André the Giant
Encyclopedia
André René Roussimoff best known as André the Giant, was a French
professional wrestler
and actor
. His best remembered acting role was that of Fezzik, the giant in the film The Princess Bride
. His size was a result of acromegaly
, and led to him being called "The Eighth Wonder of the World
".
In World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly the World Wrestling Federation/WWF), Roussimoff was a one-time WWF Champion
and a one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. In 1993, he was the first inductee into the WWF Hall of Fame
.
, France
to parents of Bulgaria
n and Polish
ancestry. As a child, he very early displayed symptoms of his acromegaly
, reaching a height of 6'3" (190.5 cm) and weight of 240 pounds (108.9 kg) by age 12. Unable to fit on the school bus, he was driven to school by playwright Samuel Beckett
, a friend of his father. Roussimoff was a good student, but he dropped out after the 8th grade since he did not think having a high school education was necessary for a farm laborer. He then worked on a farm, completed an apprenticeship
in woodworking
, and next worked in a factory
that manufactured engine
s for hay baler
s. None of these brought him any satisfaction.
and was taught the skills of professional wrestling
by a local promoter who knew there would be money in Roussimoff's future. He trained at night and worked as a mover during the day to pay living expenses. Roussimoff was billed as "Géant Ferré", taken from the name of a mythical French giant, and began wrestling in Paris
and nearby areas. Canadian promoter and wrestler Frank Valois met Roussimoff in 1966, becoming his business manager and adviser. Roussimoff began making a name for himself wrestling in England
, Germany
, New Zealand
, and Africa
.
He made his Japan
debut in 1970, billed as "Monster Roussimoff", wrestling for the International Wrestling Enterprise
. Wrestling as both a singles and tag team competitor, he quickly won the company's tag team championship alongside Michael Nador. It was during his time in Japan that doctors first informed Roussimoff that he suffered from acromegaly
.
Roussimoff next moved to Montreal
, Canada
, where he became an immediate success, regularly selling out the Montreal Forum
. However, promoters eventually ran out of plausible opponents for him and, as the novelty of his size wore off, the gate receipts dwindled. Roussimoff wrestled numerous times in 1972 for Verne Gagne
's American Wrestling Association
(AWA) as a special attraction until Valois appealed to Vince McMahon, Sr., founder of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) for advice. McMahon suggested several changes. He felt Roussimoff should be portrayed as a large, immovable monster. To enhance his size, McMahon discouraged Roussimoff from performing maneuvers such as dropkick
s. He also began billing Roussimoff as "André the Giant" and set up a travel-intensive schedule, loaning him to wrestling associations around the world, to keep him from becoming over-exposed in any area. Promoters had to guarantee André a certain amount of money, as well as pay McMahon's WWWF a booking fee.
, defeating Buddy Wolfe
in New York
's Madison Square Garden
.
André was one of professional wrestling's most beloved "babyfaces" throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. As such, Gorilla Monsoon
insisted that André was never defeated for 15 years by pinfall or submission prior to WrestleMania III. This, however, is not true. André actually had lost cleanly in matches outside of the parameters of WWF; a pinfall loss in Mexico to Canek in 1984 and a submission loss in Japan to Antonio Inoki
in June 1986. He also went sixty-minute time limit draws with the two other major world champions of the day, Harley Race
and Nick Bockwinkel
.
In 1976 Andre fought professional boxer Chuck Wepner
in an unscripted Boxer vs Wrestler fight. The wild fight was shown via telecast as part of the undercard of the Muhammad Ali
vs Antonio Inoki fight and ended when Andre threw Wepner over the top rope and outside the ring.
In 1982, Vince McMahon, Sr. sold the World Wrestling Federation (which had dropped "Wide" from its name in 1979) to his son, Vince McMahon, Jr.
. As McMahon began to expand his newly acquired promotion to the national level, he required his wrestlers to appear exclusively for him. McMahon signed André to these terms in 1984, although he still allowed the Giant to work in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling
(NJPW).
One of André's feuds pitted him against "the Mongolian Giant" Killer Khan
. According to the storyline, Khan had snapped André's ankle during a match on May 2, 1981, in Rochester
, New York
by leaping off the top rope and crashing down upon it with his knee-drop. In reality, André had broken his ankle getting out of bed the morning before the match. The injury and subsequent rehabilitation was worked into the existing André/Khan storyline. After a stay at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, André returned with payback on his mind. The two battled on July 20, 1981 at Madison Square Garden in a match that resulted in a double disqualification. Their feud continued through the summer and fall as fans filled arenas up and down the east coast
to witness their matches. On November 14, 1981 at the Philadelphia Spectrum, the feud culminated when André decisively defeated Khan in what was billed as a "Mongolian Stretcher Match", in which the loser must be taken to the dressing room on a stretcher.
Another feud involved a man who considered himself to be "the true giant" of wrestling: Big John Studd
. Throughout the early to mid-1980s, André and Studd fought all over the world, battling to try and determine who the real giant of wrestling was. In December 1984, Studd took the feud to a new level, when he and partner Ken Patera
knocked out André during a televised tag team match and proceeded to cut off André's hair. After gaining revenge on Patera, André met Studd in a "Body Slam Challenge" at the first WrestleMania
, held March 31, 1985 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. André slammed Studd to win the match and collect the $
15,000 prize, then proceeded to throw cash to the fans before having the bag stolen from him by Studd's manager, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
.
The following year, at WrestleMania 2
on April 7, 1986, André continued to display his dominance by winning a twenty-man battle royal
which featured top NFL
stars and wrestlers. André last eliminated Bret Hart
to win the contest.
After WrestleMania 2, André continued his feud with Studd and King Kong Bundy
. At about this time, Andre requested a leave of absence to tend to his health—effects from his acromegaly were beginning to take their toll—as well as tour Japan; he had also gotten a part in the film The Princess Bride
). To explain Andre's absence, a storyline was developed to have Heenan—suggesting that Andre was secretly afraid of Studd and Bundy, whom Heenan bragged were unbeatable—challenge Andre and a partner of his choosing to wrestle Studd and Bundy in a televised tag-team match. When Andre failed to show, WWF President Jack Tunney
indefinitely suspended Andre. Later in the summer of 1986, upon Andre's return to the United States, he began wearing a mask and competing as the "Giant Machine" in a stable known as The Machines. (Big Machine and Super Machine
were the other members.) The WWF's television announcers sold the Machines—a gimmick was copied from New Japan Pro Wrestling
character "Super Strong Machine", played by Japanese wrestler Junji Hirata
) – as "a new tag team from Japan," and claimed not to know the identities of the wrestlers, even though it was obvious to fans and the television audience that it was Andre competing as the Giant Machine. Heenan, Studd and Bundy complained to Tunney, who eventually told Heenan that if it could be proven that Andre and the Giant Machine were the same person, Andre would be fired. Andre thrwarted Heenan, Studd and Bundy at every turn. Then, in the fall of 1986, the Giant Machine "disappeared," and André was reinstated. Foreshadowing Andre's heel turn, Heenan expressed his approval of the reinstatement but did not explain why.
in early 1987 to be the counter to the biggest "babyface
" in professional wrestling at that time, Hulk Hogan
. On an edition of Piper's Pit
in January 1987, Hogan was presented a trophy for being the WWF World Heavyweight Champion
for three years; André came out to congratulate him. On the following week's Piper's Pit, André was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "the only undefeated wrestler in wrestling history." Although André had suffered a handful of countout and disqualification losses in WWF, he had never been pinned or forced to submit in a WWF ring. Hogan came out to congratulate André and ended up being the focal point of the interview. A visibly "annoyed" André walked out in the midst of Hogan's speech. A "discussion" between André and Hogan was scheduled, and on a Piper's Pit that aired February 7, 1987, the two met. Hogan was introduced first, followed by André. André was led by longtime rival Bobby Heenan. Speaking on behalf of his new protege, Heenan accused Hogan of using André. Hogan tried to reason with André but his pleas were ignored as he challenged Hogan to a match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania III
before ripping the t-shirt and crucifix
from Hogan.
