One of the all-time greats in the wrestling world, Andre the Giant was a global sports star even before the term was used in his profession. While the living mountain was alive, he left a legendary mark. Stories of how much steak he could eat and beer he could drink in one sitting have gone on to become mythical, but the people closest to Andre remember him as a prankster who quite liked partying. Andre the Giant’s real story is filled with incredible heart, humor, and sadness. His legacy is truly extraordinary and he became the first and only inaugural WWE Hall of Fame inductee!
Guard Dogs Got Scared Of Him
Standing at over seven feet and weighing 500 pounds, Andre the Giant was definitely more intimidating than many people. According to Roger Sembazzia, when his trained guard dogs saw Andre, they ran for cover. Andre laughed as he spoke with Sports Illustrated, “These two dogs were supposed to be so mean… the dog got one look at me and ran the other way as fast as could go.” We can’t really blame the dogs since Andre was a massive inferno of a man, but in real life, he wasn’t really a threat even if he was a legendary drinker.
Guard Dogs Got Scared Of Him
He Was Too Big For The School Bus
At the age of 12, Andre Rousimoff was already 6’3″ tall and weighed over 240 pounds, so he could not really take the bus to school. The only type of vehicle where he did fit was a pick-up truck, and fortunately for him, his neighbour Samuel Beckett was friends with his dad and had what he needed. Not a stranger to fame himself, Samuel Beckett is the renowned playwright who wrote Waiting for Godot, among others. Beckett and Roussimoff’s conversations during the car rides to school were not about the stage nor the ring, though. They talked about their one common interest – cricket, and for Beckett, the experience was so strange that he decided to write a play about it!
He Was Too Big For The School Bus
One Of His Favorite Pranks Was Moving His Friends’ Cars
Andre the Giant was always a jokester, and one of his favorite pranks was moving friends’ cars while they weren’t looking. However, he did not get in the car and drive away. He would pick up the car and bring it to a different location to get back at his friends who owned cars where he could never fit. If you are wondering where exactly Andre the Giant would leave the cars, sometimes he would just turn the car around, and at other times he would place the vehicle in small spaces between buildings and lamp posts. It really depended on how devious he wanted to be and how much fun he wanted.
One Of His Favorite Pranks Was Moving His Friends’ Cars
He Was Too Big For The Army
When Andre was 19 years old, he received a draft notice from the French Peace Time Army. However, he was unable to enlist as the army had no shoes which would fit him, he was too long for the French bunks, and too big to hide in trenches. It seems fate had other plans and Andre’s failure to enlist let him focus on wrestling. He worked as a mover in Paris during the day and trained at night. He made his professional debut in the United Kingdom in 1963, and ten years later he debuted on the WWE stage. The Giant even wrestled in Japan, before he came to America!
He Was Too Big For The Army
His Growth Disorder Was Discovered In Japan
Andre Roussimoff left the U.K. in 1970 to wrestle for the International Wrestling Enterprise in Japan, where he learned that he had acromegaly. This disorder is the adult form of gigantism, where there is an overproduction of the human growth hormone, and it affects the size of the face, hands, and feet. While the affliction brought Andre great bodily pain, it also gave him a big advantage in the ring, so he refused to have corrective surgery. Fighting in individual and tag team tournaments, “Monster Roussimoff” was among the best, and not long after his debut, he and Michael Nador were named tag team champions. After three years, the “Monster” became the “Giant” in America.
His Growth Disorder Was Discovered In Japan
His Daughter Is A Miracle Child
Since Andre the Giant had acromegaly, he should have been sterile, but in 1979, his own daughter was born, proving that he lived to defy the odds. When he died, his entire estate went to Robin Christensen Rousimof, but when he was alive, he didn’t get the chance to know his daughter as he committed to living on the road. There was one time when Robin was supposed to be with her father as she got invited to meet him on his North Carolina ranch, but she backed out. She was just 10 years old and was wary about spending time with a literal giant whom she didn’t know. Sadly, it ended up being her only chance to get to know him, but she never did go.
His Daughter Is A Miracle Child
The Giant’s Not-So-Secret Addiction
Buying stuff from QVC was one of his greatest pleasures in life. He spent a lot of time in North Carolina towards the end of his life and became addicted to the TV shopping network. Andre the Giant actually loathed causing a scene in public, but he did not have to worry about this when he shopped at home. It was reported that he would spend hours sitting in his custom-made recliners purchasing useless things from QVC. He loved nothing more than to spend money, especially on his family and friends, and always paid for every dinner bill.
