| André the Giant | |
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André (second from right) wrestling King Kong Bundy |
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| Ring name(s) | André Roussimoff André the Giant[1] Géant Ferré[2] Giant Machine[3] Jean Ferré[2] Monster Eiffel Tower[4] Monster Roussimoff[4] |
| Billed height | 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 475 lb (215 kg) – 540 lb (240 kg)[5] |
| Born | May 19, 1946[3][6] Grenoble, France[1] |
| Died | January 27, 1993 (aged 46)[1] Paris, France[1] |
| Billed from | Grenoble in the French Alps |
| Trained by | Frank Valois[3] Édouard Carpentier[3][5] |
| Debut | 1963 |
| Retired | 1992 |
André René Roussimoff (19 May 1946 – 27 January 1993),[3][6] 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.[1] His size was a result of acromegaly, and led to him being called "The Eighth Wonder of the World".[5][7]
In the World Wrestling Federation (now known as WWE), Roussimoff was a one-time WWF Champion[8] and a one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion.[9] In 1993, he was the first inductee into the WWF Hall of Fame.[5][10]
André Roussimoff was born in Grenoble, France to parents of Bulgarian 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 (110 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.[11] 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 engines for hay balers. None of these brought him any satisfaction.[12]
At age 18, Roussimoff moved to Paris and was taught the art 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.[12] 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.[2][4][12]
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.[4][13] It was during his time in Japan that doctors first informed Roussimoff that he suffered from acromegaly.[4][12]
Roussimoff next moved to Montreal, Canada, where he became an immediate success, regularly selling out the Montreal Forum.[14] However, promoters eventually ran out of plausible opponents for him and, as the novelty of his size wore off, the gate receipts dwindled.[12] 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.[15] 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 dropkicks. He also began billing Roussimoff as "André the Giant" and set up a travel-intensive schedule, loaning him to wrestling associations around the world,[10][16] to keep him from becoming over-exposed in any area.[12] Promoters had to guarantee André a certain amount of money, as well as pay McMahon's WWWF a booking fee.[17]
On March 26, 1973, André made his World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE) debut as a fan favorite, defeating Buddy Wolfe in New York's Madison Square Garden.[1][10][18]
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.[19][20] 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..[21] 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).[22]
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.[23] In reality, André had broken his ankle getting out of bed the morning before the match.[12][24] 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.[25]
Another feud involved a man who considered himself to be "the true giant" of wrestling: Big John Studd.[23] Throughout the early to mid-1980s, André and Studd fought all over the world, battling to try to 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.[23] 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.[26]
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.[27] André last eliminated Bret Hart to win the contest.[28]
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)[29] – 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.
André agreed to turn heel in early 1987 to be the counter to the biggest "babyface" in professional wrestling at that time, Hulk Hogan.[30] 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.[31] 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.[32][33] A "discussion" between André and Hogan was scheduled, and on a Piper's Pit that aired February 7, 1987, the two met.[34] 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.[35]
At WrestleMania III, he was billed at 520 lb (240 kg),[36] and the stress of such immense weight on his bones and joints resulted in constant pain.[12] After recent back surgery, he was also wearing a brace underneath his wrestling singlet. Hogan won the match after body slamming (later on dubbed "the bodyslam heard around the world") André, followed by Hogan's running leg drop finisher.[36] Years later, Hogan claimed that André was so heavy, he felt more like 700 lb (320 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.[37] 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.)[38][39] 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.[40]
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.[41] 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,[42] but in fact was revealed to have been his 'evil' twin brother Earl Hebner[43]), 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.[8] 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.[44]
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.
André's next major feud was against 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.
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 shows (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".[45][46]
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.[9] 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.[47] 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.[48] 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.
André continued to make appearances in the WWF throughout 1990 and 1991. He came to the aid of The Big Bossman in his WrestleMania VII match against Mr. Perfect.[49]
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).[50] Jimmy Hart would later get revenge for the humiliation by secretly signing Tugboat and forming The Natural Disasters.[51] This led to André's final major WWF appearance at SummerSlam '91, where he seconded The Bushwhackers in their match against the Disasters.[52]
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.[53]
After WrestleMania VI, André spent the rest of his in-ring career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). He toured with AJPW three times per year, from September 1990 to 1992, usually teaming with Giant Baba in tag team matches.[54] He wrestled his final match in December 1992.
André branched out into acting again in the 1970s and 1980s, after a 1967 French boxing movie, making his USA acting debut playing a Sasquatch ("Bigfoot") on the 1970s television series The Six Million Dollar Man.[55] He appeared in other television shows, including The Greatest American Hero, B.J. and the Bear, The Fall Guy and 1990's Zorro.[56]
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,[57][58] the resurrected horned giant god who is killed by Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger). He appeared most notably as Fezzik, his own favorite role,[1] 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.[59]
Roussimoff had one daughter,[12] 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, 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.[60]
Roussimoff has been unofficially crowned "The Greatest Drunk on Earth"[61] for once consuming 119 12-US-fluid-ounce (350 ml) beers (over 11 gallons) in 6 hours.[62] On an episode of WWE's Legends of Wrestling, Mike Graham said André once drank 156 16-US-fluid-ounce (470 ml) 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.[63]
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.[64][65]
André the Giant died in his sleep due to congestive heart failure on the night of January 27, 1993, in a Paris hotel room.[1][66] At the time, he was in Paris to attend the funeral of his father.[67] Roussimoff's body was cremated according to his wishes and his ashes were scattered at his farm in Ellerbe, North Carolina.[12][68]
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