At WrestleMania III, he was billed at 520 lb (235.9 kg), and the stress of such immense weight on his bones and joints resulted in constant pain. After recent back surgery, he was also wearing a brace underneath his wrestling singlet
. Hogan won the match after body slamming André, followed by Hogan's running leg drop finisher. Years later, Hogan claimed that André was so heavy, he felt more like 700 lb (317.5 kg), and that he actually tore his latissimus dorsi muscle slamming him. Another famous story about the match is that no one knew if André would lose the match. André had agreed to lose the match some time before, mostly for health reasons, though he almost pinned Hogan (albeit unintentionally) in the early goings of the match. Contrary to popular belief, it was not the first time that Hogan had successfully bodyslammed André in a WWF match. A then-heel Hogan bodyslammed a then-face André early in a match in Hamburg
, Pennsylvania
on September 13, 1980, though André was much lighter and more athletic at the time. This took place in the territorial days of American wrestling three years before WWF began national expansion (André had also previously allowed Harley Race
, El Canek
, and Stan Hansen
to slam him.) By the time WrestleMania III had rolled around, the WWF had gone national, giving more meaning to the André–Hogan match that took place then. The feud between André and Hogan simmered during the summer of 1987, even as Roussimoff's health declined. The feud would begin heating up again when each wrestler was named the captain of rival teams at the inaugural Survivor Series
event. André's team won the main event after André pinned Bam Bam Bigelow.
In the meantime, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
failed to persuade Hogan to sell him the WWF World Championship. After failing to defeat Hogan in a subsequent series of matches, DiBiase turned to André to win it for him. Acting as his hired gun, André won the WWF title from Hogan on February 5, 1988 in a match where it was later revealed appointed referee
Dave Hebner
was "detained backstage", and a replacement (whom Hogan afterwards initially accused of having been paid by DiBiase to get plastic surgery to look like Dave , but in fact was revealed to have been his 'evil' twin brother Earl Hebner
), made a three count on Hogan while his shoulders were off the mat. After winning, André "sold" the title to DiBiase; the transaction was declared invalid by then-WWF President Jack Tunney
and the title was vacated. This was shown on WWF's NBC
program The Main Event
. At WrestleMania IV
, André and Hulk Hogan fought to a double disqualification in a WWF title tournament match (with the idea in the storyline saying that André was again working on DiBiase's behalf in giving DiBiase a clearer path in the tournament). Afterward, André and Hogan's feud died down after a steel cage match held at WrestleFest on July 31, 1988 in Milwaukee. He and DiBiase also wrestled Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage
in the main event of SummerSlam
; the DiBiase–André team lost, despite apparently having referee Jesse "the Body" Ventura
on their side.
Concurrent with the developing feud with the Mega Powers, André was placed in a feud with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
, which began after Duggan knocked out André with his two-by-four during a television taping. Despite Duggan's popularity with fans, André regularly got the upper hand in the feud.
. In this storyline, it was said André was deathly afraid of snakes
, something Roberts exposed on Saturday Night's Main Event
when he threw his snake, Damien, on the frightened André; as a result, André suffered a kayfabe
mild heart attack and vowed revenge. During the next few weeks, Roberts frequently walked to ringside during André's matches, causing him to run from the ring in fright (since he knew what was inside the bag). Throughout their feud (which culminated at WrestleMania V
), Roberts constantly used Damien to gain a psychological edge over the much larger and stronger André.
In 1989, André and the returning Big John Studd briefly reprised their feud, this time with Studd as a face and André as the heel. During the late summer and fall of 1989, André engaged in a brief feud, almost entirely consisting of house show
s (non-televised events), with then-Intercontinental champion
The Ultimate Warrior
. The younger Warrior, WWF's rising star, regularly squashed the aging André in an attempt to showcase his star quality and promote him as the "next big thing".
In the fall of 1989, André was joined with fellow Heenan Family
member Haku to form a new tag team called The Colossal Connection, in part to fill a void left by the departure of Tully Blanchard
and Arn Anderson
(The Brain Busters, who were also members of Heenan's stable) from the WWF, and also to continue to keep the aging André in the main event spotlight. The Colossal Connection immediately targeted WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition
(who had recently won the belts from the Brain Busters). At a television taping on December 13, 1989, the Colossal Connection defeated Demolition to win the titles. André and Haku successfully defended their titles, mostly against Demolition, until WrestleMania VI
on April 1, 1990, when Demolition took advantage of a mistimed move by the champions to regain the belts. After the match, a furious Heenan blamed André for the title loss and after shouting at him slapped him in the face; an angry André responded with a slap of his own that sent Heenan staggering from the ring. André also caught Haku's kick attempt, sending him reeling from the ring as well, prompting loud cheers for André for the first time in three years. André went into the match as a heel, but left as a face.
in his WrestleMania VII
match against Mr. Perfect
.
His last major WWF storyline following WrestleMania VII had the major heel managers (Bobby Heenan, Sensational Sherri
, Slick
, and Mr. Fuji
) trying to recruit André one-by-one, only to be turned down in various humiliating ways (i.e. Heenan had his hand crushed, Sherri received a spanking, Slick got locked in the trunk of the car he was offering to André and Mr Fuji got a pie in his face). Finally, Jimmy Hart
appeared live on WWF Superstars to announce that he successfully signed André to tag-team with Earthquake
. However, when asked to confirm by Gene Okerlund
, André denied the claims. This led to Earthquake attacking André from behind (injuring his knee). Jimmy Hart would later get revenge for the humiliation by secretly signing Tugboat
and forming The Natural Disasters
. This led to André's final major WWF appearance at SummerSlam
'91, where he seconded The Bushwhackers
in their match against the Disasters.
His last U.S.
television appearance was in a brief interview on World Championship Wrestling
's (WCW) Clash of the Champions XX special that aired on TBS
on September 2, 1992.
(AJPW). He toured with AJPW three times per year, from September 1990 to 1992, usually teaming with Giant Baba
in tag team matches. He wrestled his final match in December 1992.
") on the 1970s television series The Six Million Dollar Man
. He appeared in other television shows, including The Greatest American Hero
, B.J. and the Bear
, and The Fall Guy
. He also performed in an episode of Zorro
.
Towards the end of his career, André starred in several movies
. He had an uncredited appearance in the 1984 film
— Conan the Destroyer
, as Dagoth, the resurrected horned giant god who is killed by Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger
). He appeared most notably as Fezzik, his own favorite role, in the 1987 film
The Princess Bride
. Both the film and Andre's performance retain a devoted following.
In his last film, he appeared in a cameo role as a circus
giant in the comedy Trading Mom, which was not released until a year after his death.
