{"id":155278,"date":"2026-03-23T06:00:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T10:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=155278"},"modified":"2026-03-22T22:38:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T02:38:30","slug":"battle-of-the-hosses-wwe-wrestlemanias-greatest-big-man-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/03\/23\/battle-of-the-hosses-wwe-wrestlemanias-greatest-big-man-matches\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle of the Hosses: WWE WrestleMania&#8217;s Greatest Big Man Matches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><\/strong>The wrestling world was set ablaze this past Monday Night when it was made clear that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/03\/09\/wwe-wrestlemania-42-why-oba-femi-should-really-challenge-brock-lesnar\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Oba Femi<\/a> was going to be the man answering Brock Lesnar&#8217;s WrestleMania challenge. This is the exact type of match that only has its place at WrestleMania, with two big hosses going to war to see who will emerge as the dominant force in World Wrestling Entertainment. This is the type of attraction match that WWE loves to promote come WrestleMania season, but it hasn\u2019t been the first of its kind.<\/p>\n<p>The hoss battle is an often-used match come WrestleMania time. WWE loves to put together physically massive men and have them rip each other apart for the audience\u2019s delight. They give the card and the buy rates an instant boost. They are some of the most anticipated matches on a WrestleMania card. There have been many hoss battles throughout the history of WrestleMania, but only a few have become the stuff of legend. Below, we will look at the best of these big man battles.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>WrestleMania 3 \u2013 Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant (WWE Championship Match)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We can begin with what is perhaps the most famous battle of the big men in WrestleMania history. It&#8217;s interesting to look back at this match, almost forgetting how big a man Hulk Hogan was. At over 300 lbs, Hogan was an immense man, but was still dwarfed by Andre, who weighed in over 500 lbs. It was incredible to see these two face off against one another, and the picture of that standoff is burned in every wrestling fan&#8217;s mind.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH - Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant - WWE Championship Match: WrestleMania III\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rz8q5ZjboXY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>There was no wrestling in this match. Both men were known for their power moves, and that\u2019s all we got. Hogan was limited by the Giant&#8217;s sheer size, but was able to work a tight match within that framework. It wasn\u2019t a fancy contest, but one that was just as entertaining as any other.<\/p>\n<p>There was a big fight feel to this match, and it was the launching point for all of WWE\u2019s success. Only one match can be billed as the Unstoppable Force versus the Immovable Object, and it is this iconic battle of WWE\u2019s Golden Era.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>WrestleMania 39 \u2013 Gunther vs. Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre (Triple Threat for the Intercontinental Championship)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s difficult to imagine that some wrestlers are large athletes, but we often forget that most are massive individuals, so it\u2019s hard to see how large they actually are. That isn\u2019t the case when we examine the triple threat match that took place at WrestleMania 39. Gunther, Sheamus, and Drew McIntyre are the exact definition of what a hoss is. They are massive men who work a stiff, physical style, and that translated into one of the best matches that WrestleMania has ever seen.<\/p>\n<p>This match was nearly uncomfortable to watch; it was so stiff. There was nothing fancy about what was going on. Each man\u2019s chest was beaten red by the match\u2019s conclusion, showing the war scars that they had accumulated. It was surprising that any of the three men were able to walk away from the ring with how vicious this match was. Only the biggest of men would have been able to sustain the punishment that was dished out throughout this match. A huge reason why this match received the coveted 5-star rating.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Gunther vs. McIntyre vs. Sheamus - Intercontinental Championship: WrestleMania 39 Sunday Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/472E_XyiHqM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>WrestleMania 33 \u2013 Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar (WWE Universal Championship Match) <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Brock Lesnar and Goldberg were never going to give the world a great wrestling match. These were two men who used power moves and slammed opponents with their devastating finishers as quickly as they could. It was hard for anyone to stand up to their immense power, let alone pull off a victory.<\/p>\n<p>Their first battle, at WrestleMania 20, left much to be desired, but was rectified by their banger at WrestleMania 33. A match that only lasted under 5 minutes, but still contained all the hard-hitting action that we have come to associate with Goldberg and Brock Lesnar. This was a match filled with spears, suplexes, jackhammers, and F-5\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>There was no feeling-out period; each man threw their best shot at the other in the hopes of ending the match as quickly as possible. This was a pure shot of adrenaline into the veins of the wrestling world.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH: Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar \u2014 Universal Title Match: WrestleMania 33\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4TBazZ-WMJk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>WrestleMania 14 \u2013 The Undertaker vs. Kane <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Brothers of Destruction have been crushing their competition for years, but only when they faced off at WrestleMania 14 did they meet their match. Both The Undertaker and Kane were well over 6\u201910 and 300 lbs. They were both monsters, and their physical stature struck fear into the hearts of anyone who would stand across from them.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwe.com\/videos\/the-undertaker-vs-kane-wrestlemania-xiv\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Walking into WrestleMania 14<\/a>, the world expected to see a battle of the hosses, and that\u2019s exactly what they got. Seeing these two massive men square off against one another was a fantastic sight that was only matched by the intensity of the match. Kane and The Undertaker&#8217;s move sets were so similar, and neither was willing to give an inch.<\/p>\n<p>They sustained more punishment than was humanly possible during this match, and it began to look like there wasn\u2019t going to be a winner. In the end, it took three Tombstones to put Kane down for the 3 count. The battle of the monsters was a fantastical moment in WrestleMania history that may never be replicated.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>WrestleMania \u2013 Andre the Giant vs. Big John Studd <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Big John Studd and Andre the Giant were the original hosses of WWE. They were the giants that everyone looked up to, literally. Naturally, the WWE only had room for one giant, so the rivalry between these two behemoths, both on and off the screen, developed. Andre took a huge issue with Studd claiming to be the only real giant, and this led to the original hoss battle that highlighted the first WrestleMania.<\/p>\n<p>The main event of WrestleMania was the big sell, but many fans were there to see the body-slam challenge. \u2018Mania needed some attraction matches to bring the crowd in, and that\u2019s exactly what this contest was. Bobby Heenan put 15, 000 dollars on the line if Andre the Giant could body slam the 6 \u201910, 365 lb Studd.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t a fancy match, containing mostly punches and kicks, but it was as entertaining as any other on the card. Andre was still a massively over-babyface, and the crowd was rabid when he slammed Studd. Then would proceed to give some of the money away. The match proved that hoss battles were a huge commodity in World Wrestling Entertainment, and the sky was the limit from then on.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"In this WrestleMania classic, Andre the Giant and Big John\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nJPQ-Tq5oMc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The wrestling world was set ablaze this past Monday Night when it was made clear that Oba Femi was going to be the man answering Brock Lesnar&#8217;s WrestleMania challenge. This is the exact type of match that only has its place at WrestleMania, with two big hosses going to war to see who will emerge [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4518,"featured_media":155287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7205,4,3],"tags":[979,57,267],"class_list":["post-155278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-andre-the-giant","tag-brock-lesnar","tag-goldberg"],"modified_by":"Laci Schlatz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4518"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155278"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155288,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155278\/revisions\/155288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}