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The following biography
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Wikipedia.org
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André the Giant (May 19, 1946 – January 27, 1993)
was a professional wrestler and actor, born André René Roussimoff in Grenoble,
France. His great size was a result of acromegaly, or excessive growth hormone,
and led to him being dubbed "The Eighth Wonder of the World."
****
Statistics
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Stage names
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André Roussimoff
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Butcher Roussimoff
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Monster Roussimoff
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Monster Eiffel Tower
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Jean Ferré
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Géant Ferré
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André the Giant
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Giant Machine
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Height 7'1" (216 cm) [Peak]
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6'10" (208 cm) [WWF tenure]
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Weight 400 lb (181 kg) to 520 lb (236 kg)
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Born May 19, 1946
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Died January 27, 1993
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Hometown Grenoble, France
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Trained by Frank Valois
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Édouard Carpentier
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Debut late-1960s
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Retired 1992
****
Career
André was one of the best known and most respected
professional wrestlers in the world. Born to French parents of Bulgarian descent
in a small farm near Grenoble, he left home in his adolescence to become a pro
wrestler. He was billed at a height of 7'5" (2.26m) early in his career and 7'4"
(2.24m) in his WWF days with a weight which ranged from 400 to 520 pounds. It
has been said André was closer to 7'1" (2.16m) in his early adult years and
roughly 6'10" (2.08m) in his most popular WWF reign, due to back surgery and
posture problems. Nevertheless, the sight of him alone was enough to draw huge
crowds in a day when there were only a handful of people over 6'6" (1.98m).
After touring the world with different promotions for many years (mostly in
Montreal for Édouard Carpentier), he was signed by the World Wide Wrestling
Federation (which would later change its name to the World Wrestling Federation
in 1979, and is now known as World Wrestling Entertainment). On March 26, 1973,
Andre made his WWWF debut, defeating Buddy Wolfe in New York's Madison Square
Garden. By the time WWF chairman Vincent K. McMahon began to expand his
promotion to the national level in the early 1980s, André wrestled exclusively
for the WWF.
André was a very imposing figure – it is said that
he never tested the full extent of his true strength because he was afraid of
the damage it might cause. Some of André's opponents were legitimately afraid to
get in the ring with him for fear of getting accidentally injured, but those who
got to know him soon learned that his personality was perhaps one of the
gentlest in the world. It is also said that André could drink an entire case of
beer and not feel so much as a buzz. He was offered a professional American
football contract with the Washington Redskins after a tryout in 1974 and
seriously considered it before turning it down, reasoning that he could make far
more money wrestling (which was probably true, especially at that time).
He was one of the WWF's most beloved "babyfaces"
throughout the 1970s and early '80s, and for 14 years never lost by pinfall or
submission in a WWF ring, before being pinned by Hulk Hogan on March 29, 1987 at
WrestleMania III. André had lost clean in matches outside of the parameters of
the WWF; a pinfall loss in Mexico to El Canek in 1984, and in Japan, a
submission loss to Antonio Inoki in 1986. He also went 60-minute time limit
draws with the two other major world champions of the day, Harley Race and Nick
Bockwinkel.
André had memorable clashes all over the world with
a variety of tough, rugged opponents. Among his chief rivals in the ring: The
Sheik (who gained a deathmatch win over the Frenchman in 1974 with the help of
his fireball), Abdullah the Butcher, Stan Hansen, Ernie Ladd, and a young Hulk
Hogan, who first met André in 1978 during his rookie years in the deep South.
Hogan and André would go on to have one of the great WWF feuds of 1980, peaking
in front of 36,295 fans at the Showdown At Shea event, on August 9, 1980 in
Flushing, New York's Shea Stadium.
One of André's most bitter feuds pitted him against
the Mongolian terror Killer Khan, who was managed by the late Fred Blassie.
According to the storyline, Khan had broken André's ankle during a match in
Rochester, New York, by leaping off the top rope and crashing down upon it with
his kneedrop (actually, André had broken his ankle getting out of bed). After a
stay at Beth-Israel Hospital in Boston, André returned with payback on his mind.
On November 14, 1981 at the Philadelphia Spectrum, Andre exacted revenge by
destroying Killer 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 memorable André feud involved a man who
considered himself to be "the true giant" of wrestling: the late 6'10",
364-pound 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 famous long locks. André had the last laugh at the
first WrestleMania, on March 31, 1985 at Madison Square Garden. André conquered
Studd in a $15,000 Bodyslam Challenge. After slamming Studd, he attempted to
give the $15,000 prize to the fans, before having the bag stolen from him.
