And if some these antics are not ridiculous enough for you, the next leg of the feud certainly has to be. They held numerous six-man matches with Giant Machine, Super Machine and various other Machines whose identities were even more obvious than Andre’s. There was the Hulk Machine who suspiciously had long blonde hair and cupped his hand over his ear, the Piper Machine who wore a mask and a kilt, the Steele Machine who suspiciously had hair all over his body, and even rumor of a Crusher Machine appearing at a local show in Milwaukee.

It seems like every time the feud starts winding down, it shows up on television, and this time was no exception. Capt. Lou announced his retirement from managing, and as a sendoff was getting main event matches on Superstars and Challenge, managing tag teams, The Machines on Superstars, and British Bulldogs on Challenge. The Machines to show up were Big and Super, and surprisingly lost to Stud and Bundy when Stud came off the top rope with a forearm onto Super Machine. It was stunning for one thing to see Albano’s team lose in a sendoff, and for another to see Stud come off the top rope.

Finally, in a surprising move, Jack Tunney came on one week and announced that the suspension on Andre was lifted, and just as quickly as it had been started, the angle stopped. All week, announcers waited in anticipation of what Heenan would think of this decision. They were equally surprised to hear that Heenan actually supported the move, and said the suspension was bogus to begin with.

Meanwhile, the WWF held a celebration ceremony for the "Incredible" Hulk Hogan for his three years as Federation champion. Jack Tunney presented Hogan with a trophy on Piper’s Pit, when who should come to offer his congratulations but Andre himself. Hogan looked starry eyed at the man he said he grew up watching on television, as they shook hands. Then shortly after, Tunney presented Andre with a slightly smaller trophy on Piper’s Pit for Andre’s 15 years of wrestling undefeated (actually, he was defeated several times up until then, but why ruin a good story with the truth, eh?). So Hogan went out to return the favor and shake Andre’s hand, when the Giant mysteriously walked off in disgust.

Everyone was wondering what was happening to Andre. Why did he walk off like that? Why was the suspension lifted? Why did Heenan not care? Finally, on Piper’s Pit, it all came out. Hogan was on when Bobby Heenan came out to announce that his new protégé was none other than Andre "the Giant" Roussamoff. Andre came out to challenge Hogan for the WWF title at WrestleMania III. Then Heenan said Andre had a message for Hogan, and Andre tore the Hulkamania t-shirt off of the champion, who fell to his knees in disbelief.

The following week, Heenan said Andre turned heel and joined up with him for a variety of reasons. Andre was sick and tired of being placed on undercards to Hogan, the bogus suspension extended by Tunney, being handed feuds instead of title matches. And not getting a title match while being undefeated in mostly main event matches was the biggest reason. And the straw that broke the camel’s back was Tunney giving him a smaller trophy for 15 years of being undefeated and having Hogan come out to steal his spotlight in the celebration. Heenan said he was the one who had the Giant’s suspension lifted, and would now handle all of his business and financial affairs because he’s the only one who’s really looking out for what’s best for the Giant.

On another Piper’s Pit, Capt. Lou Albano came out as Andre’s former manager and said he can’t believe Andre’s actions. Andre chased his former manager off the set. When it came time to sign the contracts, Heenan had a clause placed in where the WWF would have to create a new WWF belt for the match, because the old one would not fit around the waist of the mighty Giant. On yet another Pit, they tried to fit the new belt on Andre and in a hysterical moment, it still wouldn’t fit. They said it was because Andre was wearing street clothes at the time, but the angle was that if the WWF didn’t think Andre would win the big match, why were they bothering to make a new belt for the challenger?

Finally, WrestleMania III was almost around, and never before has the saying "the immovable object meeting the unstoppable force" ever seemed more appropriate. It was really, as far as drawing power goes, THE match of the century. Now it’s time for me to offer my monthly crack at the current state of the sport. How do you put over a giant 7’ wrestler? Do you treat him like any other 6’+ guy? Of course not. You act like you’ve been hit by an Atomic Bomb every time the guy breathes on you. Perhaps The Rock, HHH, and a few others would make more money if they could sell the Big Show’s moves the way Hogan and others did way back when for Andre. That’s why when Hogan and Andre met in a 20-man battle royal on Saturday Night’s Main Event, Andre put out Hogan, and headbutted Lanny Poffo into a bloody pulp on the show. However, eventually all the WWFers ganged up on the Giant to put him out, and the winner was Hercules. So who had the momentum going into the big match? Hogan, who just got through the emotional struggles of his best friend Paul Orndorff and his childhood idol, Andre turning against him, or Andre who just lost his first battle royal (actually another work in the feud, but a nice touch, don’t you think?)

I don’t sing Hogan’s praises often, but I do have to admit that when it came down to the actual match, he sold for the big man tremendously. Hogan started off with a series of rights and went for the slam early, but Andre fell on top for one of the closest 3-counts in WWF history. It seems the match of the century ended not with not a bang but a wimper, but the ref said it was only 2. Andre went on to control the smaller Hogan through most of the match. The mightly headbut and his enormous size seemed too much for the Hulkster. Hogan got in some offense by breaking a bearhug with a series of rights, but caught a big boot for his trouble. But Hogan proved quicker, evading a headbut inside so Andre hit the turnbuckle and on the outside so Andre hit the steel post. It seemed as the match wore on, that Andre might actually be weakening. Finally, Hogan came off with a flying clothesline, and low and behold, the mighty oak tumbled. With renewed energy, Hogan hit his mighty bodyslam and dropped the leg for a 3-count to win the big match.

NEXT MONTH:

As I’ve been saying, big feuds and matches never end in just one meeting, especially money makers, so next month we see how this feud was carried out after WrestleMania III.