Hogan-Andre

Hi Scott,

THANK YOU for returning to commentary with your recent inside pulse articles--I"ve been a "Blog of Doom" fan/post'er for the last 6-7 years--it's good to hear your voice again. The reason I write this evening is for the 87 Hogan-Andre angle; arguably the greatest angle of all time in pop culture and the feud that made a 7 year-old me into a very happy/long-time suffering wrestling fan. Yeah I had watched numerous Coliseum Videos, NWA on TBS, and Wrestlemania 2 on VHS from our local videotape store in 86 (a unique experience that is lacking in today's society, lol)  but this really was the angle that GOT ME HOOKED.

Anyway, I was recently watching the SNME from 3/87 that featured the battle royal with Hogan/Andre http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1t2ly_20-man-battle-royal_sport and this battle royal was produced just tremendously---it's focus (cameras, commentary, wrestling, etc) was Hogan/Andre and that's the reason it worked. AND it's the reason it was the highest rated SNME of all time--people were clamoring to see Hogan/Andre--and you know what booker George Scott and McMahon did? They didn't give it to them. They teased and teased, showed Andre as a killer (with color! on Poffo-- something in that WWF era unheard of) and made Wrestlemania III destination programming.

I just wanted to say I miss this this aspect in wrestling television. The closest we have to Hogan/Andre in this age is Rock/Cena and I don't see the powers that be producing anything remotely close to as captivating (especially with Rock teaming at Survivor Series). Anyway, what are your thoughts on that Hogan/Andre angle and it's relation to the upcoming Rock/Cena production? I can't see the current brass making this work.

That’s totally apples and oranges anyway.  Hogan and Andre had a history going back a couple of decades, then a years-long relationship as a tag team leading up to their split.  It was an angle they were only going to be able to run once (twice if they could come up with the most audacious finish ever created, I suppose…) and it drew big money. 

That being said, given how the economics work today, all they need is one semi-hot angle leading up to Wrestlemania to outdraw everything the WWF did in 1987 because the WM show itself is a giant money-making machine that’s self-sustaining.  So really, they don’t even need Rock-Cena to be an all-time classic feud, just a good one.