The disease called acromegaly that granted him his immense size eventually began to take its toll on his body. By the late 1980s, André was in constant, near-crippling pain, and his heart struggled to pump blood throughout his massive body.
According to William Goldman
, author of The Princess Bride
and its screenplay, André was having such terrible back pain during the filming of the movie that in the first shooting of a scene where Robin Wright drops about one foot and is caught by Fezzik, he fell to one knee and almost dropped her.
In the A&E documentary, Biography, Arnold Skaaland
mentions how André wished he could see a Broadway
play. Arnold offered to buy tickets, but André turned down the opportunity, saying he was too big for the seats and people behind him would not be able to see.
André was mentioned in the 1974 Guinness Book of World Records
as the highest paid wrestler in history to that time. He had earned $
400,000 in one year alone during the early 1970s.
Roussimoff has been unofficially crowned "The Greatest Drunk on Earth" for once consuming 119 12 USfloz beers in 6 hours. On an episode of WWE's Legends of Wrestling, Mike Graham said André once drank 156 16 USfloz beers in one sitting, which was confirmed by Dusty Rhodes
. Such feats can be attributed to his large size, which meant it took higher amounts of alcohol to inebriate him. In her autobiography, The Fabulous Moolah
Lillian Ellison writes that André drank 127 beers in a Reading, Pennsylvania
hotel bar and later passed out in the lobby. The staff could not move him and had to leave him there until he awakened.
André was arrested by the Linn County, Iowa
sheriff in August 1989 and charged with assault after he allegedly roughed up a local television cameraman.
on the night of January 27, 1993, in a Paris
hotel room. At the time, he was in Paris to attend the funeral of his father. Roussimoff's body was cremated
according to his wishes and his ashes were scattered at his farm in Ellerbe, North Carolina
.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. His best remembered acting role was that of Fezzik, the giant in the film The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride (film)
The Princess Bride is a 1987 American film based on the 1973 novel of the same name by William Goldman, combining comedy, adventure, romance, and fantasy. The film was directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by Goldman...
. His size was a result of acromegaly
Acromegaly
Acromegaly is a syndrome that results when the anterior pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone after epiphyseal plate closure at puberty...
, and led to him being called "The Eighth Wonder of the World
Eighth Wonder of the World
Eighth Wonder of the World is a term sometimes used to describe things in comparison to the Seven Wonders of the World, the widely-known list of seven remarkable constructions of classical antiquity.-Natural places:...
".
In World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly the World Wrestling Federation/WWF), Roussimoff was a one-time WWF Champion
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
and a one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. In 1993, he was the first inductee into the WWF Hall of Fame
WWE Hall of Fame
The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...
.
Early life
André Roussimoff was born in GrenobleGrenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to parents of Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n and Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
ancestry. As a child, he very early displayed symptoms of his acromegaly
Acromegaly
Acromegaly is a syndrome that results when the anterior pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone after epiphyseal plate closure at puberty...
, reaching a height of 6'3" (190.5 cm) and weight of 240 pounds (108.9 kg) by age 12. Unable to fit on the school bus, he was driven to school by playwright Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
, a friend of his father. Roussimoff was a good student, but he dropped out after the 8th grade since he did not think having a high school education was necessary for a farm laborer. He then worked on a farm, completed an apprenticeship
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
in woodworking
Woodworking
Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...
, and next worked in a factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
that manufactured engine
Engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert energy into useful mechanical motion. Heat engines, including internal combustion engines and external combustion engines burn a fuel to create heat which is then used to create motion...
s for hay baler
Baler
A baler is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport and store...
s. None of these brought him any satisfaction.
Early career
At age 18, Roussimoff moved to ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and was taught the skills of professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
by a local promoter who knew there would be money in Roussimoff's future. He trained at night and worked as a mover during the day to pay living expenses. Roussimoff was billed as "Géant Ferré", taken from the name of a mythical French giant, and began wrestling in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and nearby areas. Canadian promoter and wrestler Frank Valois met Roussimoff in 1966, becoming his business manager and adviser. Roussimoff began making a name for himself wrestling in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
He made his Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
debut in 1970, billed as "Monster Roussimoff", wrestling for the International Wrestling Enterprise
International Pro Wrestling
International Pro Wrestling , also known as International Wrestling Enterprise, was a professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1966 to 1981. Founded by Isao Yoshihara, it was affiliated with the American Wrestling Association in the United States and also had tie-ins with promotions in Europe...
. Wrestling as both a singles and tag team competitor, he quickly won the company's tag team championship alongside Michael Nador. It was during his time in Japan that doctors first informed Roussimoff that he suffered from acromegaly
Acromegaly
Acromegaly is a syndrome that results when the anterior pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone after epiphyseal plate closure at puberty...
.
Roussimoff next moved to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, where he became an immediate success, regularly selling out the Montreal Forum
Montreal Forum
The Montreal Forum was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by Sporting News, it was home of the National Hockey League's Montreal Maroons from 1924 to 1938 and the Montreal Canadiens from 1926 to 1996...
. However, promoters eventually ran out of plausible opponents for him and, as the novelty of his size wore off, the gate receipts dwindled. Roussimoff wrestled numerous times in 1972 for Verne Gagne
Verne Gagne
Laverne Clarence "Verne" Gagne , is a retired American professional wrestler, football player, and professional wrestling trainer and promoter. He was the former owner/promoter of the American Wrestling Association , based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was the predominant promotion throughout...
's American Wrestling Association
American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
(AWA) as a special attraction until Valois appealed to Vince McMahon, Sr., founder of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) for advice. McMahon suggested several changes. He felt Roussimoff should be portrayed as a large, immovable monster. To enhance his size, McMahon discouraged Roussimoff from performing maneuvers such as dropkick
Dropkick
A dropkick is an attacking maneuver in professional wrestling. It is defined as an attack where the wrestler jumps up and kicks the opponent with the soles of both feet; this sees the wrestler twist as he or she jumps so that when the feet connect with the opponent one foot is raised higher than...
s. He also began billing Roussimoff as "André the Giant" and set up a travel-intensive schedule, loaning him to wrestling associations around the world, to keep him from becoming over-exposed in any area. Promoters had to guarantee André a certain amount of money, as well as pay McMahon's WWWF a booking fee.
Face run (1973–1987)
On March 26, 1973, André made his World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE) debut as a fan favoriteFace (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
, defeating Buddy Wolfe
Buddy Wolfe
Les Wolff is a retired American football player and professional wrestler, known by his ring name "Beautiful" Buddy Wolfe, who competed in North American regional promotions including the American Wrestling Association, National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wide Wrestling Federation during the...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
.
André was one of professional wrestling's most beloved "babyfaces" throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. As such, Gorilla Monsoon
Gorilla Monsoon
Robert James "Gino" Marella , better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play announcer, and booker...
insisted that André was never defeated for 15 years by pinfall or submission prior to WrestleMania III. This, however, is not true. André actually had lost cleanly in matches outside of the parameters of WWF; a pinfall loss in Mexico to Canek in 1984 and a submission loss in Japan to Antonio Inoki
Antonio Inoki
is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist who now resides between New York City and Tokyo. He was also the founder and former owner of New Japan Pro Wrestling before selling his controlling share in the promotion to Yukes...
in June 1986. He also went sixty-minute time limit draws with the two other major world champions of the day, Harley Race
Harley Race
Harley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter and trainer. During his career as a wrestler, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship 7 times...
and Nick Bockwinkel
Nick Bockwinkel
Nicholas Warren Francis "Nick" Bockwinkel is a retired American professional wrestler. He mainly competed in the American Wrestling Association in the United States...
