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Post by horsemen4ever on Mar 3, 2024 16:44:04 GMT -5
If it is true that Paul Orndorff was Andre The Giant's understudy, and purposely not on the card just in case Andre can't go or won't go for whatever. If that is the case, I hope he got payed like he was on the card, he deserved it, doing Vince a huge favor.
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fg
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Post by fg on Mar 3, 2024 17:19:28 GMT -5
Back then, if a wrestler didn’t wrestle on a card, they didn’t get paid but I’m not so sure about whether Paul didn’t get paid for WM3.
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Post by horsemen4ever on Mar 3, 2024 17:22:30 GMT -5
Back then, if a wrestler didn’t wrestle on a card, they didn’t get paid but I’m not so sure about whether Paul didn’t get paid for WM3. But this is a unique circumstance.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Mar 3, 2024 17:30:29 GMT -5
I would imagine some amount of money changed hands if they had him there for that, but it was probably not nearly as much as he'd have gotten if Andre fell through.
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Post by jason1980s on Mar 3, 2024 17:41:24 GMT -5
I think it was Kayfabe Memories or Wrestling Classics that noted he was injured from right before III to June and wasn't on TV or shows. I'm not sure he could have even participated in III if that was the case. I can't imagine it being anyone but Andre and Vince surviving backlash. Paul as the replacement was always a rumor but I don't believe he ever confirmed it and you would think he would to get some credit.
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Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Mar 3, 2024 18:35:06 GMT -5
I’ve just never believed this one. I’ve always thought it was set in stone to be Andre and they knew when they started it that he’d at least be good to get through it.
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Post by Aceorton on Mar 3, 2024 19:32:46 GMT -5
I've also had trouble latching on to this one for the same reasons stated above. Orndorff replacing Andre at the last minute, or even within the last few weeks, would have hurt the WWF almost immeasurably. I don't think they would have even started Andre's heel turn if they weren't fully convinced Andre could do the match. I've never even heard that Orndorff was at or near the Silverdome.
Anyone know the origins of the story? I wouldn't be surprised if the genesis was Hogan's tall tale of "No one knew what Andre was gonna do in the ring that day" and it turned into a game of telephone from there.
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Post by tafkaga on Mar 3, 2024 20:05:19 GMT -5
It wouldn't surprise me if this was true, given that Andre was such an unpredictable character and having Orndorff as a worst case scenario backup would be better than having no backup. Hogan and Orndorff had just drawn 60,000 in Toronto in the latter half of '86, and they were still drawing on the house show circuit around the time of WrestleMania. Even a modicum of paranoia on Vince's part could have been enough to ask Orndorff to be there just in case.
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Post by lildude8218 on Mar 3, 2024 22:03:31 GMT -5
Orndorff was a no-show for a March 2nd show at the Nassau Coliseum where he was supposed to face Billy Jack Haynes but he's back 4 days later and then through March 20th before being gone til June. He clearly had an injury to be out THAT long so I don't think he would have even been available for Mania. I was actually just shocked to see that he was still heel for another 2 months before they brought in Rick Rude. I had misremembered his comeback as being the angle where he fires Heenan for the 2nd time.
All of the TVs leading up to Mania and even a week AFTER Mania were taped on March 10th so it would have been a disaster for them to have such a late-second replacement for that match. If not Orndorff you have Kamala as a possible stand-by. Hogan and Kamala were selling out the houses in January and had been blown off on the MSG Network so they may not have wanted to do that. I guess you could have Hercules or Bundy pull double-duty that night. Maybe even Harley? Regardless I think it would've been an absolute fiasco.
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Post by booty2shoes on Mar 4, 2024 20:53:18 GMT -5
I’ve just never believed this one. I’ve always thought it was set in stone to be Andre and they knew when they started it that he’d at least be good to get through it.
I believe it. Mainly because it's been repeated enough times over the years, with nobody in the know "correcting that information" during interviews, etc. If it were inaccurate, someone would have said something by now in a shoot interview.
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Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Mar 4, 2024 22:13:51 GMT -5
I’ve just never believed this one. I’ve always thought it was set in stone to be Andre and they knew when they started it that he’d at least be good to get through it. I believe it. Mainly because it's been repeated enough times over the years, with nobody in the know "correcting that information" during interviews, etc. If it were inaccurate, someone would have said something by now in a shoot interview.
I’m not even sure if the people who could deny it are aware of it. If they thought there was even a chance they would have to pivot to Orndorff, they would have at least had him on TV and loosely connected to the angle. I think Andre’s “unpredictability” has been greatly exaggerated by fans based on Hogan’s “We didn’t know if Andre was going to do business, brother.” Andre was smart enough to know this was his last opportunity for huge money but he also wasn’t going to pull something that would get him fired because he didn’t want to leave when they were finally done with him.
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Post by Mozenrath on Mar 4, 2024 23:49:17 GMT -5
I believe it. Mainly because it's been repeated enough times over the years, with nobody in the know "correcting that information" during interviews, etc. If it were inaccurate, someone would have said something by now in a shoot interview.
