Educating Young Fans on Andre the Giant

   When I say young fans, I need to put this into context.  I'm 38 years old, having watched Andre the Giant in the 80's and 90's.  By the time I was of age to understand the business a little better, even as a child, Andre was past his prime, in a lot of pain, and wouldn't realistically live much longer. However, I'm old enough to have seen Andre in better shape in the early 80's.  Not only that, even as a kid, I researched more about him and got to watch old video tapes of him during his more agile years.  I think people that are ten, maybe even only five years younger than me may not fully understand just how good Andre was and only remember him at the tail end of his career.  I'm no expert but I really feel like some fans misunderstood Andre's talents and need a little more education on the subject.

   Recently, an HBO special about Andre the Giant aired.  I haven't seen it yet because I don't have HBO, I'm having a slight monetary problem, and I'm not keen enough on technology to see it for free.  With that being said, I can guess that the documentary has more than likely shed the light on Andre's entire career and enlightened people that may not have been aware of his earlier days as a wrestler.  For those of you that saw it, this would probably not be directed towards you.  I've read a lot of wrestling message boards where it seems clear fans younger than me are basing Andre's entire career on his last few years.  In anything, history is an important factor and just a little research on Google can give you answers on a subject.

   Andre the Giant was a spectacle in every sense of the word.  He was tailor-made for the wrestling industry.  Unfortunately, it came with a lot of ridicule and weird looks from the average person.  His size alone made it very difficult for him to do things people take for granted, such as traveling, buying clothes, and driving a car.  Everything was harder for Andre to deal with.  As many know, Andre had a disease known as Acromegaly, or in layman's terms, Gigantism.  His body grew much more rapidly than the average human being and he wasn't projected to live a long life.  The Big Show has the same affliction but medical technology has improved enough to where it was caught at an early age and somewhat treated.  Much like Andre, Big Show probably has limited time in the world as well.  Fortunately, he just got himself in the best shape of his life, and although he is now the same age Andre was when he died, the Big Show has more mileage left.  Even so, Andre accepted his fate in life and made the most of it, as best he could.

   Though Andre was in a lot of pain in his later years, he still managed to have a sense of humor.  To many outside the ring, he was known as a gentle giant.  However, you still did not want to cross him.  In the 70's, Andre traveled the wrestling territories and his size made him an attraction.  Andre stood 7'4 and when he started wrestling full time, weighed well over 400 lbs. Andre had an equally big heart and was well liked among his wrestling family.  He also had a natural charisma about him, which drew even more people to arenas around the world.  In his earlier years, he was agile for a man his size, and he wasn't always the immobile giant many younger fans remember him as.  

   I'm going to skip ahead for a second because there's been something that's bothered me for a long time.  Many fans remember the infamous slam heard 'round the world, when Hulk Hogan body slammed Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III.  Many people point out that others had slammed Andre in the past, and kind of ruined this moment for me.  For instance, I know Harley Race body slammed Andre years earlier. However, what people fail to realize is that by the time Hogan slammed Andre, Andre weighed at least 520 lbs, much heavier than when others did it.  That still makes his moment with Hogan special!  Not only that, the idea of Hogan vs. Andre during the wrestling boom of the WWF in the 80's was a huge draw.  Hogan was also a larger than life persona and although Hulkamania had been running wild for a few years before his clash with Andre in 1987, this moment really put him on the map.  To this day, Hogan credits Andre for "making" him.  I think it's fair to say, and even Hogan himself admits, that before he was "the guy," Andre the Giant was "the guy."

   Once into the 80's, you'd be likely to see Andre in several territories, as well as the WWF.  He'd show up in Mid-South, Stampede, and several others.  He'd team with Dusty Rhodes or have matches with the likes of Ric Flair or Ernie Ladd.  In 1980, Andre was the clear cut good guy, while Hulk Hogan was the bad guy.  They had a match in Shea Stadium that year and had a match in 1982 as well.  It was a much different atmosphere than their encounter years later.  By 1984, Andre was more or less full time in the WWF.  He'd often be teaming with Hulk Hogan or Hillbilly Jim.  He also feuded with members of the Heenan Family as well.

