Every Wrestler To Body Slam Andre The Giant

Hulkamania had been running wild for a little over three years when March 29, 1987, rolled around. The date was WrestleMania 3. Then, now, and forever considered one of the biggest WrestleManias of all time. To many fans, it was really the first WrestleMania that deserved to be called WrestleMania.

In the center of the sea of humanity in Detroit was the now mythical main event between Hulk Hogan defending the WWE title against Andre the Giant. The match culminated with Hulk Hogan finally hoisting Andre up for the bodyslam heard around the world. The very first time Andre had ever been slammed. But just like plenty of other things in wrestling, that too was a work and Andre had been slammed by many people all over the territories for years.

10 Butcher Vachon - AWA Chicago Soldier Field

Certainly just about all wrestlers love a good rib, even when you’re live in front of a packed stadium. Perhaps some of those are the best ribs. During an AWA event at Chicago’s famous Soldier Field, Andre took on two of the toughest old school wrestlers on the planet , "The Butcher" Vachon and Larry "The Ax" Hennig. The two dastardly heels had a bet with one another before the match about who could slam the giant. Since Butcher and Andre spoke French, Butcher let Andre know the plan and went up as light as a feather for his friend. Larry meanwhile failed miserably.

9 Riki Choshu - 1984 IWGP League

Fun fact: for all the debate about the Sharpshooter vs. the Scorpion Deathlock, both Hall of Famers stole the movie from Japanese legend, Riki Choshu.

But unfortunately, there was no way he was getting the Sasori-Gatami on the tree trunks that Andre the Giant called his legs. After dominating for most of their match, Choshu caught Andre with a kick to the face and then a quick slam, which unsurprisingly hurt him too just to get the big guy up.

8 Strong Kobayashi - IWE 1972 Morioka, Japan

During the early years of his career, Andre was much leaner and much more athletic. He was also going by the name Monster Rousimoff. He would head to Japan to take on Strong Kobayashi in a two of three falls match. To be honest, it’s a pretty boring match compared to today’s standards. But it’s still interesting to watch Andre work a very technical mat style and even use the Tombstone Piledriver to win the first fall. But when he’d already been taken off his feet using chain wrestling, the body slam wasn’t as exciting to see.

7 Antonio Inoki - Kagoshima Tag League

The life of Antonio Inoki deserves its own movie and still body slamming Andre might not make the cut. Inoki has done everything from wrestling on a private island to buying a separate private island because he thought there was buried treasure there. The former Japanese congressmen was able to deliver several bodyslams throughout his career, much like a certain blond behemoth before it became a mythic event.

6 Stan Hansen - Brady Fight Series

No matter how tall Andre was or how far his fame reached, during his time in Japan there was still one name bigger. Stan Hansen was the biggest gaijin wrestler Japan had ever seen at this time. Known for his bloody brawls with and against the likes of Bruiser Brody and Vader, Hansen also was able to stand toe to toe with Andre. The two met during an event called The Brady Fight Series. During the match the rugged Texan was able to hoist Andre up, who as this point was barely 500 pounds.

5 The Wild Samoans - UWF 1982 Episode 123

The strength and determination of the Samoan wrestling dynasty was on fully display at a Mid-South show in early 1982. The father of Roman Reigns, Sika, and his brother, Afa, would team up with "The Big Cat" Ernie Ladd and took on JYD, Dusty Rhodes, and Andre. It’s a unique mention on this list as it took both Afa and Sika to get him up.

4 Harley Race - October 1978 House Show / Houston 1979

In a few interviews over the years, Bobby "The Brian" Heenan had divulged there were only two men on the face of “god's green earth” that Andre was terrified of: Haku and Harley Race.

To be fair, he certainly wasn’t alone with that sentiment. Handsome Harley was not only able to slam Andre, but as NWA champion, he was also able to defeat Andre.

3 Kamala - 1983 Mid-South / Paul Boesch Houston Shreveport, Louisiana

Even "The Ugandan Giant" Kamala was able to get the big guy up at a few house shows for Bill Watts and Paul Boesch. It happened when Kamala and Jim Duggan interfered in a match between Andre, Tony Atlas, Matt Borne (Doink), & Ted DiBiase. Kamala was able to use his strength to get Andre up.

2 Hulk Hogan - Shea Stadium 1980

Long before their epic showdown at WrestleMania 3, Hulk Hogan was also someone who had body slammed Andre. At the now infamous Shea Stadium show, which saw Larry Zybysko and Bruno Sammartino settle their differences in a huge grudge match, Andre the babyface, took on a nasty heel Hulk Hogan.

Here the slam didn’t spell the end of the match as Andre found a way to beat Hogan.

1 The Ultimate Warrior - 1989 House Show Circuit

After Hogan, the only other superstar to hoist Andre up in WWE was The Ultimate Warrior. The neon-painted superstar had gotten a few stiff shots from Andre when they began working together due to how careless Warrior was with Andre. But once the giant smashed him, The Ultimate Warrior was able to settle down and work with Andre. It was then that Andre allowed the Hall of Famer to get him up.