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André the Giant

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André René Roussimoff
File:AndréTheGiant2.jpg
BornMay 19, 1946
Coulomiers, France
DiedJanuary 27, 1993(Age 46)
Paris, France
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)André Roussimoff
Butcher Roussimoff
Monster Roussimoff
Monster Eiffel Tower
Jean Ferré
Géant Ferré
André the Giant
Giant Machine
Billed height2.24 m (7 ft 4 in)
Billed weight[undue weight? – discuss] to
[undue weight? – discuss]
Trained byFrank Valois
Édouard Carpentier
Debut1964
Retired1992

André the Giant (May 19, 1946 – January 27, 1993) was a professional wrestler and actor, born André René Roussimoff in Coulomiers, France. He was at least 208 cm (6 feet 10 in) tall and believed by many to have been over 213 cm (7 feet) at his tallest. His great size was a result of excessive growth hormone, a condition known as pituitary gigantism, and led to him being dubbed "The Eighth Wonder of the World[1][2]."

Career

World (Wide) Wrestling Federation (1973-1991)

Born to French parents of Bulgarian and Polish descent in a small farm near Ussy-sur-Marne, he left home in his adolescence to become a pro wrestler. He was billed early in his career at a height of 7 feet; this was enlarged in the early 1970s to 7 ft 4 in (224 cm) and sometimes 7 ft 5 in (226 cm) with a weight which ranged from 380lb (172kg) to 550lb (249kg). His actual height is contested, and there has been much speculation and debate over the issue. Jim Duggan and Bobby Heenan maintain that his kayfabe height was correct. Dave Meltzer, a wrestling journalist wrote in his book Tributes, that Chuck Wepner, who faced Andre in a boxer vs. wrestler match in 1977 told reporters Andre was 6 ft 10 in. Wepner's manager said Andre made the 6 ft 5 ½ in Wepner look like a baby, dwarfed beside Andre. In Meltzer's second book, Tributes II, [3]Meltzer claims Andre was measured at 6 ft 9 ¾ in 1974 by a French athletic commission, at the age of twenty-eight. However, Mike Mooneyham, another wrestling journalist maintained in his obituary of Andre in 1994 that Andre was 7 ft 2 in at his peak height. The exaggeration of his height probably comes from the fact that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the tallest renowned athlete in the world at the time at 7 ft 2 in (219 cm), and promoters wanted to bill Roussimoff as the biggest athlete in the world, which, in overall size, he was without exception. Nevertheless, the sight of him alone was enough to draw huge crowds during a time when there were only a handful of wrestlers over 6 ft 6 in (198 cm); his condition which included symptoms such as enlarged hands and feet and exaggerated facial features (acromegaly) likely aided the visual perception of him appearing larger than he actually was. Back surgeries and posture problems later in life also contributed to his decrease in height. 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 (WWWF). On March 26, 1973, Roussimoff made his WWWF debut, defeating Buddy Wolfe in New York's Madison Square Garden. He also dabbled in acting in the 1970s and 1980s, playing a Sasquatch ("Bigfoot") on the 1970s television series The Six Million Dollar Man and the character Fezzik in The Princess Bride. By the time the chairman of the (renamed) World Wrestling Federation, Vincent K. McMahon, began to expand his promotion to the national level in the early 1980s, Roussimoff wrestled exclusively for the WWF in the USA, while still holding international engagements.

He was offered a professional American football contract with the Washington Redskins after a tryout in 1974 and seriously considered it, but turned it down, reasoning that he could make far more money wrestling.

Roussimoff was one of the WWF's most beloved "babyfaces" throughout the 1970s and early '80s, the legend that for fourteen years had never lost by pinfall or submission in a WWF ring before being pinned by Hulk Hogan on March 29, 1987 at WrestleMania III. However Roussimoff actually had lost cleanly 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, as well as a controversial no-contest finish against Akira Maeda, who used heel shoot-style tactics, breaking kayfabe to nullify Andre's considerable size advantage. He also went sixty-minute time limit draws with the two other major world champions of the day, Harley Race and Nick Bockwinkel.

Roussimoff 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 Roussimoff 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 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 knee-drop. After a stay at Beth-Israel Hospital in Boston, Roussimoff returned with payback on his mind. On November 14, 1981 at the Philadelphia Spectrum, Roussimoff 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. In reality, André had snapped his ankle getting out of bed one morning. The injury and subsequent rehabilitation was worked into the existing André/Khan storyline.

Another memorable Roussimoff feud involved a man who considered himself to be "the true giant" of wrestling: the 6 ft 7 in, 364-pound Big John Studd. Throughout the early to mid-1980s, Roussimoff 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 Roussimoff during a televised tag team match and proceeded to cut off Roussimoff's famous long locks. Roussimoff had the last laugh at the first WrestleMania on March 31, 1985 at Madison Square Garden. Roussimoff conquered Studd in a $15,000 Body-slam Challenge. After slamming Studd, he attempted to give the $15,000 prize to the fans, before having the bag stolen from him by his future manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.