The Giant’s Not-So-Secret Addiction
The Giant Picked Up The Terminator Off The Ground
There was one time when Andre had dinner with Wilt Chamberlain and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who snuck off to pay for the meal. Since Andre the Giant always preferred to give than to take, he was upset by this turn of events. As they were walking back to their cars, he thought of getting revenge outside. When they reached Arnold’s car, Andre lifted Arnold off the ground and then placed the movie star on the car. Andre towered over Arnold by over a foot, so he had no problems pulling off this move, but it has not been reported if Andre said, “I’ll be back” while walking away.
The Giant Picked Up The Terminator Off The Ground
He Held The WWE Title Belt For One Minute
In 1988, there was a World Championship title match between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan. Andre won, but the fight had unfortunately been rigged by “evil” ref Earl Hebner, and the Giant was forced to give back the title belt after only one minute. Therefore, the title was left “vacant” and Andre never really got another shot at it. Despite Wrestlemania III being an absolute circus, it attracted the largest audience in the sport’s entire history. Andre’s gimmicky title match bolstered the views and 33 million people watched it in shock and awe on NBC on February 4.
He Held The WWE Title Belt For One Minute
He Was The First And Only Inductee Of The Inaugural WWE Hall Of Fame
After his passing in 1993, Andre the Giant’s life was honored by the WWE. They created the WWE Hall of Fame and he became the league’s sole inductee that inaugural year. There was no ceremony held, but his posthumous induction took place on one episode of Monday Night Raw. However, the following year, the first induction ceremony of the WWE was held and during the event, one commentator discussed the induction of Andre the Giant. It was never intended to be broadcast on television, but there was a condensed version produced for the WWE Network in 2015, and it features a lot of footage of Andre the Giant’s signature Double Underhook Suplex and Sitdown Splash.
He Was The First And Only Inductee Of The Inaugural WWE Hall Of Fame
His Parents Didn’t Recognize Him When He Returned Home At Age 19
After five years away, 19-year-old Andre Rousinmoff went back home but his parents didn’t recognize their own son. His acromegaly caused Andre to grow to over 7 feet tall and to look very different from his former self. In fact, his parents admitted that they had seen him on TV as the wrestler Jean Ferre but never realized they were watching their son. According to Sports Illustrated in 1981, the reunion showed Andre was lighthearted about the situation. He knew his parents would not recognize him, so he asked them quite a few questions regarding his Rolls Royce until his dad finally saw the “twinkling eyes” of his son.
His Parents Didn’t Recognize Him When He Returned Home At Age 19
A Good Fart Joke Made Him Happy
Like most men, Andre the Giant loved a good fart joke. There was one match where the Giant met Jake “the Snake” Roberts in the ring, and the former sat on the latter’s face and let it rip. According to the Roberts, Andre broke wind for at least 30 seconds and the Snake added, “Giant’s farts are for extremely long periods of time.” Aside from farting in the ring, Andre messed with his opponents in other ways. For example, if their hair was long, he would step on it, but his greatest trick was wringing his singlet out on their faces, which could not have been pleasant.
A Good Fart Joke Made Him Happy
He Feuded With Randy Savage Over Baby Oil
Since Andre the Giant despised baby oil, his opponents didn’t use it during matches, except for Randy “Macho Man” Savage, who would practically bathe in baby oil before matches. Savage said, “Andre’s gimmick is being a giant and mine is baby oil.” His refusal to stop using baby oil even affected their relationship outside the ring, and Randy Savage became one of Andre the Giant’s biggest enemy even though Andre had very few enemies in real life. The feud was definitely immature but made for really special sparks when they met in the ring.
He Feuded With Randy Savage Over Baby Oil
He Could Drink Over 7,000 Calories Per Day
Olympic powerlifter Terry Todd often went for drinks with Andre the Giant, and the former said he learned early on that matching drinks with the legendary wrestler was impossible. Todd witnessed Andre regularly consume over 7,000 calories of alcohol in a day. In 1981, Todd said that Andre the Giant drank a whole case of beer on a typical day and would then wash it with two bottles of wine. Andre would consume a maximum of eight shots of brandy for dessert and when it was time for his second dessert, he would have a minimum of six mixed drinks. However, the reason that Andre drank so much is actually heartbreaking.
