Andre the Giant was no average sized man like Terry Funk or Ric Flair, so no one actually knows if Andre would still have been active in the professional wrestling business. After all, he debuted in the sport in 1964, and 2006 would have been his 42nd year connected with professional wrestling. Weighing well over 400 pounds and carrying it for over forty tough, physical years, with the injuries that would have accumulated, it seems virtually impossible that Andre would still be active, but he would still be one of the sport’s greatest ambassadors.

In the world of sports entertainment, things are not always as they seem, but they are seldom far from the truth. Andre the Giant was, during his prime, the largest professional wrestler in the business as he and Japan’s Shohei “Giant” Baba both stood at the same height of 6’10”. Andre was actually ¼” shorter than Baba but his large bushy hairstyle gave him the appearance of being taller, and Andre outweighed Baba by from 50 pounds at his lightest weight of 380, to over 200 pounds at his heaviest weight of 540. Andre was billed as standing at 7’4”, so when he battled Big John Studd and Hulk Hogan, he was billed as the largest athlete in the world and the fact the he was actually taller than two wrestlers whose heights were also increased for effect, the illusion worked as Big John Studd was billed as 6’10” but actually stood 6’7” and Hulk Hogan was billed as 6’9” but only stood 6’6” tall. Professional wrestling is show business and Andre the Giant was one of professional wrestling’s biggest attractions, so the promoters made their biggest attraction even bigger.

Andre the Giant debuted in professional wrestling in 1964, and by the time he wrestled Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania III (1987) in the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, Andre had wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation for 15 years and the heart of the story line was the fact that Hulk Hogan was receiving greater accolades for having been WWF Champion for 3 years than Andre was for having not been pinned for nearly 15 years. Though he had suffered several count-out and disqualification losses within the WWF, he had not been pinned or forced to submit within a WWF ring. Andre was not truly undefeated because he suffered losses outside of the WWF and outside of the United States to wrestling legends El Canek in Mexico by pin fall (1984) and Antonio Inoki in Japan by submission (1986) during the 15 year WWF streak.

During his prime, when his weight was barely 400 pounds, Andre proved that he was one of the premier athletes in professional wrestling. Andre displayed better than average mat skill and had been known to utilize aerial maneuvers from time to time. Andre wrestled in several 60-minute time limit draws against two of the best wrestlers of the 1970’s and 80’s, legendary world champions Harley Race and Nick Bockwinkel. In 1974, Andre was also offered a contract to play football for the NFL’s Washington Redskins and their legendary coach, the late George Allen. Andre turned the offer down because he felt that, at the time, he could make more money in professional wrestling. While, at that time, that belief might have been debatable for most wrestlers, Andre was already an international star. Though he was signed with the then Worldwide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), Andre traveled around the globe and competed against some of the biggest stars in the business, including the Original Sheik, Abdullah the Butcher, Ernie Ladd and future AWA World Champion Stan Hansen.

Andre the Giant was the Lone Ranger of professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has always been billed as a battler of good versus evil, and Andre the Giant was the ultimate wrestling good guy, traveling the world righting wrongs. Whenever the heels of a particular territory were gaining the upper hand and the good guys had more than they could handle, a promoter would always called in Andre, and order was usually restored quickly. Andre would appear for a few matches and destroy all of the bad guys in the territory. Then as quickly as he had arrived, he would leave, off to bring justice and order to another territory. The only thing that Andre would leave behind would be the memories of his appearances and the legendary stories of the beatings tat he issued to the heels in the territory, as told through the eyes of the fans lucky enough to have caught a glimpse of the giant in person.

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