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Understanding Andre the Giant, Wrestling’s Massive, Indefinable Contradiction

60 points by coloneltcb 11y ago

baldfat 11y ago
I meet Andre the Giant when I was 9 years old. He actually talked with me and my dad for a few minutes and shook my hand. Was really nice with the biggest hands I ever saw. P.S. I like Pro Wrestling for like 3 months and than hated it. I met him right when I was liking it. :)
- vinbreau 11y ago
  My father brought me to see him wrestle around the same age as you. This would have been during his days wrestling in Houston. Andre picked me up and commented how small I was. I remember him being really nice to us, very friendly. I was scared at first but left with a great impression of him.
- flomo 11y ago
  A friend of mine has a great picture of himself at about that age with Andre's humongous hand on top of his head. But, I'll be honest, at that age, I thought the guy was a slob and not a good professional wrestler. (And even then, everyone knew it was 'fake'.) I gather when New York rented him out to the territories, he didn't work very hard. There is a great examination of the Giant in "Modern Drunkard Magazine". http://www.drunkard.com/issues/10_06/10_06_andre_giant.html http://www.drunkard.com/issues/10_06/10_06_andre_giant.html
  - baldfat 11y ago
    > The key to Andre the Giant is this — even as a youth he knew that his disease would dramatically shorten his life. He knew there was no cure, and lived every day with the understanding that death could shamble around the very next corner. Knowledge of this sort can darken a life.
coldcode 11y ago
Even if he wasn't a lovable giant all the time, his work in Princess Bride is so perfect, a giant playing a giant in a giant way—and you will never see a remake of this movie.
- beloch 11y ago
  "Beat it, or I'll call the brute squad!" "I'm on the brute squad." "You are the brute squad!?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmJ2GVOEVFI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmJ2GVOEVFI He may not have a big film career, but what a gem that film was!
  - zyxley 11y ago
    I think that last one should just be "You are the brute squad." That is to say, it's not an expression of shock, but an insulting quip.
klenwell 11y ago
You open in rural France in the late 1950s. Andre at 12 is the size of a large adult. The driver has banned him from the school bus, so to get to class he depends on rides from a neighbor, Samuel Beckett, who has a truck. Yes, that Samuel Beckett. You can be the author of Waiting for Godot. It’s still useful to have a truck.

60 points by coloneltcb 11y ago

I meet Andre the Giant when I was 9 years old. He actually talked with me and my dad for a few minutes and shook my hand. Was really nice with the biggest hands I ever saw. P.S. I like Pro Wrestling for like 3 months and than hated it. I met him right when I was liking it. :)

vinbreau 11y ago
My father brought me to see him wrestle around the same age as you. This would have been during his days wrestling in Houston. Andre picked me up and commented how small I was. I remember him being really nice to us, very friendly. I was scared at first but left with a great impression of him.
flomo 11y ago
A friend of mine has a great picture of himself at about that age with Andre's humongous hand on top of his head. But, I'll be honest, at that age, I thought the guy was a slob and not a good professional wrestler. (And even then, everyone knew it was 'fake'.) I gather when New York rented him out to the territories, he didn't work very hard. There is a great examination of the Giant in "Modern Drunkard Magazine". http://www.drunkard.com/issues/10_06/10_06_andre_giant.html http://www.drunkard.com/issues/10_06/10_06_andre_giant.html
- baldfat 11y ago
  > The key to Andre the Giant is this — even as a youth he knew that his disease would dramatically shorten his life. He knew there was no cure, and lived every day with the understanding that death could shamble around the very next corner. Knowledge of this sort can darken a life.

coldcode 11y ago

Even if he wasn't a lovable giant all the time, his work in Princess Bride is so perfect, a giant playing a giant in a giant way—and you will never see a remake of this movie.

beloch 11y ago
"Beat it, or I'll call the brute squad!" "I'm on the brute squad." "You are the brute squad!?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmJ2GVOEVFI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmJ2GVOEVFI He may not have a big film career, but what a gem that film was!
- zyxley 11y ago
  I think that last one should just be "You are the brute squad." That is to say, it's not an expression of shock, but an insulting quip.

klenwell 11y ago

You open in rural France in the late 1950s. Andre at 12 is the size of a large adult. The driver has banned him from the school bus, so to get to class he depends on rides from a neighbor, Samuel Beckett, who has a truck. Yes, that Samuel Beckett. You can be the author of Waiting for Godot. It’s still useful to have a truck.