The following year, at WrestleMania 2 (April 7,
1986), André continued to display his dominance, by winning a 20-man battle
royal that featured top NFL stars and wrestlers. André eliminated future
wrestling legend Bret Hart to win the contest.
Afterwards, André continued his feud with Studd and
King Kong Bundy. André was suspended after a no-show; he returned under a mask
as 'The Giant Machine' part of a team with 'Big Machine' (Robert Windham) and
'Super Machine' (Bill Eadie). (The 'Machines' gimmick was copied from New Japan
Pro Wrestling character 'Super Strong Machine', played by Japanese wrestler
Junji Hirata.) Soon afterwards, Giant Machine disappeared and André was
reinstated, to the approval of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
André was turned heel in 1987 so that he could face
Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship in the main event of WrestleMania III. In
early 1987, Hogan was presented a trophy for being the WWF World Heavyweight
Champion for three years. André came out to congratulate him. Shortly
afterwards, André was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "undefeated
in the WWF for 15 years." In actuality, André had suffered a handful of countout
and disqualification losses in the WWF, but had never been pinned or forced to
submit in a WWF ring. Hogan came out to congratulate André, but André walked out
in the midst of Hogan's speech. Then, on an edition of Piper's Pit, Hogan was
confronted by Heenan. Heenan announced that his new protege was André. André
then challenged Hogan to a title match at WrestleMania III, ripping the t-shirt
and crucifix off of Hogan.
It was at WrestleMania III that the public first
really saw the pain that André was going through, by this stage his body was
weighed in at about 520 pounds and his bones and joints were finding it hard
supporting such a huge weight. Hogan won the match after dropping André with a
historic bodyslam, followed by Hogan's running legdrop finisher (years later,
Hogan stated that André was so heavy, he felt more like 700 pounds). Before
being signed to the WWF, André had wrestled in Japan. It was here that a doctor
diagnosed André with his condition and told him that those with the same problem
were generally lucky to reach forty. André never told his family of the
diagnosis and his closest friends believe that it was this motivation that led
André to live life to the fullest until he died.
The Hogan-André face off in WrestleMania III was
likely the most highly anticipated professional wrestling matchup in history –
the apex of wrestling's most recent golden era. The event, held at the Pontiac
Silverdome, broke the indoor attendance record with 93,173 fans in attendance,
with millions watching on Pay-Per-View, and established great permanent value in
the WrestleMania franchise. Hogan defeated André, in what many consider a
passing of the torch from André, wrestling's biggest star of the '70s, to Hogan,
wrestling's biggest star of the '80s. The feud between André and Hogan simmered,
even as André's health declined.
André won the WWF title from Hogan on February 5,
1988 in a match where appointed referee Dave Hebner was "detained backstage" and
a replacement, his "evil" twin brother Earl, made a three count on Hogan while
his shoulders were off of the mat. André then "sold" the title to "The Million
Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and the title was vacated.
At WrestleMania IV, André and Hulk Hogan went to a
double DQ in a WWF title tournament match. Afterwards, André and Hogan's feud
died down after a brutal steel cage match held at WrestleFest, on July 31, 1988
in Milwaukee.
André won the World Tag Team Championship with his
partner Haku from Demolition, on December 13, 1989. Managed by Bobby Heenan,
André and Haku were known as The Colossal Connection. They lost their titles at
WrestleMania VI back to Demolition, on April 1, 1990. André had a falling out
with Heenan and soon retired. André starred in several movies towards the end of
his career, most notably as Fezzik in 1987's The Princess Bride. He had a cameo
appearance in 1984's Conan the Destroyer as Dagoth, the resurrected horned giant
beast, which is killed by Conan, the character portrayed by Arnold
Schwarzenegger. In his final film, he appeared in something of a cameo role as a
circus giant in the comedy Trading Mom, which was not released until the year
after his death.
The disease that granted him his immense size also
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. When he was not in front of a camera, he was usually in a wheelchair.