.
In 1976 Andre fought professional boxer Chuck Wepner
Chuck Wepner
Charles "Chuck" Wepner is a former heavyweight boxer from Bayonne, New Jersey. As a tough but journeyman boxer he went 15 rounds with world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in a 1975 fight. Wepner is credited as the inspiration for Rocky Balboa. Wepner also appeared in the book Operation Bullpen...
in an unscripted Boxer vs Wrestler fight. The wild fight was shown via telecast as part of the undercard of the Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
vs Antonio Inoki fight and ended when Andre threw Wepner over the top rope and outside the ring.
In 1982, Vince McMahon, Sr. sold the World Wrestling Federation (which had dropped "Wide" from its name in 1979) to his son, Vince McMahon, Jr.
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
. As McMahon began to expand his newly acquired promotion to the national level, he required his wrestlers to appear exclusively for him. McMahon signed André to these terms in 1984, although he still allowed the Giant to work in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling
New Japan Pro Wrestling
is a major professional wrestling promotion in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in June 1972 and owned by Yuke's since 2005, when Inoki sold the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi is the current President of the promotion and has held that position from 2007. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it...
(NJPW).
One of André's feuds pitted him against "the Mongolian Giant" Killer Khan
Killer Khan
is a retired professional wrestler. Popularly known as Killer Khan, he was billed from Mongolia and had numerous high-profile matches with André the Giant in the World Wrestling Federation during the 1980s, including the first ever "stretcher match"...
. According to the storyline, Khan had snapped André's ankle during a match on May 2, 1981, in Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
by leaping off the top rope and crashing down upon it with his knee-drop. In reality, André had broken his ankle getting out of bed the morning before the match. The injury and subsequent rehabilitation was worked into the existing André/Khan storyline. After a stay at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, André returned with payback on his mind. The two battled on July 20, 1981 at Madison Square Garden in a match that resulted in a double disqualification. Their feud continued through the summer and fall as fans filled arenas up and down the east coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
to witness their matches. On November 14, 1981 at the Philadelphia Spectrum, the feud culminated when André decisively defeated Khan in what was billed as a "Mongolian Stretcher Match", in which the loser must be taken to the dressing room on a stretcher.
Another feud involved a man who considered himself to be "the true giant" of wrestling: Big John Studd
Big John Studd
John William Minton was an American professional wrestler and actor who was born and raised in Butler, Pennsylvania, better known by his ring name, Big John Studd.-Career:...
. Throughout the early to mid-1980s, André and Studd fought all over the world, battling to try and determine who the real giant of wrestling was. In December 1984, Studd took the feud to a new level, when he and partner Ken Patera
Ken Patera
Ken Patera is a former professional wrestler, Olympic weightlifter, and Strongman competitor.-Weightlifting/Strongman career:Patera is a former Olympic weightlifter and American powerlifter...
knocked out André during a televised tag team match and proceeded to cut off André's hair. After gaining revenge on Patera, André met Studd in a "Body Slam Challenge" at the first WrestleMania
WrestleMania (1985)
WrestleMania was the first annual WrestleMania professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on March 31, 1985, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The attendance for the event was 19,121 fans...
, held March 31, 1985 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. André slammed Studd to win the match and collect the $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
15,000 prize, then proceeded to throw cash to the fans before having the bag stolen from him by Studd's manager, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis "Ray" Heenan , better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , is a former American professional wrestling manager and color commentator, best known for his time with the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...
.
The following year, at WrestleMania 2
WrestleMania 2
WrestleMania 2 was the second annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation...
on April 7, 1986, André continued to display his dominance by winning a twenty-man battle royal
Battle royal (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a battle royal is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared winner...
which featured top NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
stars and wrestlers. André last eliminated Bret Hart
Bret Hart
Bret Hart is a Canadian on-screen personality, writer, actor and Semi-retired professional wrestler. Like others in the Hart wrestling family, Hart has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College...
to win the contest.
After WrestleMania 2, André continued his feud with Studd and King Kong Bundy
King Kong Bundy
Christopher Alan "Chris" Pallies is an American professional wrestler, stand-up comedian and actor, better known by his ring name, King Kong Bundy.-Personal:...
. At about this time, Andre requested a leave of absence to tend to his health—effects from his acromegaly were beginning to take their toll—as well as tour Japan; he had also gotten a part in the film The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride (film)
The Princess Bride is a 1987 American film based on the 1973 novel of the same name by William Goldman, combining comedy, adventure, romance, and fantasy. The film was directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by Goldman...
). To explain Andre's absence, a storyline was developed to have Heenan—suggesting that Andre was secretly afraid of Studd and Bundy, whom Heenan bragged were unbeatable—challenge Andre and a partner of his choosing to wrestle Studd and Bundy in a televised tag-team match. When Andre failed to show, WWF President Jack Tunney
Jack Tunney
John "Jack" Tunney was a Canadian wrestling promoter. Tunney was known worldwide for his appearances on World Wrestling Federation television as the promotion's figurehead president, suspending wrestlers, stripping them of titles, and ordering matches...
indefinitely suspended Andre. Later in the summer of 1986, upon Andre's return to the United States, he began wearing a mask and competing as the "Giant Machine" in a stable known as The Machines. (Big Machine and Super Machine
Bill Eadie
Bill Eadie is a professional wrestler who has competed under the names of Ax as part of Demolition and The Masked Superstar...
were the other members.) The WWF's television announcers sold the Machines—a gimmick was copied from New Japan Pro Wrestling
New Japan Pro Wrestling
is a major professional wrestling promotion in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in June 1972 and owned by Yuke's since 2005, when Inoki sold the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi is the current President of the promotion and has held that position from 2007. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it...
character "Super Strong Machine", played by Japanese wrestler Junji Hirata
Junji Hirata
is a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestles for the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion, and currently uses the ring name .-Career:Hirata made his debut in New Japan on August 26, 1978 against Yoshiaki Fujiwara...
) – as "a new tag team from Japan," and claimed not to know the identities of the wrestlers, even though it was obvious to fans and the television audience that it was Andre competing as the Giant Machine. Heenan, Studd and Bundy complained to Tunney, who eventually told Heenan that if it could be proven that Andre and the Giant Machine were the same person, Andre would be fired. Andre thrwarted Heenan, Studd and Bundy at every turn. Then, in the fall of 1986, the Giant Machine "disappeared," and André was reinstated. Foreshadowing Andre's heel turn, Heenan expressed his approval of the reinstatement but did not explain why.
Feud with Hulk Hogan; WWF Championship (1987–1988)
André agreed to turn heelHeel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
in early 1987 to be the counter to the biggest "babyface
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
" in professional wrestling at that time, Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
. On an edition of Piper's Pit
Piper's Pit
Piper's Pit was an interview segment featuring Roddy Piper which was a mainstay of WWF/WWE television from 1984 to 1987, and then returned briefly in 1989. Also, Piper hosted similar segments while wrestling for other promotions in 2003 - 2011....
in January 1987, Hogan was presented a trophy for being the WWF World Heavyweight Champion
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
for three years; André came out to congratulate him. On the following week's Piper's Pit, André was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "the only undefeated wrestler in wrestling history." Although André had suffered a handful of countout and disqualification losses in WWF, he had never been pinned or forced to submit in a WWF ring. Hogan came out to congratulate André and ended up being the focal point of the interview. A visibly "annoyed" André walked out in the midst of Hogan's speech. A "discussion" between André and Hogan was scheduled, and on a Piper's Pit that aired February 7, 1987, the two met. Hogan was introduced first, followed by André. André was led by longtime rival Bobby Heenan. Speaking on behalf of his new protege, Heenan accused Hogan of using André. Hogan tried to reason with André but his pleas were ignored as he challenged Hogan to a match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania III
WrestleMania III
WrestleMania III was the third annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . The event was held on March 29, 1987 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan....
before ripping the t-shirt and crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
from Hogan.