I’m not even sure if the people who could deny it are aware of it. If they thought there was even a chance they would have to pivot to Orndorff, they would have at least had him on TV and loosely connected to the angle. I think Andre’s “unpredictability” has been greatly exaggerated by fans based on Hogan’s “We didn’t know if Andre was going to do business, brother.” Andre was smart enough to know this was his last opportunity for huge money but he also wasn’t going to pull something that would get him fired because he didn’t want to leave when they were finally done with him. This is sort of where I am at on the notion of if Bruiser Brody would have ever worked Hogan, had he lived. I think he'd have been totally willing to do business when he saw how many zeroes were going to be on the check. Andre similarly probably wasn't the most thrilled about jobbing, but if not to Hogan at this event, then to who? Besides, it isn't as if Hogan hadn't proven himself by then as basically THE hottest ticket, so a program with him, losing or not, was basically the most high profile work he could be getting anywhere at that stage.
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Post by lildude8218 on Mar 4, 2024 23:49:39 GMT -5
And honestly, even with how messed up Andre's back was at that point. Look at what they did in the match. Nothing outside of the clothesline and the body slam was going to actually hurt him. They weren't having two dozen near falls or anything where he might say, "yeah, I just don't think I can make it through the match."
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Post by lildude8218 on Mar 5, 2024 0:00:50 GMT -5
I’m not even sure if the people who could deny it are aware of it. If they thought there was even a chance they would have to pivot to Orndorff, they would have at least had him on TV and loosely connected to the angle. I think Andre’s “unpredictability” has been greatly exaggerated by fans based on Hogan’s “We didn’t know if Andre was going to do business, brother.” Andre was smart enough to know this was his last opportunity for huge money but he also wasn’t going to pull something that would get him fired because he didn’t want to leave when they were finally done with him. This is sort of where I am at on the notion of if Bruiser Brody would have ever worked Hogan, had he lived. I think he'd have been totally willing to do business when he saw how many zeroes were going to be on the check. Andre similarly probably wasn't the most thrilled about jobbing, but if not to Hogan at this event, then to who? Besides, it isn't as if Hogan hadn't proven himself by then as basically THE hottest ticket, so a program with him, losing or not, was basically the most high profile work he could be getting anywhere at that stage. The only guy in the WWWF who got clean wins over Brody in 76/77 was Bruno so he may have been willing to steamroll through everyone else, maybe give up a DQ loss here and there, before doing a program with Hogan.
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Post by Mozenrath on Mar 5, 2024 0:07:02 GMT -5
This is sort of where I am at on the notion of if Bruiser Brody would have ever worked Hogan, had he lived. I think he'd have been totally willing to do business when he saw how many zeroes were going to be on the check. Andre similarly probably wasn't the most thrilled about jobbing, but if not to Hogan at this event, then to who? Besides, it isn't as if Hogan hadn't proven himself by then as basically THE hottest ticket, so a program with him, losing or not, was basically the most high profile work he could be getting anywhere at that stage. The only guy in the WWWF who got clean wins over Brody in 76/77 was Bruno so he may have been willing to steamroll through everyone else, maybe give up a DQ loss here and there, before doing a program with Hogan. Probably, yeah. He was someone with the notoriety that Hogan would have been tempted by, even if Hulk obviously would have wanted assurances he was going to play ball. That said, Bruiser tended to pull most of his stuff when promoters reneged on what they promised, so if he was satisfied with Vince, it'd probably have been in the bag.
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Post by johnnyk9 on Mar 7, 2024 19:20:15 GMT -5
I wonder if Kamala/Sika and Demolition got something from WM 3
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Post by jason1980s on Mar 11, 2024 11:11:13 GMT -5
I wonder if Kamala/Sika and Demolition got something from WM 3 I would have liked to seen them on the show and really anyone on the roster so they could have a moment at that amazing Wrestlemania. But with those teams, they weren't really in big feuds at the time and there were so many matches already. You had the Islanders as a face team and I know they were making the rounds with Demolition or Kamala and Sika could have faced Islanders.
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Post by thecrusherwi on Mar 11, 2024 11:32:42 GMT -5
I feel like unless Andre couldn’t walk, this match was always going to happen and I don’t think they were THAT worried about his health. Any reluctance to do the job could be solved with some more cash I would imagine. Had Andre been in rough shape, they could’ve just done the phantom 3 count, right into a bear hug and the finish in like a two minute match. Fans in that era probably would’ve still thought it was awesome.
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Post by jason1980s on Mar 11, 2024 12:12:02 GMT -5
Bret Hart gave the Hogan/Andre match 5 stars. I was pretty surprised considering his dislike of Hogan. I guess with it not being a technical match, I expected him to say "1" out of bitterness. I do know he thought highly of Andre. Bret also described a little bit of putting together spots for the 2 Battle Royal and that was interesting.
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Post by BorneAgain on Mar 11, 2024 18:45:48 GMT -5
Orndorff was supposed to be given his paycheck by Hogan, but when he called, Hogan was too busy working out to pick up the phone and tell him where his money was.
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