The following year, at WrestleMania 2 (April 7, 1986), Roussimoff continued to display his dominance by winning a twenty-man battle royal that featured top NFL stars and wrestlers. Roussimoff eliminated Bret Hart to win the contest.

Afterwards, Roussimoff continued his feud with Studd and King Kong Bundy. Roussimoff 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.)[1] Soon afterwards, Giant Machine disappeared, and Roussimoff was reinstated, to the approval of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.

Roussimoff 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. Roussimoff came out to congratulate him. Shortly afterwards, Roussimoff was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "undefeated in the WWF for fifteen years." In actuality, Roussimoff 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 Roussimoff and ended up being the focal point of the interview. A visibly annoyed Roussimoff 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 Roussimoff. Roussimoff 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 Roussimoff was going through. By this stage his body was weighed in at about 525 pounds, and his bones and joints were finding it hard supporting such a huge weight. After recent back surgery, he was also wearing a brace underneath his wrestling singlet. Hogan won the match after dropping Roussimoff with a bodyslam, followed by Hogan's running legdrop finisher. (Years later, Hogan stated that Roussimoff was so heavy, he felt more like 700 pounds, and that he actually tore his lateral muscle slamming him.) Another famous tall tale about the match is that "no one knew" if André would lose the match. While mostly false, WWE owner Vince McMahon has stated in the past that he believed if Hogan had either purposely or accidentally disrespected André that night, there was no way André would have allowed Hogan to win the match, no matter what had been agreed to. Aside from that possibility, André had agreed to lose the match some time before, mostly for health reasons, though he almost pinned Hogan (albeit unintentionally) in the early going of the match. Before being signed to the WWF, Roussimoff had wrestled in Japan. It was here that a doctor diagnosed Roussimoff with his condition and told him that those with the same problem were generally lucky to reach forty. Roussimoff never told his family of the diagnosis, and his closest friends believe that it was this motivation that led Roussimoff to live life to the fullest until he died.

The Hogan-André face off at 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, had millions watching on pay-per-view and established great permanent value in the WrestleMania franchise. A reported 93,173 fans turned out as the WWF sold many standing room only tickets and added seats in the alleys to exceed the Silverdome's capacity of 80,331 [citation needed]. Hogan defeated Roussimoff in what some consider a passing of the torch from Roussimoff, wrestling's biggest star of the 1970s, to Hogan, wrestling's biggest star of the '80s. The feud between Roussimoff and Hogan simmered, even as Roussimoff's health declined.

Roussimoff 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. In the storyline, Andre was denoted as a hired gun for "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, after DiBiase failed to buy it off Hogan. After winning, Roussimoff "sold" the title to DiBiase, which transaction was declared invalid by WWF President Jack Tunney and the title was vacated. This was shown on the WWF's NBC program The Main Event (usually seen Saturdays as Saturday Night's Main Event). André famously mistakenly called the Federation's Championship the "WWF Tag Team Championship," perhaps foreshadowing his reign with Haku.

At WrestleMania IV, Roussimoff and Hulk Hogan fought to a double DQ in a WWF title tournament match (with the idea in the storyline saying that Andre was again working on Dibiase's behalf in giving Dibiase a clearer path in the tournament). Afterwards, Roussimoff and Hogan's feud died down after a brutal steel cage match held at WrestleFest on July 31, 1988 in Milwaukee. During this time, André also became involved in a heated feud with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan.

File:Andregiantmug1.jpg
André Roussimoff in a police mugshot after being arrested for assaulting a cameraman

André's next major feud was vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts. 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.

After a short feud with then-Intercontinental champion The Ultimate Warrior, André won the World Tag Team Championship with his partner Haku (known collectively as The Colossal Connection) 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. After the match a furious Heenan slapped Andre, and he responded by knocking Heenan out, much to the delight of the fans. Andre went into the match as a heel, and left as a face. After that he went back to Japan, this time for All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he briefly teamed with owner Giant Baba.

André starred in several movies towards the end of his career, most notably as Fezzik in 1987's The Princess Bride, which was André's favorite role [4]. He had an unaccredited appearance in 1984's Conan the Destroyer as Dagoth, the resurrected horned giant god, who 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.

He stopped competing entirely in the very early 1990s due to the increasing pain that his illness was causing him.

World Championship Wrestling (1991-1992)

His last U.S television appearance was on WCW's "Clash of the Champions 20" special that aired on TBS on September 2, 1992. He did not compete, the appearance consisting solely of an interview.

Death

André went back to France just after New Years 1993 for his father's funeral. Four weeks afterward, André played cards with some of his old friends, then, at night, drove back to Paris to sleep in a hotel. On the morning of January 28, 1993, André's chauffeur found him dead in his hotel room. He had died in his sleep at the age of 46, and his death was attributed to congestive heart failure from a build-up of fluid in the body. Although he knew of his disease (pituitary gigantism/acromegaly), he chose not to be treated for his growth hormone producing pituitary tumor which eventually led to his death.

