Saturday, April 2, 2016

André the Giant


André René Roussimoff (May 19, 1946 – January 27, 1993),[1][2] known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestlerand actor. He most famously feuded with Hulk Hogan, culminating at WrestleMania III, and his best-remembered film role was that of Fezzik, the giant in The Princess Bride.[3] His size was a result of gigantism caused by excess growth hormone, which later resulted inacromegaly. It also led to him being called "The Eighth Wonder of the World".[6][9]
In the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE), André was a WWF World Heavyweight Champion[10] and a one-timeWWF Tag Team Champion.[11] In 1993, André was the inaugural inductee into the WWF Hall of Fame

Undefeated streak (1973–1987)[edit]

On March 26, 1973, André debuted in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (later World Wrestling Federation) as a fan favorite, defeating Buddy Wolfe in New York's Madison Square Garden.[3][13][26]
André was one of professional wrestling's most beloved "babyfaces" throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. As such, Gorilla Monsoon often stated that André had never been defeated for 15 years by pinfall or submission prior to WrestleMania III; however, André had lost in matches outside of the WWF: a pinfall loss in Mexico to Canek in 1984 and a submission loss in Japan to Antonio Inoki in 1986.[27][28] He also had sixty-minute time limit draws with the two other major world champions of the day, Harley Race and Nick Bockwinkel.
In 1976, André fought professional boxer Chuck Wepner in an unscripted boxer-versus-wrestler fight. The wild fight was shown via telecast as part of the undercard of theMuhammad Ali versus Antonio Inoki fight and ended when André threw Wepner over the top rope and outside the ring.
In 1980, he feuded with Hulk Hogan, wrestling him at Shea Stadium's Showdown at Shea and in Pennsylvania. The feud continued in Japan in 1982 and 1983.
In 1982, Vince McMahon, Sr. sold the World Wide Wrestling Federation to his son, Vince McMahon, Jr..[29] 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 him to work in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).[30]
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, inRochester, New York, by leaping off the top rope and crashing down upon it with his knee-drop.[31] In reality, André had broken his ankle getting out of bed the morning before the match.[18][32] 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.[33] Their feud continued as fans filled arenas up and down the east coast to witness their matches. On November 14, 1981, at the Philadelphia Spectrum, 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.[34] The same type of match was also held in Toronto. In early 1982 the two also fought in a series of matches in Japan with Arnold Skaaland in Andre`s corner.
André (second from right) feuded with Big John Studd (left) in the build towards WrestleMania I, and later withKing Kong Bundy (second from left)
Another feud involved a man who considered himself to be the "true giant" of wrestling: Big John Studd.[31] 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 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.[31] 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.[35] 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 taken from him by Studd's manager, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.[36]
The following year, at WrestleMania 2, on April 7, 1986, André continued to display his dominance by winning a twenty-man battle royalwhich featured top National Football League stars and wrestlers.[37] André last eliminated Bret Hart to win the contest.[38]
After WrestleMania 2, André continued his feud with Studd and King Kong Bundy. Around this time, André requested a leave of absence to tend to his health—effects from his acromegaly that 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 André's absence, a storyline was developed in which Heenan—suggesting that André was secretly afraid of Studd and Bundy, whom Heenan bragged were unbeatable—challenged André and a partner of his choosing to wrestle Studd and Bundy in a televised tag team match. When André failed to show, WWF president Jack Tunney indefinitely suspended him.[39] Later in the summer of 1986, upon André'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 that was copied from the New Japan Pro Wrestling character "Super Strong Machine", played by Japanese wrestler Junji Hirata,[40] —as "a new tag team from Japan" and claimed not to know the identities of the wrestlers, even though it was obvious to fans that it was André competing as the Giant Machine. Heenan, Studd, and Bundy complained to Tunney, who eventually told Heenan that if it could be proven that André and the Giant Machine were the same person, André would be fired. André thwarted Heenan, Studd, and Bundy at every turn. Then, in late 1986, the Giant Machine "disappeared," and André was reinstated. Foreshadowing André's heel turn, Heenan expressed his approval of the reinstatement but did not explain why.

