As a kid growing up in the 1980's, I loved watching wrestling. My favourite wrestlers were Hulk Hogan and Hacksaw Jim Duggan. But the most awe inspiring wrestler of that era has to be Andre the Giant.
A recent documentary from HBO Sports sheds a new light on Andre the Giant the professional wrestler and Andre the person.
Andre was born in a small French town and had a normal life until he reached the age of 17. It was then that his incredible growth spurt resulted in him growing over to over 7 foot in height and close to 500 pounds heavy. Andre suffered from excess growth hormone that meant his body would never stop growing.
He began his professional wrestling life in France as Jean Ferre before gaining notoriety in French Canada and then throughout the different wrestling provinces across North America.
It was during this time and the advent of Cable television enabled professional wrestling to become nationally televised around the USA. This is when Andre and Hulk Hogan teamed up to become the most formidable force in wrestling.
After 3 years as the World Champ, it became harder to find formidable opponents for Hulk Hogan to fight, so in 1987, the WWF team decided to turn Andre the Giant rogue and had him pitted against Hulk Hogan for the Championship belt as the showcase event of Wrestlemania III.
I remember the match well. As a young kid watching this awe inspiring (yet fake) match up of the greatest wrestlers of all time! Hulk Hogan did not know what the result of the match was going to be at the time and it wasn't until right up to the end that Andre actually told him to body slam him for the win. Up until that point, no one had ever beaten Andre the Giant. Andre's health and ability to wrestle went downhill dramatically after that match up until the point where he was forced to retire.
In 1993, Andre succumbed to a heart attack in a Paris hotel. His body had outgrown his organs and were unable to sustain his ever growing body. He was 46.
If you want to know more, watch this excellent documentary about the man.
Thanks for reading.
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