He Could Drink Over 7,000 Calories Per Day
A Hotel Surrounded Him With A Velvet Rope
After The Princess Bride’s first script read-through, Andre the Giant had a few too many and passed out at the lobby of the hotel where he was staying. Co-star Cary Elwes recounted the story, and it ended up being the first of many drinking adventures he had with Andre. Elwes says the famed wrestler’s favorite drink was “the American,” which is different liquors mixed in one pitcher, and Andre would consume quite a few in one sitting. As for the night in question, Andre had too much to drink and passed out. Since the hotel staff couldn’t move the 550-pound star, they put him a velvet rope around him to prevent other patrons from tripping over him.
A Hotel Surrounded Him With A Velvet Rope
Andre The Giant Drank Because Of Severe Pain
Andre the Giant suffered from acromegaly and it brought him a lot of pain. His body continued to grow and he was always in awful pain having to carry a lot of extra weight on his back. While doctors performed several surgeries, they didn’t know what pain medication they could prescribe due to his size. To manage the pain, Andre the Giant turned to alcohol to feel a bit more comfortable. It is incredible that even though he drank a staggering amount, he rarely got drunk. When he was working on The Princess Bride, he never missed a line, his speech was never slurred, and he was never late. Keep reading to find out more about his school bus adventures…
Andre The Giant Drank Because Of Severe Pain
He Wore A Back Brace Under His Signature Singlet
Acromegaly and years of wrestling destroyed Andre the Giant physically, so he had to undergo spinal surgery in 1986. He also had to wear a back brace which supported his figure in order to continue wrestling. The extra support was hidden under the iconic black singlet that he wore, but his mobility in the ring was severely limited by the back brace. Ironically, some of his most famous fights happened later in his career, like the title winning match versus Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania III. If you watch this match carefully, you can see Andre’s limited movement and you will notice that he relied a lot on basic fighting moves rather than the flashier ones that he used to do when he was younger.
He Wore A Back Brace Under His Signature Singlet
The “Most Embarrassing Wrestler” Award
Towards the end of Andre the Giant’s WWE career, he had gained nearly all achievements possible, and was even named the “Most Embarrassing Wrestler” by Wrestling Observers Newsletter in 1989. The Giant did not earn this award for anything embarrassing that he did. They gave it to him for the way he embarrassed his opponents, and one of the biggest embarrassments happened to Demon. Prior to a match, Andre was at ringside signing autographs for children, when Demon suddenly attacked him. Grabbing Demon’s mask, Andrew threw him across the ring, sending the other wrestler to frantically grab a towel, cover his face, and run off.
The “Most Embarrassing Wrestler” Award
The Giant Had Deep Pockets
In 1974, Andre the Giant was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the highest-paid wrestler in history. In the ‘70s, during the peak of his career, Andre was making $400,000 per year, with another million from outside sources like television appearances and sponsorships. Andre the Giant was worth two million dollars at some point and had a lavish lifestyle, always flying first class and traveling in a customized van. His 7,000 calories of alcohol per day was high-end spirits, wine, and beer. However, for all that luxury in his life, he had just as much pain, so knowing that Andre had died in his sleep when his time came to leave the world is somehow a bit comforting.
The Giant Had Deep Pockets
Andre Passed Away After He Attended His Father’s Funeral
In 1993, Andre got a call from Paris telling him about the declining health of his father. At the time, his health was also declining rapidly and not long after he attended his father’s funeral, 46-year-old Andre went to sleep in his bed at a hotel and never woke up. Congestive heart failure was the official cause of death. His heart gave out on him after years of heavy drinking and unbearable pain. Andre had chosen to be cremated, and his ashes were also pretty big. For the record, his final weigh in was 17 pounds.
Andre Passed Away After He Attended His Father’s Funeral
The Giant’s Final Resting Place
The initial plan of his family was to bury Andre in Paris, near his deceased father, but it was explicitly stated in the wrestler’s final will that he would like to be cremated. It reportedly took two weeks for his family to find a cremation facility which was large enough to handle his size. The family held a funeral for him in Paris, but they respected his wishes and took his ashes back to the United States. The Giant is buried in the garden at his former residence in Ellerbe, North Carolina. His daughter Robin is his sole beneficiary.
The Giant’s Final Resting Place
Too Big For The World
People who were closest to Andre the Giant say that in spite of his stage persona and gargantuan size, he was really emotionally sensitive. In the TV documentary film André the Giant on HBO, Hulk Hogan talks about incidents where Andre’s sheer size caused some embarrassing problems, which included having to pee in buckets on flights because the restroom was too small for him. Andre revealed in the same documentary, “It’s difficult everywhere I go. They don’t have anything for big people. They’ve got everything for blind people, for crippled people, for some other people but not for big people. So, we have to fit in there and it’s not too easy all the time.”
