History Wrestling / AndreTheGiant

* GiantFootOfStomping: Yes, it sounds like [[IncrediblyLamePun the lamest pun ever]] but it was one of Andre's [[SignatureMove signature moves]], and it was a great deal on his matches, really.

* ChickMagnet: Andre was never married, but he had [[KavorkaMan many, many women throwing themselves at him]], according to Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Bobby Heenan among others.
--> '''Ric Flair:''' He's wearing a size 24 ring, baby. What else can I tell you? ... he's wearing size 24 shoes. What else you want to know?

** In his later years Andre lost most of his agility and speed but kept his incredible strength, turning him into the MightyGlacier ''AND'' the StoneWall. Very few wrestlers could get him off his feet even by the end of his career.

** Creator/CaryElwes noted in his book ''"As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of Film/ThePrincessBride"'' that André's drink of choice during filming was what he called "The American" [[note]]A 40 oz. (~1.2 L) pitcher filled with a mixture of brandy and whatever other hard liquor the bar could spare[[/note]] and he would drink multiples most nights. An undercover NYPD officer always followed him around whenever he visited the city. Andre told him this was to prevent an instance of him falling on someone if drunk.

* WrestlingMonster: Possibly the most fond and famous case in the business' history. Even non-wrestling fans know ''exactly'' who André The Giant is.

* NeverGetsDrunk: His huge size meant that it took an incredible amount of alcohol to make him get drunk. The one time he was ever recorded as pass-out drunk, he had consumed ten ''cases'' of beer. Creator/CaryElwes notes in his book about the making of ''Film/ThePrincessBride'' that André's drink of choice during filming was what he called "The American" -- a 40 oz. (~1.2 L) pitcher filled with a mixture of brandy and whatever other hard liquor the bar could spare -- and he would drink multiples most nights.

* HardHead[=/=]UseYourHead: Though it may have as much been that his head was disproportionately large as opposed to how hard it was.

* MightyGlacier[=/=]StoneWall: In his later years, Andre lost most of his agility and speed, but kept his incredible strength. Very few wrestlers could get him off his feet even by the end of his career.

** The reason he thorougly hated his peers rubbing baby oil on themselves was clearly evident as Wrestling/GregValentine experienced it first hand. On a match where the main spot was Andre performing a ''[[NoPunIntended Giant Swing]]'' on him, Greg was using so much oil that he slipped from Andre's grip and went to fly over the top-rope like a rag doll, to fall flat on his back outside the ring.

André Rene Roussimoff (Bulgarian: Андрей Рене Русимов; Polish: Andrzej Renat Russimow; May 19, 1946 -- January 27, 1993) was a French {{professional wrestl|ing}}er of Bulgarian and Polish descent better known as "André the Giant" for his impressive size.[[note]]Billed at 7'4" (224 cm) and around 500 pounds (226 kg), to be precise; exact measurements are difficult to find, in part due to his slouching posture, and because no promoter at the time wanted an accurate measurement getting out and ruining his credibility. Most sources place him at or around 6'11"-7', possibly shrinking from that later in his career due to damage to his joints.[[/note]] [[YouMightRememberMeFrom You may also remember him as Fezzik]] in TheFilmOfTheBook of ''Film/ThePrincessBride''.

** Creator/{{Capcom}} created a whole German family of giants by the surname '''Andore''' debuting in ''Characters/FinalFight'' but having also ties with the ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' saga, being '''[[Characters/StreetFighterIII Hugo]]''' and '''[[Characters/StreetFighterV Abigail]]''' the most successful of the lot.

* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: An issue Andre often faced was that not only due to his height, but also the bizarre proportions his gigantism caused, most public services and products couldn't accommodate him. The anesthetist mentioned above had to base dosage in that manner because most hospital charts simply would not account for someone of Andre's size. He had to special order shoes and clothes, it was difficult for him to even find a hotel with beds that fit him, and most toilets would shatter if he sat on them (according to Wrestling/JakeRoberts, Andre would poop in the bathtub and wash it down). This was especially notable in Japan, which Andre often visited as part of his tours.

** Although Andre ''hated'' being stared at outside of the wrestling ring as a general rule, he was noted to be as gentle as a lamb with kids whenever they saw and approached him. Supposedly this was because the majority of kids stared at him not because they saw him in a negative manner, but as a genuine, real life giant and were so in awe of him. Andre was ''well'' noted even in his days as a heel to tone it down somewhat after his heel turn when it came to kids. He still protected Kayfabe, but he was ''far'' gentler with kids than adults during that period.

* LawOfInverseFertility: A common side-effect of Andre's form of acromeagly was a very low sperm count, and as such, he refused for several years to believe that his daughter was, well, his daughter. When a blood test finally proved it, he felt so guilty about his treatment of her and her mother that he left them nearly his entire estate.

** Creator/{{Capcom}} created a whole german family of giants by the surname '''Andore''' debuting in ''Characters/FinalFight'' but having also ties with the ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' saga, being '''[[Characters/StreetFighterIII Hugo]]''' and '''[[Characters/StreetFighterV Abigail]]''' the most successful of the lot.

* GiantFootOfStomping: Yes, it sounds like [[JustForPun the lamest pun ever]] but it was one of Andre's [[SignatureMove signature moves]], and it was a great deal on his matches, really.