At WrestleMania III, he was billed at 520 lb (235.9 kg), and the stress of such immense weight on his bones and joints resulted in constant pain. After recent back surgery, he was also wearing a brace underneath his wrestling singlet
Wrestling singlet
A wrestling singlet is a one-piece, tight-fitting, colored uniform, usually made of spandex, lycra, or nylon, used in amateur wrestling. The uniform is tight fitting so as not to get grasped accidentally by one's opponent, and allows the referee to see each wrestler's body clearly when awarding...
. Hogan won the match after body slamming André, followed by Hogan's running leg drop finisher. Years later, Hogan claimed that André was so heavy, he felt more like 700 lb (317.5 kg), and that he actually tore his latissimus dorsi muscle slamming him. Another famous story about the match is that no one knew if André would lose the match. André had agreed to lose the match some time before, mostly for health reasons, though he almost pinned Hogan (albeit unintentionally) in the early goings of the match. Contrary to popular belief, it was not the first time that Hogan had successfully bodyslammed André in a WWF match. A then-heel Hogan bodyslammed a then-face André early in a match in Hamburg
Hamburg, Pennsylvania
Hamburg is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,114 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Hamburg, Germany.-Geography:Hamburg is located at ....
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
on September 13, 1980, though André was much lighter and more athletic at the time. This took place in the territorial days of American wrestling three years before WWF began national expansion (André had also previously allowed Harley Race
Harley Race
Harley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter and trainer. During his career as a wrestler, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship 7 times...
, El Canek
El Canek
Felipe Estrada , known as Canek and El Canek, is a masked Mexican professional wrestler and former Mixed Martial Arts fighter currently performing part time for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. In 1972, he debuted as "El Universitario" at the age of 18. In 1973, he would change his name to Canek, a...
, and Stan Hansen
Stan Hansen
John Stanley Hansen, Jr. is an American former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Stan Hansen. As a wrestler, Hansen was well known for his stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to poor eyesight, as he is nearly blind without glasses...
to slam him.) By the time WrestleMania III had rolled around, the WWF had gone national, giving more meaning to the André–Hogan match that took place then. The feud between André and Hogan simmered during the summer of 1987, even as Roussimoff's health declined. The feud would begin heating up again when each wrestler was named the captain of rival teams at the inaugural Survivor Series
Survivor Series (1987)
Survivor Series was the first Survivor Series pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1987 and was held at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio....
event. André's team won the main event after André pinned Bam Bam Bigelow.
In the meantime, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
Ted DiBiase
Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase, Sr. is a retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. DiBiase achieved championship success in a number of wrestling promotions, holding thirty titles during his professional wrestling career...
failed to persuade Hogan to sell him the WWF World Championship. After failing to defeat Hogan in a subsequent series of matches, DiBiase turned to André to win it for him. Acting as his hired gun, André won the WWF title from Hogan on February 5, 1988 in a match where it was later revealed appointed referee
Referee (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling referee is the official figure that makes sure that wrestling matches move smoothly in an attempt to maintain kayfabe. The referee also has the ultimate power in the ring...
Dave Hebner
Dave Hebner
Dave Hebner is an American professional wrestling authority figure, promoter, road agent and referee.-Career:Hebner debuted as a professional wrestling referee in the late 1970s in the Richmond, Virginia area...
was "detained backstage", and a replacement (whom Hogan afterwards initially accused of having been paid by DiBiase to get plastic surgery to look like Dave , but in fact was revealed to have been his 'evil' twin brother Earl Hebner
Earl Hebner
Earl William Hebner is a professional wrestling referee currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and the twin brother of Dave Hebner...
), made a three count on Hogan while his shoulders were off the mat. After winning, André "sold" the title to DiBiase; the transaction was declared invalid by then-WWF President Jack Tunney
Jack Tunney
John "Jack" Tunney was a Canadian wrestling promoter. Tunney was known worldwide for his appearances on World Wrestling Federation television as the promotion's figurehead president, suspending wrestlers, stripping them of titles, and ordering matches...
and the title was vacated. This was shown on WWF's NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
program The Main Event
WWF The Main Event
The Main Event was a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It was a spin-off of the show WWF Saturday Night's Main Event and occasionally aired on NBC on Friday nights. Only the first three The Main Event episodes were shown live on NBC. The final...
. At WrestleMania IV
WrestleMania IV
WrestleMania IV was the fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on March 27, 1988 at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey....
, André and Hulk Hogan fought to a double disqualification in a WWF title tournament match (with the idea in the storyline saying that André was again working on DiBiase's behalf in giving DiBiase a clearer path in the tournament). Afterward, André and Hogan's feud died down after a steel cage match held at WrestleFest on July 31, 1988 in Milwaukee. He and DiBiase also wrestled Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage
Randy Savage
Randall Mario Poffo , better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling .Savage held twenty championships during his professional wrestling career and was a...
in the main event of SummerSlam
SummerSlam (1988)
SummerSlam was the first annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event. It was produced by the World Wrestling Federation and took place on August 29, 1988 in Madison Square Garden, located in New York, New York. The pay-per-view was created to help the company compete against rival...
; the DiBiase–André team lost, despite apparently having referee Jesse "the Body" Ventura
Jesse Ventura
James George Janos , better known as Jesse Ventura, is an American politician, the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, Navy UDT veteran, former SEAL reservist, actor, and former radio and television talk show host...
on their side.
Concurrent with the developing feud with the Mega Powers, André was placed in a feud with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
Jim Duggan
James Edward Duggan , better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment in the 1980s, when it was known as World Wrestling Federation , and World Championship Wrestling...
, which began after Duggan knocked out André with his two-by-four during a television taping. Despite Duggan's popularity with fans, André regularly got the upper hand in the feud.
Various feuds; The Colossal Connection; WrestleMania VI (1988–1990)
André's next major feud was against Jake "The Snake" RobertsJake Roberts
Aurelian Jake Smith, Jr. is a second-generation American professional wrestler, the son of former wrestler Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith...
. In this storyline, it was said André was deathly afraid of snakes
Ophidiophobia
Ophidiophobia or ophiophobia is a particular type of specific phobia, the abnormal fear of snakes. Fear of snakes is sometimes called by a more general term, herpetophobia, fear of reptiles and/or amphibians...
, something Roberts exposed on Saturday Night's Main Event
WWE Saturday Night's Main Event
Saturday Night's Main Event is a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It aired occasionally from 1985 to 1992, under the World Wrestling Federation banner on NBC in place of Saturday Night Live. It returned to the air on March 18, 2006, in an 8 EST time slot...
when he threw his snake, Damien, on the frightened André; as a result, André suffered a kayfabe
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
mild heart attack and vowed revenge. During the next few weeks, Roberts frequently walked to ringside during André's matches, causing him to run from the ring in fright (since he knew what was inside the bag). Throughout their feud (which culminated at WrestleMania V
WrestleMania V
WrestleMania V was the fifth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on April 2, 1989 at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey...
