André René Roussimof, more commonly known under the stage name of Andrè the Giant, was one of the most famous Wrestlers of all time, even reported in the Guinness Book of Records in 1974 as the highest paid Wrestler in those days.
He was also a film actor and perhaps some will remember him for playing the part of Fezzik, the giant in the film "The Princess Bride", a 1987 epic fantasy film that has been very successful and has been appreciated by the public and critics.
André was born in 1956 in Grenoble, France. It seems that this boy already at 12 years old exceeded 190 cm in height for almost 100 kg of weight. He was a boy of humble origins who wanted to be a farmer for the family farm and, in fact, despite being a good student, he left school very early because he thought it was useless for a farmer's job.
But life has brought him a different destiny. At the age of 22, the boy discovered that he was suffering from "acromegaly" (which from Greek means "growth of the extremities"), a disease commonly known as "gigantism" that derives from excessive exposure of the organism to the growth hormone. In addition to provoking an enormous growth, it also causes problems to the heart and other organs, undersized for the giant body that they must maintain.
There are various anecdotes about his life: at the age of seven, for example, he had to go to school every day, but his already gigantic size made it difficult for him to be transported inside the regular school bus for other children. He also gained the fame of the world's greatest drinker: a legend that concerns him was to have drunk 156 pints of beers in one evening (an episode told by Mike Graham during the "Legends of Wrestling") or when completely drunk, he fell asleep in his hotel lobby and stayed there until he woke up after drinking 127 pints of beer, given the impossibility of moving him in his bed, considering his enormous size! His height was measured several times, and the maximum reported was 2.26 meters for a weight of 249 kg!
Given his gigantic physical appearance, Andrè, still very young, moved to Paris to try a career in the world of wrestling. Under the wing of the promoter Edouard Carpentier, he began to be known with the nickname "Monster Eiffel Tower." Later, he began touring the world for his fights, helped by the Canadian manager Frank Valois.
He was very successful going to Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Canada, thanks to his impressive physicality and the scary aspect he had, even though inside that gigantic body he always remained a shy and kind country boy.
In the early 70s, there was a turning point in his career. In Montreal, he met Vince McMahon senior, the American entrepreneur who was the creator of the World Wrestling Federation and who made Wrestling a famous show all over the world. As soon as he saw him, Vince McMahon realized that he could make Andrè a world-famous Wrestling icon, presenting him as a monstrous giant.
He advised him to take on an even more terrifying appearance and to gain weight, and gave him the stage name that made him famous all over the world: Andrè the Giant. He introduced him as a "good giant" with children, but terrible with all his opponents. During 1973, when he was 27, André made his debut in the World Wide Wrestling Federation, at a time when Wrestling had not yet become a mass phenomenon, and he became one of the undisputed stars.
His popularity grew more and more over time, alongside that of other famous wrestlers, such as Hulk Hogan, with whom he had a deep friendship. His character of the good giant was very successful over time, filling the main Sports Palaces of the United States, from Madison Square Garden in New York to the Philadelphia Spectrum. Even in 1974, he received a proposal from the Washington Redskins to play as a professional in American football. The young man refused: he wanted to stay in the wrestling world.
He took part in the first editions of WrestleMania, confirming himself as one of the most important characters of the WWF, but at the same time, over the years, his body began to suffer because of the enormous weight it had to sustain and the worsening effects of his disease.
In 1987 his character included a clash with his friend Hulk Hogan during WrestleMania III (the event had an incredible success) for winning the title of Champion. In that challenge, presented as "The biggest main event in sports entertainment" and followed by the astonishing number of 93,000 spectators at the Detroit Silverdome, Hulk Hogan managed at the end to lift the giant's heavy body and throw him to the ground, winning the match and retaining the title of World Champion.
Let's watch him in this video in the early stages of the match:
In the early '90s, André's physical condition continued to worsen and only made some sporadic appearances, subsequently spending the last period of his career in the ring of the Japanese "All Japan Pro Wrestling", before finally retiring in December 1992. He underwent different back surgery operations over time and, due to the posture problems caused by his disease, also decreased in height.
In January 1993 Andrè returned to his home in France for his father's funeral. He died a few days later, on January 27, due to a heart attack in his sleep in a hotel in Paris. André was known for his cheerful personality and his generosity, and the news of his death was greeted with astonishment and emotion by his colleagues and friends. He was the first Wrestler to be included in the WWE Hall of fame, which was inaugurated on this occasion.
After years of his death, his face is back to be seen and known all over the world, thanks to the street artist Shepard Fairey, aka Obey, who has become famous for having stylized the face of Andrè the Giant taken from a newspaper. The image, symbol of Obey brand, for its simplicity and its impact has become an icon, imprinted in t-shirts, posters, and suggestions of our time, reviving the memory of the one who had been nicknamed "The eighth wonder of the world".
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