* OddFriendship: With the playwright Creator/SamuelBeckett. Apparently, it started when Beckett would drive Andre to school because he couldn't fit in the school bus.

** He is Wrestling/HulkHogan's AwesomeMomentOfCrowning. Specifically, Hogan was the first person to lift him up and bodyslam him, at least during the WWF's "Rock 'n' Wresting" era.[[note]]Wrestling/HarleyRace, Wrestling/{{Kamala}}, Wrestling/StanHansen, El Canek, Ronnie Garvin, Blackjack Mulligan and others had all slammed Andre prior to WMIII, but never in [=WWE=].[[/note]] Although an obvious set-up, André was having increasing health problems which slowed him down considerably. Hogan practically danced around him in the ring making the spectacle somewhat believable. Andre let Hogan retain the championship at Wrestling/WrestleMania III, as Hogan knew the giant could defeat him in the ring if he wanted, regardless of what had been decided beforehand. For Wrestling/HulkHogan, it was Andre choosing to put Hogan over that made it the greatest moment in his career.

** At the very beginning of his carrer when he was only 19, Andre debuted as "Géant Ferré" (A play on "Grand Ferré", the French Myth/PaulBunyan), and for what we know, he lived up to the gimmick.
** Some of these tales aren't coming for what we know about his life, personal quirks or carrer, but from the backstage word-of-mouth. Ric Flair told an amusing story once regarding someone told him that in order to sustain his massive frame, Andre was born with two hearts and sported three rows of teeth. Naitch' recalled he used to stare down every time Andre spoke wanting to verify if he really had that many pearlies.

** That's how Jake Roberts got his respect in the lockers. André didn't like Jake very much when he was the newcomer, so The Big Guy confronted The Snake who, true to his own character, simply stood up and told The Giant that being both professionals [[note]]Meaning: Men with knowledge on how to crack-up the other guy's skeleton[[/note]], they shouldn't have a beef with each other.

** At the very beginning of his carrer when he was only 19, André debuted as "Géant Ferré" (A play on "Grand Ferré", the French Myth/PaulBunyan), and for what we know, he lived up to the gimmick.

* UnrelatedBrothers: More like Unrelated Father and Son: [[Wrestling/BigShow The Giant (Paul Wight)]] in Wrestling/{{WCW}} was supposedly André's "son." The only thing the two had in common was their disease, they didnt even have the same nationality, as Andre was French while Wight is American.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: During their feud, [[Wrestling/JakeRoberts Jake "The Snake" Roberts]] exploited André's fear of snakes with the help of his pet snake Damien. Notably averted less than two years earlier when Andre was a guest on the Snake Pit (hosted by a then-heel Roberts himself) when Andre merely scoffed at Damien, calling him a garter snake, and again in 1991 when Roberts and Andre allied against mutual enemy [[Wrestling/JohnTenta Earthquake]] [[note]](after Earthquake crushed Roberts' snake, Damien, and broke Andre's knee)[[/note]].

** Regarding the famous story of André scaring off some guys hassling him in a bar... one must wonder what sort of thought process led those geniuses to think hassling a 7'4" 516 pound wrestler would end well. Then again, it was in a bar. [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy Common sense isn't very common in many bars]].

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Alongside the 5'6" Robin Wright in ''The Princess Bride''.

* TheAlcoholic:
** [[http://www.drunkard.com/10_06_andre_giant/ André. Loved. Liquor.]], and his consumption abilities were comparable to those of a Norse God. Because of his size, he could easily outdrink everyone at whatever function he was at; the stories about his drinking really get into extreme territory. Just check that link for some of the best. When he had to go into surgery, he was [[ReadingsAreOffTheScale so large]] that the anesthetist had to base dosing on what it took to get Andre drunk. He told the anesthetist that it took two liters of vodka just to make him feel "warm inside." Apparently most of his meals consisted of a 6 pack of beer and at least one entire bottle of wine.
--->'''Wrestling/VinceMcMahon:''' ...he enjoyed performing, but also enjoyed the party afterwards.
** One wrestler related to the one time he did pass out drunk, when he was in a hotel, and his sheer size meant that even the combined strength of the wrestlers couldn't move him, so they simply left him asleep on the floor of the hotel lobby overnight. (They did give him a blanket, in the form of a ''piano cover''.) The hotel clerk ran into him in the morning and was in shock. The amount of liquor needed for that is believed to be about ''119 bottles of beer''.[[note]]To put that into perspective, for the average man, that would be the equivalent of a binging twice a day for ''two weeks straight.''[[/note]]
---> '''Wrestling/RicFlair:''' Brother, I was with him one night he drank a hundred and six beers... [[PunctuatedForEmphasis A HUNDRED ...AND SIX!!!]]
** Many of his friends often commented that when Andre was drunk, it was a very good thing that he still kept his gentle and easygoing personality, and was slow to anger (although pissing him off, drunk or sober, was a very bad idea). A man of his size and strength being a mean drunk would have meant a lot of property damage and injured bystanders.
** As related in Creator/CaryElwes' ''As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride'', an undercover NYPD officer always followed the wrestler around whenever he visited the city. Andre said this was to prevent another instance of him falling on someone while drunk.

->''"[[BadassBoast I know I have eaten more good food, drunk more beer and fine wine, had more friends, and seen more of the world than most men ever will.]]"''