a nice concept in the beginning but fell apart because they couldn't find anyone to play the role of the actual Scropion. When mixed with all of the magic tricks, that was what really did the damage. Then, you had Robocop and that's all that needs to be said about that. Basically, it's like how a wrestler can come along and be absolutely flawless in the ring as well as cut killer promos. No matter what, though, Ric Flair will still be the greatest of all time.

Phantom: I’m gonna say Fiction on this one. Ole Anderson didn’t sleep his way to the top like Triple H. While Ole made some really bonehead booking decisions, it still doesn’t compare to the damage Triple H has done by not putting over his opponents in any shape or form. Ric Flair could make anyone look like a Million Dollars inside and outside of the ring. Triple H shits all over his opponents credibility and come match time he no sells any damage done so he can KICK…WHAM…PEDIGREE for the win out of no where. Right now there is no viable main eventer on RAW besides the Billion Dollar Princess’s sex toy. If Goldberg is put over, I’ll consider it divine intervention. All Ole did was bury Ric Flair. Triple H and his power trip have sabotaged almost a years worth of shows. It will be a while (and the WWE does not have that while) before anyone can climb back up to restore the main event credibility they had. Jericho is ready, but its not like they are going to give him that push anytime soon.

Dumass: Ok. I was torn with this question. I was forced to remember the Black Scorpion and the Jericho/HHH/Steph feud over a dog and hand lotion. After much attention payed to both parties (basically me crying), I've come up with the answer of FACT. Hear me out. HHH has been a major dick with the way he's built himself up. I don't need to know the backstage crap to know that. He's still champion, right? That right there shows that he being pushed to some unholy place. He has kept the title for almost a year now, and the ratings and the way things seem to be for fans still haven't improved. He's sabotaged any credibility to any wrestler he goes against. Again, I don't need to know about backstage politics; I can clearly see it on my TV. Now, backstage, HHH has ruined it for so many wrestlers that nothing positive is going to be used for a long time, and yes, I believe he will be the World Champion until the end of the year. But, with all the horrible things he's doing to the WWE and the way he's sabotaging the roster and the Raw program, Ole Anderson will always be worse than HHH. Why? Because HHH, no matter how he's booked to win every match, no matter who's career he ruins, no matter what angle he has to be the front and center of, will never do to the WWE what Ole did for WCW.

If you don't know about the 'mis-understood' genius of Ole Anderson, here's the guy you can blame for WCW being horrible in the beginning years. He pushes Lex Luger to turn insta-face and become World Champion (why?) while depushing Ric Flair to a sub par mid-carder. Then he sets up a great feud of Sting vs. the Horsemen and Sting receives a mystery opponent in the form of.....ROBOCOP!!!! After a couple of other bad decisions, he decided to make up a wrestler named the Black Scorpion, or 'EVIL STING~!' who would pop up with random dates and taunt Sting with them. Oh...and he also did magic tricks. SMELL THE RATINGS~!

See? I don't believe HHH will come to the point where he will make an evil version of himself and start screaming random dates of when he jobbed to the Ultimate Warrior. Ole was stupid, plain and simple. HHH, at least, seems to know what he's doing; ruining the federation to the point where they are desperate on him. Honestly, I think Dusty Rhodes (with his brilliant idea for the worst wrestler ever and the thinking up of the worst PPV main event ever) and the dynamic duo of Bill Watts and Good Ol' Jim Ross (who decided to make Ron Simmons a World Champ and they also banned top-rope moves) are a lot worse than Ole and HHH combined. But at least there is one thing that puts HHH over all four of the others (Watts, Ole, Dusty, JR). The fact that he doesn't have a hard-on for Lex Luger to be World Champion.

Retro Fact or Fiction: If Harley Race was televised showing when he bodyslammed Andre The Giant in 1978(I'll check on the date), the site of Hogan bodyslamming Andre at Wrestlemania III wouldn't have been impressive.

Dumass: FACT. I had a debate on this question with a friend of mine and he told me that it wouldn't have mattered if Race did it first and everyone saw, Hogan would have got the better of it because Hogan's slam was 9 years after Race's and it was at a Wrestlemania. Now, that might be a valid point and I know people would argue that, but think about it for a minute. If Race did it first, wouldn't that be something everyone would have remembered? I mean, everyone remembers Hogan bodyslaming Andre because it's at Wrestlemania III and such, but what if someone, the next day, said, "Oh yeah. I saw Hogan do that. Too bad Harley Race did it 9 years ago." ? Guaranteed that people would spread it everywhere, and Hogan's slam would be looked at as a feat of strength, of course, but that slam would have been looked differently. Why? Because we were forced fed to believe that Hogan bodyslamed and defeated a man who (1) has never been picked up, let alone bodyslamed and (2) was UNDEFEATED for 15+ years. That's pretty large propaganda, especially just to make Hogan look good. I'm taking nothing away from Andre because Andre was Andre. He did things he was told to do without much of a fight. Of course, he also was a hell of an intimating person, who, if he didn't want to do something, he'd say no and that would have been the end of it.

I'd would’ve loved to be backstage at Wrestlemania III when the bodyslam happened. All the wrestlers are surprised and Harley is sitting back saying, "I did that years ago and now I'm facing guys like the Junkyard Dog?! What the fuck?!" I'd give the credit to Harley Race for bodyslaming Andre first if it was televised and I was able to see it. I had to do some research to find out about something else when I came up to see that Harley did it before Hogan. If we (the majority of people who watched WM III back in 1987) would have known that Harley Race bodyslammed Andre the Giant before Hogan, I'm sure that Hogan wouldn't have been the amazing huge success that he is now. He would have been another person who could slam Andre. If you’re still on Hogan's side on this, just look at this piece of propaganda. Remember that I said the WWF hyped Andre as being undefeated for 15+ years? The fight that Harley had with Andre where he slammed him went to a draw, and 8 months later, Harley Race beat Andre The Giant in a NWA World Title match. I rest my case.

Da Ref: Absolute FACT. When 6'8" 300+ pound Hulk Hogan slammed 7'4" 500 pound Andre the Giant, it was perceived as such a big deal because no one had ever been able to pick Andre up. At least that was the hype. However, the much smaller Harley Race managed to do the same thing much earlier. How could Hogan, who was much stronger than Race, slamming Andre be considered anywhere near as impressive as when Race did it? If people had seen Race slamming Andre, they would almost expect Hogan to be able to slam Andre. If he didn't, it could do more damage to Hogan than anything.

Phantom: I’m gonna say Fiction on this one. Back then, much like now who really knew about stuff that happened outside of a certain company. Sure Harley bodyslamming him must have been one hell of a sight to have witnessed, but with the McMahon Marketing Machine in full effect, after WM 3 Hulk Hogan was always going to be remembered as the man who did the unthinkable. Picking up Andre the Giant for a slam and then beating him 1…2…3. On a side note, Big John Studd and Ken Patera did a double hip toss on Andre the Giant in 1984 and that’s on video tape. But everyone will always remember what Hogan did.

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