Too Big For The World
He Nearly Drowned Two Guys
Talking to TheWrap, Jason Hehir, the director of HBO’s Andre the Giant, related a shocking story which was cut from the film due to time. Apparently, Andre, Blackjack Mulligan, Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair were at a southern beach town together and went drinking in the evening. Andre was punched in the face by Mulligan, who was then dragged together with Rhodes outside by the Giant. Andre started to drown both men in the surf, but fortunately for the two, Ric Flair helped them out and convinced the Giant to go back inside. Andre did return inside and went back to drinking as if nothing happened.
He Nearly Drowned Two Guys
He Had A Massive Appetite For Beer
As mentioned, Andre the Giant had an incredible talent for drinking massive quantities of booze. In the ‘70s, during the legendary wrestler’s tour of Amarillo, Texas, the young wrestler Ted DiBiase had the task of keeping the Giant happy, so they went out for drinks. In an interview with CBS Sports, DiBiase recalled one particular occasion when a waitress came to their table and asked them what they would have. DiBiase said, “Andre asked her if she had a big trash can. She said ‘Yeah, we got a bunch of ’em.’ He said ‘Empty a trash can and fill it with beer and ice.’ And she looked at me like, ‘He can’t be serious.'” In the end, she brought a few cases of beer that were in a trash can.
He Had A Massive Appetite For Beer
His Life Inspired Comic Books
In the years since Andre the Giant died, the public’s interest in him hasn’t really waned, and his incredible life even inspired a couple of graphic novels. In 2016, Brandon Easton’s “Andre The Giant: Closer To Heaven” was released and in 2014, Box Brown’s “Andre the Giant: Life and Legend” was first published. According to Box Brown, a graphic novel was a great vehicle for Andre’s unusual life story. “When working on Andre’s story I was really trying to be careful. I tried to put myself in Andre’s shoes, which is difficult given the extraordinary nature of his life.”
His Life Inspired Comic Books
Last Appearances For WWF
Andre’s health had deteriorated a lot in his final years, so he decided to limit grueling wrestling appearances. His last WWF pay-per-view appearance was at SummerSlam ’91, which was held at Madison Square Garden. A lot of fans remember it because it was also the event where Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth got “married” on camera. In the same year, Andre went on a WWF tour in England and he went back to the ring for the last time for the 1992 Survivor Series. In January of 1993, Andre passed away.
Last Appearances For WWF
The Redskins Wanted The Giant In Their Team
In 1975, the defensive line of the Washington Redskins was really struggling, so they decided to turn to one of the biggest athletes in the world. The team offered the wrestler Andre the Giant an opportunity to try out, and they even called the offices of the World Wide Wrestling Federation to get permission. In Washington, D.C., a press conference was organized by the team and Andre and Vincent McMahon attended it. However, Andre never tried out for the team, but he clinched the WWE Championship in the same year.
The Redskins Wanted The Giant In Their Team
Casting The Giant In The Princess Bride
A whole generation of non-wrestling fans love Andre the Giant for his work in the 1987 cult classic film The Princess Bride, where he portrayed the lovable giant Fezzik. However, the film’s producers initially believed that they should find a basketball player to play the role. In TheWrap, the casting director of the movie, Jane Jenkins, revealed some details about the scouting process. She asked the author of the original book, “So this Fezzik character, this giant, what are we talking about? Am I looking for a basketball player?” The answer she got was, “Oh no, I want a giant like André the Giant.”
Casting The Giant In The Princess Bride
Fate Intervened
According to casting director Jane Jenkins, she scoped out the tall people she passed on the streets of Los Angeles when she was trying to find a good giant to be in The Princess Bride. She thought that anyone who fit through a doorway was too short. Although there were a number of other contenders, the producers really wanted Andre, who was unfortunately set to do a multi-million dollar match in Japan during the rehearsals. Fate intervened, however, and his match was canceled, making Andre available to meet Jenkins and other casting staff in Paris.