), Roberts constantly used Damien to gain a psychological edge over the much larger and stronger André.
In 1989, André and the returning Big John Studd briefly reprised their feud, this time with Studd as a face and André as the heel. During the late summer and fall of 1989, André engaged in a brief feud, almost entirely consisting of house show
House show
A house show is a professional wrestling show run by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive during televised events, as well as test reactions to matches, wrestlers, and...
s (non-televised events), with then-Intercontinental champion
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...
The Ultimate Warrior
Warrior (wrestler)
Also see Warrior .Warrior is an American retired professional wrestler who notably performed under the ring names The Ultimate Warrior and Warrior...
. The younger Warrior, WWF's rising star, regularly squashed the aging André in an attempt to showcase his star quality and promote him as the "next big thing".
In the fall of 1989, André was joined with fellow Heenan Family
The Heenan Family
The Heenan Family was a stable of heel wrestlers managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan beginning in the 1970s. Heenan managed wrestlers under the Heenan Family name in the American Wrestling Association , the National Wrestling Alliance's Georgia Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling...
member Haku to form a new tag team called The Colossal Connection, in part to fill a void left by the departure of Tully Blanchard
Tully Blanchard
Tully Arthur Blanchard is a semi-retired second generation American professional wrestler. He is best known as an original member of the Four Horsemen....
and Arn Anderson
Arn Anderson
Martin Anthony Lunde better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is a former American professional wrestler and author. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable, The Four Horsemen, in the NWA/WCW...
(The Brain Busters, who were also members of Heenan's stable) from the WWF, and also to continue to keep the aging André in the main event spotlight. The Colossal Connection immediately targeted WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition
Demolition (professional wrestling)
Demolition is a professional wrestling tag team most prominent during the late 1980s / early 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation made up of Ax , Smash , and later Crush . In WWF, Demolition were three-time Tag Team Champions, and hold the records for both the single longest tag title reign...
(who had recently won the belts from the Brain Busters). At a television taping on December 13, 1989, the Colossal Connection defeated Demolition to win the titles. André and Haku successfully defended their titles, mostly against Demolition, until WrestleMania VI
WrestleMania VI
WrestleMania VI was the World Wrestling Federation's sixth WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event and the first to be held outside of the U.S...
on April 1, 1990, when Demolition took advantage of a mistimed move by the champions to regain the belts. After the match, a furious Heenan blamed André for the title loss and after shouting at him slapped him in the face; an angry André responded with a slap of his own that sent Heenan staggering from the ring. André also caught Haku's kick attempt, sending him reeling from the ring as well, prompting loud cheers for André for the first time in three years. André went into the match as a heel, but left as a face.
Sporadic appearances
André continued to make appearances in the WWF throughout 1990 and 1991. He came to the aid of The Big BossmanRay Traylor
Ray Walter Traylor, Jr. was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Big Boss Man and World Championship Wrestling under various ring names, most notably Big Bubba Rogers.-Early years:Traylor, a prison guard in...
in his WrestleMania VII
WrestleMania VII
WrestleMania VII was the seventh annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on March 24, 1991 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California...
match against Mr. Perfect
Curt Hennig
Curtis Michael "Curt" Hennig , also known by the ring name Mr. Perfect, was an American professional wrestler, manager and color commentator who worked for, among other promotions, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World...
.
His last major WWF storyline following WrestleMania VII had the major heel managers (Bobby Heenan, Sensational Sherri
Sherri Martel
Sherri Schrull was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by her ring names, Sherri Martel and Sensational Sherri....
, Slick
Ken Johnson (wrestling)
Kenneth "Ken" Johnson better known to wrestling fans as "Slick - The Doctor of Style", is a former American professional wrestling manager with the World Wrestling Federation...
, and Mr. Fuji
Mr. Fuji
Harry Fujiwara is an American former professional wrestler and manager, best known by his ring name Mr. Fuji. He was infamous for often throwing salt in the eyes of face wrestlers...
) trying to recruit André one-by-one, only to be turned down in various humiliating ways (i.e. Heenan had his hand crushed, Sherri received a spanking, Slick got locked in the trunk of the car he was offering to André and Mr Fuji got a pie in his face). Finally, Jimmy Hart
Jimmy Hart
James "Jimmy" Ray Hart is a professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling under his nickname "The Mouth of the South." He has managed many professional...
appeared live on WWF Superstars to announce that he successfully signed André to tag-team with Earthquake
John Tenta
John Anthony Tenta was a Canadian professional wrestler known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation as Earthquake and later Golga, and in World Championship Wrestling as Avalanche and The Shark.-Early life:John Tenta was born in Surrey, British Columbia...
. However, when asked to confirm by Gene Okerlund
Gene Okerlund
Eugene "Mean Gene" Okerlund is a semi-retired American professional wrestling interviewer and announcer. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 by Hulk Hogan...
, André denied the claims. This led to Earthquake attacking André from behind (injuring his knee). Jimmy Hart would later get revenge for the humiliation by secretly signing Tugboat
Fred Ottman
Fred Ottman is a retired American professional wrestler best known as Tugboat or Typhoon and teaming with John "Earthquake" Tenta as The Natural Disasters in the World Wrestling Federation. Ottman is also well-known for his infamous "Shockmaster" gimmick in World Championship Wrestling...
and forming The Natural Disasters
The Natural Disasters
The Natural Disasters were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Earthquake and Typhoon who competed in the World Wrestling Federation between 1991 and 1993...
. This led to André's final major WWF appearance at SummerSlam
SummerSlam (1991)
SummerSlam was the fourth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on August 26, 1991 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York....
'91, where he seconded The Bushwhackers
The Bushwhackers
The Bushwhackers were a professional wrestling tag team that also competed as The Sheepherders during their long career. They wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation and Jim Crockett Promotions as well as a nearly 40 year run on the independent wrestling circuit...
in their match against the Disasters.
His last U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television appearance was in a brief interview on World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
's (WCW) Clash of the Champions XX special that aired on TBS
TBS (TV channel)
TBS , stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...
on September 2, 1992.
All Japan Pro Wrestling (1990–1992)
After WrestleMania VI, André spent the rest of his in-ring career in All Japan Pro WrestlingAll Japan Pro Wrestling
is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1972. All Japan Pro Wrestling still remains one of the most popular puroresu promotions still in operation.-The Giant Baba Era :...
(AJPW). He toured with AJPW three times per year, from September 1990 to 1992, usually teaming with Giant Baba
Shohei Baba
was a professional wrestler and co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling. He was also known as Giant Baba. Baba, along with Antonio Inoki, became one of the most famous Japanese wrestlers of his era, with a popularity in Japan comparable to Hulk Hogan's in the United States of America...
in tag team matches. He wrestled his final match in December 1992.
Acting career
André branched out into acting in the 1970s and 1980s, making his acting debut playing a Sasquatch ("BigfootBigfoot
Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid...
") on the 1970s television series The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
. He appeared in other television shows, including The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama television series that aired for three seasons from 1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981...
, B.J. and the Bear
B.J. and the Bear
B.J. and the Bear is an American comedy series which aired on NBC from 1979 to 1981. Created by Christopher Crowe and Glen A. Larson, the series stars Greg Evigan and Claude Akins.-Plot:Greg Evigan stars as B.J...