André was cremated, and his ashes were spread over his ranch in Ellerbe, North Carolina.

Legacy and pop culture

  • Largely to honor André the Giant, the WWF created the WWF Hall of Fame later in 1993 and made him the first inductee.
  • André was the inspiration for the 1998 movie My Giant, written by his friend Billy Crystal, whom he had met during the filming of The Princess Bride.
  • Even in death, André was memorable. Due to his immense size, no crematorium in France could accommodate his final wishes to be cremated within 48 hours of his death [citation needed]. Instead, André would lie in state for nearly a week while preparations were made to include a custom casket [citation needed]. André's body was to be flown to North Carolina, and airlines had to reshuffle some schedules and cargo to be able to be under the weight limit with André on board [citation needed]. Even his ashes weighed nearly twice what a normal-sized human's ashes do.
  • In The Simpsons episode "Bart the Fink," B-list movie actor Troy McClure — attending a memorial service for the supposedly deceased Krusty the Klown — pitches a series of funerals of celebrities he had supposedly attended, including "André the Giant: We Hardly Knew Ye."
  • André also inspired the André the Giant Has a Posse and Obey Giant sticker originally produced by Shepard Fairey.
  • Wrestling superstar The Big Show once went by the moniker "The Giant," in tribute to André, complete with wearing a black unitard with a single strap. WCW even went so far as to claim, in his early career, that he was in fact André's son. Big Show has mentioned he regretted this being part of his early character, but has displayed that he has the greatest respect for his "dad" André.
  • The name of Bronx-based rapper, AG stands for Andre the Giant.
  • In the movie 40 Year Old Virgin they breifly mention that a transvestite prostititute has hands the size of Andre's.
  • In the video game Counter-Strike there is a spray paint that features André the Giant.

Personal life

While always being referred to as a "bachelor for life," Roussimoff did have one daughter, Robin Christensen, born in 1979, who stands at around six feet tall herself, which has been mentioned in some biographies of André. WWE referee Tim White mentioned in the A&E biography of "Andre the Giant" that she lives somewhere in the Seattle, Washington area. Andre also has two nephews, Boris and Godefroy.

As a child, André was referred to by his parents as Dédé (pronounced Day-day) and showed no signs of being the size that he would end up being.

Actor Cary Elwes explains in his video diary of The Princess Bride that Samuel Beckett was a neighbour of the Roussimoff family while living in France.

In the A&E documentary, Arnold Skaaland mentions on how André wished he could see a Broadway play. Arnold offered to go buy tickets but André then passed up the opportunity, citing how he was too big for the seats and that people behind him wouldn't be able to see.

Also in the documentary, Arnold Skaaland mentioned that even though he was very polite and nice, André had his limits. Arnold told the story when André was in a bar one night, four men came up to him and began harassing him about his size. At first, André attempted to avoid confrontation, but when he couldn't take it anymore, he proceeded to chase the hecklers until they locked themselves in their car. André then grabbed the car and tilted it over to its side with the four guys trapped inside. André was never arrested for the incident since local police officers had a hard time believing four inebriated men's story about an angry giant having overturned their car.

Andre: Heart of the Giant (which is to be released in 2007) is a movie about Andre's life and struggles in and out of the wrestling ring. Actors are going to be playing real life wrestlers, managers, promoters, and legends. Videos of Andre: Heart of the Giant are posted on the video sharing website youtube.com.

Andre was also known for his extremely heavy drinking. There are stories of him drinking over one hundred beers in a single sitting, or over a dozen bottles of wine before wrestling, but it is difficult to verify just how accurate they are. He was certainly an alcoholic with a much higher capacity than average, but some of the more extreme tales are likely exagerrations. [5]

Wrestling facts

Managers

File:Andre Piledriver.jpg
André the Giant holding opponent in the tombstone piledriver position

Finishing and signature moves

Filmography

Championships and accomplishments

  • Other titles

DVDs

On January 25, 2005 WWE released Andre The Giant, a DVD focusing on the career of Andre. The DVD is a reissue of the out-of-print Andre The Giant VHS made by Coliseum Video in 1985, with commentary by Michael Cole and Tazz replacing Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura's commentary on his WrestleMania battle with Big John Studd, with an option to hear no commentary at all.

Video Games

References

  • Andre The Giant: Larger Than Life by A&E Biography, November 23, 1999 Video, color, NTSC
  1. ^ "André the Giant", World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame.
  2. ^ André the Giant official website.
  3. ^ Tributes II by Dave Meltzer, 2004, ISBN 1-58261-817-8, p. 68
  4. ^ Biography from André the Giant official website
  5. ^ Modern Drunkard Magazine http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/10_06/10_06_andre_giant.html

See also

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