Fate Intervened
He Let Out Gas On The First Filming Day
As previously mentioned, Andre the Giant liked to fart, and this hobby from his wrestling days carried over during his acting career. During the reunion of the surviving cast for the 30th anniversary of The Princess Bride, co-star Cary Elwes shared this story with fans via ABC: During the first filming day, the cast was already so comfortable together that Andre “let out a 16 second fart and brought production to a standstill. It could be heard three counties away.” “Nobody said anything except Rob [Reiner], who said ‘Are you OK, André?’ and André replied, ‘I am now boss.’ He was comfortable enough to do that!”
He Let Out Gas On The First Filming Day
Focus Of Street Art
There is a street art campaign which focuses on Andre the Giant, and artist/activist Shepard Fairey started it in Rhode Island during the late ‘90s. Stickering which features the stylized image of the late, great wrestler started appearing all over the world and has the phrase “Andre the Giant has a Posse.” At times, the wording just says “OBEY”. Explaining to Format magazine about how the meme started, Fairey said “The Andre the Giant sticker was just a spontaneous, happy accident. I was teaching a friend how to make stencils in the summer of 1989, and I looked for a picture to use in the newspaper, and there just happened to be an ad for wrestling with André the Giant and I told him that he should make a stencil of it…. I thought it was funny so I made the stencil and I made a few stickers and the group of guys I was hanging out with always called each other The Posse, so it said Andre the Giant Has a Posse, and it was sort of appropriated from hip-hop slang – Public Enemy, N.W.A and Ice-T were all using the word.”
Focus Of Street Art
A Rivalry With Kamala
In the 1980s, the legendary wrestler Kamala also fought against Andre and they had a rivalry for much of the decade. Calling himself a “headhunter,” Kamala wrestled while sporting a loincloth, full face paint, and bare feet. In recent times, Kamala has come out about the sexist and racist culture of wrestling, and mentioned Andre specifically: “Andre wasn’t the friendly guy that he appeared to be. He was real temperamental and had a nasty attitude. When I first started working with him, he called me a (derogatory) name in the ring and I beat him up. After that, I never had another problem with him. A lot of (top guys had problems with Andre too). He would just go out and mop the floor with people. He treated (wrestlers) nasty, and the fans too.” As a matter of fact, there are reports of Kamala and Andre having fistfights off the ring.
A Rivalry With Kamala
No Love Lost With Bad News Allen
Another wrestler who had some beef with Andre was Bad News Allen, whose complaints against Andre were similar to those of Kamala’s. It stemmed from some offensive remarks that the Giant allegedly made during a tour with Allen in Mexico in 1992. At this point, Andre was in bad health. In this situation, Andre was suffering from a stomach virus and was consuming tequila steadily. A match between the two started, but hell broke loose in Andre’s digestive system and as he did his famous “butt bump” move on Allen’s face, he totally lost control of his bowels. After the disgusting accident, many called Allen “Bad News Brown”.
No Love Lost With Bad News Allen
Andre And Ric Flair Drank All The Vodka On A Plane
It seems Andre’s wrestling associates have endless colourful tales of the Giant’s drinking habits. In Ric Flair’s autobiography “To Be the Man”, he wrote about a time when they traveled from Chicago to Japan. Flair recounted, “I was with him one night at the Downtowner in Charlotte. In 1975, he drank 106 beers. And Frank Valois, his manager at that time, drank 56….. Hey, I’ve been on a plane, on a 747 with him going to Tokyo out of Chicago, on No. 4 on Northwest. We drank every bottle of vodka on the plane.”
Andre And Ric Flair Drank All The Vodka On A Plane
He Really Wanted To Watch A Play
Andre got to do a lot of different things in his life, so there was practically nothing that he never got to do, except watch a Broadway play. Believe it or not, he really wanted to go see one but he never did because he knew he would block someone else’s view. He was considerate enough to have thought about this and it shows he was the kind of person who would not convenience anyone just to tick off something on his bucket list.
He Really Wanted To Watch A Play
The Rock’s Uncle Andre
How are Andre the Giant and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson related? The Rock shared this photo on Twitter and he captioned it with, “At 5, I never knew why people got so excited to see him.. to me he was just “Uncle Andre”;) #MissU #TBT” Many fans probably believe that Andre was The Rock’s uncle, but the two weren’t related by blood. The Rock’s dad, Rocky Johnson, was also a professional wrestler and was close to Andre, so little Rock called Andre his uncle.
The Rock’s Uncle Andre
His Fingers Were Enormous
Of course, Andre’s fingers matched his giant body, and they were supposedly really large, so playing piano was not an option since each finger spanned three keys. His rings were also really huge and whole silver dollars could fit in the holes. He was known for using his large fingers against opponents in the ring. In an interview in 2011, Hulk Hogan claimed Andre sometimes inserted one of his big thumbs into his opponents bum during a match.