, and The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy is an American action/adventure television program produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981 to May 2, 1986. It starred Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas. Majors and Barr are the only two actors to appear in all 112 episodes of the series...
. He also performed in an episode of Zorro
Zorro (1990 TV series)
Zorro, also known as The New Zorro, New World Zorro, and Zorro 1990, is an American action-adventure drama series featuring Duncan Regehr as the character of Zorro. Regehr portrayed the fearless Latino hero and fencer on The Family Channel from 1990 to 1993...
.
Towards the end of his career, André starred in several movies
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. He had an uncredited appearance in the 1984 film
1984 in film
-Events:* The Walt Disney Company founds Touchstone Pictures to release movies with subject matter deemed inappropriate for the Disney name.* Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture of Columbia Pictures, HBO, and CBS, releases its first film....
— Conan the Destroyer
Conan the Destroyer
Conan the Destroyer is a 1984 American action fantasy film directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mako returning to resume their roles as Conan and Akiro the wizard, respectively. The cast also includes Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlain, Tracey Walter and Olivia d'Abo. It is...
, as Dagoth, the resurrected horned giant god who is killed by Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
). He appeared most notably as Fezzik, his own favorite role, in the 1987 film
1987 in film
-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride (film)
The Princess Bride is a 1987 American film based on the 1973 novel of the same name by William Goldman, combining comedy, adventure, romance, and fantasy. The film was directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by Goldman...
. Both the film and Andre's performance retain a devoted following.
In his last film, he appeared in a cameo role as a circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
giant in the comedy Trading Mom, which was not released until a year after his death.
Later life
Roussimoff had one daughter, Robin Christensen Roussimoff, who was born in 1979.The disease called acromegaly that granted him his immense size eventually began to take its toll on his body. By the late 1980s, André was in constant, near-crippling pain, and his heart struggled to pump blood throughout his massive body.
According to William Goldman
William Goldman
William Goldman is an American novelist, playwright, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.-Early life and education:...
, author of The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride (film)
The Princess Bride is a 1987 American film based on the 1973 novel of the same name by William Goldman, combining comedy, adventure, romance, and fantasy. The film was directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by Goldman...
and its screenplay, André was having such terrible back pain during the filming of the movie that in the first shooting of a scene where Robin Wright drops about one foot and is caught by Fezzik, he fell to one knee and almost dropped her.
In the A&E documentary, Biography, Arnold Skaaland
Arnold Skaaland
Arnold Skaaland was an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager.-Career:Skaaland served in the U.S. Marines during World War II. After a short-lived attempt to make a living through boxing, he became a professional wrestler and debuted in 1946 as "Arnold Skaaland"...
mentions how André wished he could see a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
play. Arnold offered to buy tickets, but André turned down the opportunity, saying he was too big for the seats and people behind him would not be able to see.
André was mentioned in the 1974 Guinness Book of World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
as the highest paid wrestler in history to that time. He had earned $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
400,000 in one year alone during the early 1970s.
Roussimoff has been unofficially crowned "The Greatest Drunk on Earth" for once consuming 119 12 USfloz beers in 6 hours. On an episode of WWE's Legends of Wrestling, Mike Graham said André once drank 156 16 USfloz beers in one sitting, which was confirmed by Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...
. Such feats can be attributed to his large size, which meant it took higher amounts of alcohol to inebriate him. In her autobiography, The Fabulous Moolah
The Fabulous Moolah
Mary Lillian Ellison , better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah, was an American female professional wrestler. She began her career working with promoter Billy Wolfe and his wife, wrestler and trainer Mildred Burke, as well as working alongside professional wrestler "Nature Boy" Buddy...
Lillian Ellison writes that André drank 127 beers in a Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
hotel bar and later passed out in the lobby. The staff could not move him and had to leave him there until he awakened.
André was arrested by the Linn County, Iowa
Linn County, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 211,226 in the county, with a population density of . There were 92,251 housing units, of which 86,134 were occupied.-2000 census:...
sheriff in August 1989 and charged with assault after he allegedly roughed up a local television cameraman.
Death
André the Giant died in his sleep due to congestive heart failureCongestive heart failure
Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...
on the night of January 27, 1993, in a Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
hotel room. At the time, he was in Paris to attend the funeral of his father. Roussimoff's body was cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
according to his wishes and his ashes were scattered at his farm in Ellerbe, North Carolina
Ellerbe, North Carolina
Ellerbe is a town in Richmond County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,021 at the 2000 census. It is perhaps best known as the one-time home of professional wrestler André the Giant, who operated a nearby ranch/farm in his spare time and retirement. His ashes were scattered on...
.
Legacy
- In 1993 when the then-World Wrestling Federation created the WWF Hall of FameWWE Hall of FameThe WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...
, André the Giant was the first inductee (and the only 1993 inductee). - André was the inspiration for the 1998 film1998 in film-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
My GiantMy GiantMy Giant is a 1998 comedy drama film starring Billy Crystal, and NBA player Gheorghe Muresan in his only film appearance. Crystal also co-wrote the story.-Synopsis:A huckster named Sammy travels to Romania on business...
, written by his friend Billy CrystalBilly CrystalWilliam Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
, whom he had met during the filming of The Princess BrideThe Princess Bride (film)The Princess Bride is a 1987 American film based on the 1973 novel of the same name by William Goldman, combining comedy, adventure, romance, and fantasy. The film was directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by Goldman...
. - Paul WightPaul WightPaul Donald Wight, Jr. , better known by his ring name, Big Show, is an American professional wrestler and actor, currently signed to WWE on its Raw brand....
, better known as "The Big Show", is more similar in body structure to André than any other wrestler since André's death. Wight was originally billed as the son of André during his stint in WCWWorld Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
(when he was known as simply "The Giant") despite no biological relation. While also suffering from acromegalyAcromegalyAcromegaly is a syndrome that results when the anterior pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone after epiphyseal plate closure at puberty...
, unlike André, Wight did get surgery on his pituitary glandPituitary glandIn vertebrate anatomy the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea and weighing 0.5 g , in humans. It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain, and rests in a small, bony cavity covered by a dural fold...
in the early 1990s, which successfully halted the progress of his condition. The former wrestler Giant GonzálezJorge GonzalesJorge González was an Argentinian basketball player and professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name El Gigante between 1989 and 1992 and in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Giant González in...
suffered from problems similar to those that André had near the end of his life and died in September 2010 due to diabetes complications. - The OBEYObeyObey may refer to:*Obedience , the act of following instructions or recognizing someone's authority*André Obey, the 20th century French playwright*David Obey, US Congressman from Wisconsin...
brand icon originated from a stencil that artist Shepard FaireyShepard FaireyFrank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His...
had created based upon a photo of Andre the Giant that Fairey had found in a newspaper. - CapcomCapcomis a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
's video game character Hugo Andore is based on him. - André has made appearances as himself in videogames for years, as early as 1989's WWF SuperstarsWWF SuperstarsWWF Superstars is an arcade game manufactured by Technos and released in 1989. It is the first WWF arcade game to be released. A series of unrelated games with the same title were released by LJN for the original Game Boy...
, where he appears as a non-playable game boss along Ted DiBiaseTed DiBiaseTheodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase, Sr. is a retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. DiBiase achieved championship success in a number of wrestling promotions, holding thirty titles during his professional wrestling career...