   Andre was often the king of Battle Royals, as he was the biggest man in the ring and no one was able to push him over the ropes and out of the ring.  Such was evident in his Battle Royal win at WrestleMania 2.  Andre did many things in those days.  He feuded with Big John Studd over who was the true giant in wrestling, which lead to a body slam challenge at the first WrestleMania.  He even donned a mask due to a storyline banishment from the WWF as part of a team known as the Machines, often used as comedy to the chagrin of Bobby Heenan.  

   In early 1987, things changed for Andre as a character.  On an episode of Piper's Pit, Andre showed up with Bobby Heenan to confront Hulk Hogan.  The two were friends but once Heenan got in Andre's ear, Andre was a new man.  Andre then challenged Hogan to a match at WrestleMania III and the rest is history, as they say.  By this time, Andre was in so much pain that it was hard to get through a match.  Hogan often states he wasn't sure Andre would do business or not.  Legend has it that near the end of the match, Andre instructed Hogan to slam him and end the match.  The Hogan/Andre feud lasted over a year and a half, with the buildup starting in early 1987 and lasting through the Summer of 1988.  Their feud in 1987 led up to the creation of the WWF's 2nd Pay-Per-View event, the Survivor Series.  

   Andre was the sole survivor of his team that November and it led to a rematch with Hogan in February of 1988 at "The Main Event."  Due to a crooked twin referee, Andre defeated Hogan to finally become the WWF World Heavyweight Champion.  Minutes later, Andre surrendered the Title to the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, who purchased the belt from Andre.  This led to the Title being vacated and a tournament would take place at WrestleMania IV to crown a new Champion. Andre's match with Hogan that night was a draw, causing Ted DiBiase to receive a bye right into the finals in a losing effort against "Macho Man" Randy Savage.  This led to a tag team match at the first SummerSlam between the Mega Powers of Hogan and Savage against the Mega Bucks, DiBiase and Andre.

   After that, Andre went on to feud with Jake "The Snake" Roberts, had a short program with the Ultimate Warrior, and even more Championship gold, as he and Heenan Family member Haku defeated Demolition for the WWF Tag Team Titles as the Colossal Connection.  This led to a rematch between the two teams at WrestleMania VI, which would be Andre's last match in the WWF.  After Haku accidentally kicked Andre, it led to their loss.  Heenan was irate and slapped Andre.  Andre retaliated by attacking Heenan and Haku, as he kicked them off of their motorized cart and rode alone to the back, to the sound of cheers.

   Andre showed up a few more times on WWF television, often on crutches after surgery.  Andre endorsed the Big Bossman when the Bossman was feuding with the Heenan Family.  In the Summer of 1991, manager Jimmy Hart claimed that he was trying to find an equally large man to team with Earthquake.  Both claimed Andre the Giant would be Earthquake's partner but Andre declined. Earthquake then attacked Andre and weeks later found his partner in Tugboat, who turned on the Bushwhackers and became Typhoon, with both calling themselves the Natural Disasters.  At SummerSlam, Andre seconded the Bushwhackers in their match with them.  

   Outside of the WWF, Andre continued to wrestle through late 1992, often in Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling.  He was shown on WCW television that year on an episode of Clash of the Champions.  In January of 1993, Andre the Giant sadly passed away at the age of 46, after attending his father's funeral in France, perhaps of a broken heart.  Months later, the WWF created their Hall of Fame and Andre became the first inductee.

   Andre the Giant was a kind soul and a tremendous competitor, both in size and heart.  Andre captivated audiences around the world and sold out arenas.  He was a wonderful human being and was talented as well, appearing in several movies.  In his movie and television roles, he was probably mostly known for his appearance in The Princess Bride.  He had a great character and some fantastic one-liners in the film.  He touched people's lives, whether it was his wrestling family, the fans, or his costars.  Andre the Giant was one of a kind and will always be remembered and revered.  I hope this showed a little more about Andre than some knew.  

  If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/