This was posted by Buck Woodward on the PWInsider
elite message board.."His last U.S. match was in Hawaii on April 10, 1990. This
was after the Wrestlemania match where he and Haku split up after losing to
Demolition. They played the "mandatory rematch" clause from WrestleMania VI in
Honolulu, so Andre & Haku teamed to face Demolition, then lost via countout and
started brawling with each other. Interesting to note, Haku was cheered in
Hawaii, not Andre. Andre made a ton of appearances for WWF after that, helping
The Rockers, Buschwackers, LOD, Davey Boy Smith, etc. but never wrestled another
match (although I have read that he was in a battle royal in 1991 as well, never
got it confirmed.)" Also, from Buck, regarding a match against Akira Maeda and a
six-man tag with Andre/Hansen/Gordy vs Dory Funk/Baba/Tsurata regarding the
backstory on it. "There wasn't a lot of backstory to it. Maeda had a real ego
problem when it came to wrestling (he hardly ever did jobs) and had an even
bigger problem with Americans. Well, Andre apparently knew of his rep, and there
was very little cooperation between the two. Andre took Maeda down a few times,
making it hard for Maeda to do anything. Maeda did manage to take Andre down
with a single leg at one point, and Andre grabbed Maeda's face, freaking out
Maeda. Maeda then went to kicking at Andre's legs, but Andre wasn't selling any
of it. Inoki came out, and there was a lot of confusion. Andre, finally tiring
of Maeda kicking his legs and then backing off, lied down in the ring and
basically dared Maeda to get on him. Maeda, probably realizing if Andre grabbed
him on the mat, he'd kill him, backed off. The match was ruled a no-contest,
with a fight almost breaking out between Inoki and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. The match
with Hansen & Gordy vs. Funk, Baba & Tsuruta was on October 21, 1992 at Budokan
Hall was one of the last "big matches" for Andre, but he did wrestle more bouts
after that. His last match was a six man for All Japan, teaming with Baba &
Rusher Kimura vs. Haruka Eigen, Motoshi Okuma & Masa Fuchi on December 4, 1992.
He died less than two months later.
His heart finally failed him in 1993, and André
passed away peacefully in his sleep at a hotel in Paris while in town for his
father's funeral. He was cremated and his ashes were spread over his ranch in
Ellerbe, North Carolina.
To honor André, the WWF created the WWF Hall of
Fame in 1993 and made him their first inductee.
He has since become an ironic icon, stemming in
part from a series of ubiquitous André the Giant Has a Posse, now known as "Obey
Giant", art, which can be found on street corners and building walls in cities
big and small all over the world.
Personal Life
While always being referred to as a "bachelor for
life", Andre did have a daughter Robin Christensen born in 1979 who stands at
around 6 feet tall herself, which has been mentioned in some biographies of
Andre.
In
wrestling
Managers
Bobby Heenan
Ted DiBiase
Frank Valois
Lou Albano
K.Y. Wakamatsu
Finishing/Trademark moves
Body splash
Big Boot
Knife Edge Chops
Bearhug
Headbutt
Choke
One Arm Chickenwing Suplex
Filmography
Trading Mom - 1994
The Princess Bride - 1987
Micki & Maude - 1984
Conan the Destroyer - 1984
I Like to Hurt People - 1970s
Championships/Awards
World Wrestling Federation
1-Time WWF World Heavyweight Champion
1-Time WWF World Tag Team Champion (with Haku)
Member of the WWE Hall of Fame (inducted in 1993)
Other Titles
1-Time IWA Tag Team Champion (with Michael Nader)
1-Time Australasian Tag Team Champion (with Ron
Miller)
1-Time Tri-State Tag Team Champion (with Dusty
Rhodes)
1-Time NWA Florida Tag Team Champion (with Dusty
Rhodes)
Pro
Wrestling Illustrated
Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) gave André the 1993
Editor's Award that goes to the most inspirational wrestling personality each
year. André also won several PWI Awards over the years. He won Most Popular
Wrestler in 1977 and 1982. He won Most Hated Wrestler in 1988. He won Match of
the Year in 1981 (vs. Killer Khan) and in 1988 (vs. Hulk Hogan).
PWI also named him # 3 of the 500 best singles
wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
Parodies
Video Games
Andore from Capcom's Final Fight and Street Fighter
series. Andore is a reoccurring enemy in the Final Fight series, and also a
playable character in Street Fighter III series (recently dubbed as Hugo).
Capcom supposedly changed the character's name to Andore because of the
wrestler's recent demise.
****
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Preceded by:
Hulk Hogan |
WWE Champions |
Succeeded |
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