His Fingers Were Enormous
His Drinking Rubbed Off On Co-Workers
Some reports claim Andre’s heavy drinking had the tendency to rub off on his co-workers, especially those he worked with while filming The Princess Bride. Co-stars Mandy Patinkin and Cary Elwes apparently became his drinking buddies, but they simply couldn’t keep up with Andre. According to UpRoxx, this led to a lot of the movie’s stars coming to work with a hangover. Considering Andre supposedly had a tab that amounted to $40,000 at the bar of the London Hyatt while they were filming, it’s not a surprise that mere mortals couldn’t really match him drink for drink.
His Drinking Rubbed Off On Co-Workers
More Problems Brought On By His Massive Size
Andre the Giant was so large that he tended to run into many problems doing things “regular” sized people have no issues doing. For Andre, as mentioned already, bathroom functions were a few of his problems. Standard toilets in many locations were out of the question for him, but the situation was even worse in Japan. In Hulk Hogan’s autobiography, he wrote that Andre couldn’t even fit into the facilities in Japan, so he had to drape the bed with newspapers, making the best of a very awkward situation.
More Problems Brought On By His Massive Size
Andre The Giant And Honeycomb Cereal
The big taste of Honeycomb Cereal was as large as Andre the Giant! The honey-flavored children’s cereal got him as their fitting spokesperson for in the 1980s. He pops in on two children who are hanging out in a treehouse in the widely-aired television promo of the cereal. Andre was definitely perfect for the part since the cereal’s theme song was: “Honeycomb’s big…yeah yeah yeah! It’s not small…no no no! Honeycomb’s got…a big big bite! Big big (taste/crunch) in a big big bite!”
Andre The Giant And Honeycomb Cereal
Not What You Think
In the wrestling world, things tend to be exaggerated a lot, and Andre was no exception. From the beginning of his career, he was said to be 7 feet 4 inches tall, but by the end of his career, it was said that he was 6 feet 10 inches. How can that be? It turns out that he really was 7’4, but in the 1980s, he needed back surgery. As a result, he lost several inches, leading him to be 6’10.
Not What You Think
Giant Appetite
For the most part, Andre didn’t order such big meals, but when he wanted to show off, he didn’t hold back. According to his friend, Tim White, he would sometimes eat as many as 12 steaks and 15 lobsters in one sitting!
Giant Appetite
WWE Boss
While Andre was filming The Princess Bride, he got a special visit. WWE boss, Vince McMahon flew all the way to England to visit Andre and to convince him to wrestle Hulk Hogan for WrestleMania III.
WWE Boss
His Roots
While he wasn’t wrestling, Andre loved riding his ATV as well as raising cattle on a ranch in North Carolina. He didn’t want to leave his farming roots behind, even once he became a famous wrestler.
His Roots
Hugo Andore
If you’ve played the video game Final Fight, you might know the character, Hugo Andore. However, did you know this character was made as a homage to Andre? It’s true! Andre was the inspiration for this character.
Hugo Andore
Trading Mom
It turns out that Andre the Giant’s final movie appearance was after his death! While he passed away in 1993, Andre appeared in the comedy, Trading Mom, which was released only in 1994. How spooky is that?
Trading Mom
Grand Opening
Andre’s wrestling debut was in the World Wrestling Federation in March of 1973. This was back when it was called the World Wide Wrestling Federation. He instantly became a fan favorite, defeating Buddy Wolfe in Madison Square Garden.
Grand Opening
Tallest
While Andre really was a giant, in wrestling history, there were actually a few other wrestlers who were taller than him! They might not be as well known, but some of them are Giant Gonzalez, a former NBA player who was in the WCW and WWE and was 7’7. It turns out that he suffered from a similar condition as Andre did.
Tallest
Keeping Warm
While filming The Princess Bride, the weather became colder, which affected Robin Wright, who played Princess Buttercup. Well, Andre used to put his hand on her head, and since it was so large, it covered the top of her head completely, helping her keep warm.
Keeping Warm
Chuck Wepner
In one match, Andre the Giant picked up heavyweight boxer, Chuck Wepner and threw him right out of the ring! Just to clarify, Chuck Wepner is none other than the boxer who inspired the “Rocky” movies.
Chuck Wepner