Personal life[edit]

Roussimoff had one daughter, Robin Christensen Roussimoff, who was born in 1979.[18]
André was mentioned in the 1974 Guinness Book of World Records as the highest-paid wrestler in history at that time. He had earned US $400,000 in one year during the early 1970s.[82]
Roussimoff has been unofficially crowned "the greatest drunk on Earth"[83] for once consuming 119 12-US-fluid-ounce (350 ml) beers (over 41 litres) in six hours.[84] On an episode of WWE's Legends of WrestlingMike Graham said André once drank 156 16-US-fluid-ounce (470 ml) beers in one sitting, which was confirmed by Dusty RhodesThe Fabulous Moolah wrote in her autobiography that André drank 127 beers in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, hotel bar and later passed out in the lobby. The staff could not move him and had to leave him there until he awoke.[85]
An urban legend exists surrounding André's 1987 surgery in which his size made it impossible for the anesthesiologist to estimate a dosage via standard methods; consequently, his alcohol tolerance was used as a guideline instead.[86]
André was arrested by the Linn County, Iowa, sheriff in 1989 and charged with assault after he allegedly roughed up a local television cameraman.[87][88]
William Goldman, the author of the novel and the screenplay of The Princess Bride, wrote in his nonfiction work Which Lie Did I Tell? that André was one of the gentlest and most generous people he ever knew. Whenever André ate with someone in a restaurant he would pay, but he would also insist on paying when he was a guest. After one meal, Arnold Schwarzenegger had quietly moved to the cashier to pay before André could, but then found himself being physically lifted, carried from his table, and deposited on top of his car by André and Wilt Chamberlain.[89]

Death[edit]

Roussimoff died in his sleep of congestive heart failure on the night of January 27, 1993, in a Paris hotel room, he was found by his chauffeur.[3][90] He was in Paris to attend his father's funeral.[91] His body was cremated according to his wishes and his ashes were scattered at his ranch (35.116211°N 79.80634°W) in Ellerbe, North Carolina

Legacy[edit]

Big Show - a wrestler often compared with André due to his size - was the winner of the 2015 André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31, and is posing alongside the André the Giant Memorial Trophy, which goes to the winner of the annual match.
  • In 1993 when the then-World Wrestling Federation created the WWF Hall of Fame, André the Giant was the inaugural inductee[12] (and the only 1993 inductee)
  • André was the inspiration for the 1998 film My Giant, written by his friend Billy Crystal, whom he had met during the filming of The Princess Bride.
  • Paul Wight, better known as the Big Show, is more similar in body structure to André than any other wrestler since André's death. He was originally billed as the son of André during his stint in WCW (when he was known as simply "the Giant") despite no biological relation.[94] While also suffering from acromegaly, unlike André, Wight did get surgery on his pituitary gland in the early 1990s, which successfully halted the progress of his condition. The former wrestler Giant González suffered from problems similar to those that André had near the end of his life and died in 2010 due to diabetes complications.
  • In 1999, André was the subject of an episode of A&E Biography, titled André the Giant: Larger Than Life. The documentary covered André's childhood and early life in France, as well as the beginning of his wrestling career, his struggles with acromegaly, his personal life, and his final years. André's brother, Jacques Roussimoff, was interviewed for the documentary, as were fellow wrestling personalities Gorilla MonsoonTim WhiteArnold SkaalandVince McMahonFreddie BlassieKiller KowalskiRene Goulet, and Frenchy Bernard, as well as wrestling historian Sheldon Goldberg. Several of André's longtime hometown friends were interviewed as well. The documentary described André as pro wrestling's "first and only international attraction" and that "on his broad shoulders, wrestling rose from its status as a questionable sport to become big business, and some might argue, performance art."
  • The Obey brand icon originated from wheatpaste posters that artist Shepard Fairey created based upon a photo of André the Giant that he had found in a newspaper.[95]
  • Capcom's video game character Hugo, from the Street Fighter series (known as Andore in the Final Fight series) is based on him.
  • The 2014 graphic novel André The Giant: The Life and The Legend (First Second Books), written and drawn by Box Brown, tells the story of André's life and career. Research for the book included interviews with André's fellow wrestlers and actors such as Christopher GuestMandy Patinkin and others.
  • On the March 10, 2014, episode of RawWrestleMania XXX host Hulk Hogan announced that in honor of André's legacy, he was establishing the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, that would take place at the event, with the winner receiving the André the Giant Memorial Trophy (made in the likeness of André).[96] On April 6, 2014, at WrestleMania XXX, Cesaro won the match after eliminating Big Show using a body slam similar to the body slam Hulk Hogan used on André at WrestleMania III.[97] At WrestleMania 31, the second annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal took place at Levi's Stadium, establishing the match as a yearly tradition at WWE's marquee event. Big Show won the event, last eliminating Damien Mizdow.
Source: Wikipedia

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