WWE History Vol. 14: The Slam Heard Around the World.

Andre turns Heel.

Hogan and Andre at their tense contract signing.

For most of his career, Andre the Giant had never worked as a heel. Given his size and jovial personality, he was a natural babyface.

In order for Hogan to establish dominance as the new top star of the pro wrestling world, he would have to overcome the Giant. Given Hogan's status as the face of wrestling during this era, he could not turn heel himself, so Andre would turn instead.

The set up was brilliant. Hogan was given a trophy by WWE signifying his three years as World Champion. A bit later, Andre was given a trophy as well, for being the only 'undefeated' star in the history of pro wrestling. Remember, WWE was pushing the narrative that Andre the Giant had never lost a single match, although many fans knew this was not true.

Apparently, the smaller trophy Andre received was the spark that lit the fires of betrayal. During a segment on Piper's Pit, Hogan was confronted by Andre who was now being manged by the evil Bobby Heenan.

Andre challenged Hogan, and when 'The Hulkster' tried to convince his former friend to reconsider, the Giant ripped his shirt right off. The symbolism was that Andre could shred Hulkamania just as easily as he had shredded the red and yellow tee shirt.

The whole segment is loaded with emotion, and Hogan's eventual acceptance of the challenge remains one of the best moments in sports entertainment history.

It was during an era where there was no internet or fan conspiracies. People had to tune in to figure out the repurcussions of Andre's actions and this helped build up the feud to great levels.