, fighting as their real-life tag team The Mega Bucks, to as recently as WWE All-Stars, released in March 2011, where he appears as one of many playable "Legend" characters. - On January 25, 2005, WWE released André The Giant, a DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
focusing on the life and career of André. The DVD is a reissue of the out-of-print André The Giant VHSVHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
made by Coliseum Video in 1985, with commentary by Michael ColeMichael ColeMichael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
and TazzTazzPeter Senerchia is a retired American professional wrestler and current color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz...
replacing Gorilla MonsoonGorilla MonsoonRobert James "Gino" Marella , better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play announcer, and booker...
and Jesse VenturaJesse VenturaJames George Janos , better known as Jesse Ventura, is an American politician, the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, Navy UDT veteran, former SEAL reservist, actor, and former radio and television talk show host...
's commentary on his WrestleManiaWrestleMania (1985)WrestleMania was the first annual WrestleMania professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on March 31, 1985, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The attendance for the event was 19,121 fans...
match with Big John Studd. The video is hosted by Lord Alfred Hayes. Later matches, including André's battles against Hulk Hogan while a heelHeel (professional wrestling)In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
, are not included on this DVD.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Double underhook suplex
- Elbow drop pin
- Belly-to-belly kneeling piledriver – innovated
- Sit-down splash
- Signature moves
- Bearhug
- Big boot
- Body slam
- Chokehold
- Headbutt
- Knife-edged chop
- ManagersManager (professional wrestling)In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
- Bobby HeenanBobby HeenanRaymond Louis "Ray" Heenan , better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , is a former American professional wrestling manager and color commentator, best known for his time with the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...
- Frank Valois
- Lou AlbanoLou AlbanoLouis Vincent "Captain Lou" Albano was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969, then he became a manager, until 1995....
- K.Y. Wakamatsu
- The Million Dollar ManTed DiBiaseTheodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase, Sr. is a retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. DiBiase achieved championship success in a number of wrestling promotions, holding thirty titles during his professional wrestling career...
- Bobby Heenan
- NicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
s- "(The) Boss"
- "The Eighth Wonder of the World"
Championships and accomplishments
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Florida Tag Team ChampionshipNWA Florida Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in Pro Wrestling Fusion. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida and lasted until 1990 when it was abandoned. It was picked back up in 1997 by NWA Florida, where it was the primary...
(1 time) – with Dusty RhodesDusty Rhodes (wrestler)Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...
- NWA Florida Tag Team Championship
- International Pro WrestlingInternational Pro WrestlingInternational Pro Wrestling , also known as International Wrestling Enterprise, was a professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1966 to 1981. Founded by Isao Yoshihara, it was affiliated with the American Wrestling Association in the United States and also had tie-ins with promotions in Europe...
- IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Michael Nador
- New Japan Pro Wrestling
- MSG League Winner (1982)
- International Wrestling Grand Prix Winner (1985)
- NWA Tri-State
- NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Tri-State version)NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Tri-State version)The NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship was a tag team title created in 1962, and contested in the National Wrestling Alliance's Tri-State territory, which was promoted by Leroy McGuirk and Jack Curtis and Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith...
(1 time) – with Dusty Rhodes
- NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Tri-State version)
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
- Class of 2002
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1977, 1982)
- PWI Match of the Year (1981) vs. Killer KhanKiller Khanis a retired professional wrestler. Popularly known as Killer Khan, he was billed from Mongolia and had numerous high-profile matches with André the Giant in the World Wrestling Federation during the 1980s, including the first ever "stretcher match"...
on 2 May - PWI Match of the Year (1988) vs. Hulk HoganHulk HoganTerrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
at The Main Event - PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1988)
- PWI Editor's Award (1993)
- PWI ranked him #3 in the PWI Years in 2003
- Stampede WrestlingStampede WrestlingStampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...
- Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame
- World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
- NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team ChampionshipNWA Austra-Asian Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship was the top tag team professional wrestling title in the Australian World Championship Wrestling promotion from 1972 through the promotion's 1978 closure....
(1 time) – with Ronald Miller
- NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship
- World Wrestling Federation
- WWF World Heavyweight ChampionshipWWE ChampionshipThe WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
(1 time) - WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Haku
- WWF Hall of FameWWE Hall of FameThe WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...
(Class of 1993)
- WWF World Heavyweight Championship
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Feud of the Year (1981) vs. Killer Khan
- Most Embarrassing Wrestler (1989)
- Worst Feud of the Year (1984) vs. Big John StuddBig John StuddJohn William Minton was an American professional wrestler and actor who was born and raised in Butler, Pennsylvania, better known by his ring name, Big John Studd.-Career:...
- Worst Feud of the Year (1989) vs. The Ultimate WarriorWarrior (wrestler)Also see Warrior .Warrior is an American retired professional wrestler who notably performed under the ring names The Ultimate Warrior and Warrior...
- Worst Worked Match of the Year (1987) vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania IIIWrestleMania IIIWrestleMania III was the third annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . The event was held on March 29, 1987 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan....
- Worst Worked Match of the Year (1989) vs. The Ultimate Warrior on 31 October
- Worst Tag Team (1990, 1991) with Giant BabaShohei Babawas a professional wrestler and co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling. He was also known as Giant Baba. Baba, along with Antonio Inoki, became one of the most famous Japanese wrestlers of his era, with a popularity in Japan comparable to Hulk Hogan's in the United States of America...
- Worst Wrestler (1989, 1991, 1992)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameWrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameThe Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to the sport. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is not...
(Class of 1996)
Filmography
- Casse tête chinois pour le judoka (1967)
- The Six Million Dollar ManThe Six Million Dollar ManThe Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
– "The Secret of Bigfoot II and I" (1976), Bigfoot - B. J. and the Bear – "Snow White and the Seven Lady Truckers" (1981), Manny Felcher
- The Greatest American HeroThe Greatest American HeroThe Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama television series that aired for three seasons from 1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981...
– "Heaven Is in Your Genes" (1983), Monster - André makes an appearance in "The Goonies 'R' Good EnoughThe Goonies 'R' Good Enough"The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" is a song by American singer Cyndi Lauper. It was released as a single for The Goonies, a 1985 film which was released around the same time as the single...
" music video by Cyndi LauperCyndi LauperCynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, along with several other 80s icon wrestlers like "Rowdy" Roddy PiperRoddy PiperRoderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
and The Iron Sheik. - Conan the DestroyerConan the DestroyerConan the Destroyer is a 1984 American action fantasy film directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mako returning to resume their roles as Conan and Akiro the wizard, respectively. The cast also includes Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlain, Tracey Walter and Olivia d'Abo. It is...
(1984), Dagoth (uncredited) - Micki + MaudeMicki + MaudeMicki + Maude is a 1984 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Dudley Moore. It co-stars Tony-award winning actress and dancer Ann Reinking as Micki and Amy Irving as Maude....
(1984), Himself - I Like to Hurt People (1985), Himself
- The Princess BrideThe Princess Bride (film)The Princess Bride is a 1987 American film based on the 1973 novel of the same name by William Goldman, combining comedy, adventure, romance, and fantasy. The film was directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by Goldman...
(1987), Fezzik - Trading Mom (1994), Circus Giant
- Symphorien (197?), French sitcom on Quebec television
- Les Brillants (198?), French sitcom on Quebec television