Andre The Giant (1 Viewer)

[Lott's Fingertip]

Anybody want a peanut?

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Andre The Zombie?

Now that's a scary thought.

 

[TheFanatic]

"When Andre went out with a group of friends, he was the designated driver -- even when he was drinking."

I'd be willing to bet that this is how most teenagers and 20-somethings roll... least drunk guy drives.

Here's a question. What the hell did he drive? At 550 pounds what could he drive? Did he roll in a tricked out Mack Truck? I mean the guy sits in a 3/4 ton pickup and all of the sudden it's a 1 ton!?!?!

 

[AnonymousBob]

"When Andre went out with a group of friends, he was the designated driver -- even when he was drinking."

I'd be willing to bet that this is how most teenagers and 20-somethings roll... least drunk guy drives.

We don't often have actual designated drivers...we usually have a designated fall guy.

 

[Mr. Yuk]

Alcohol may not have been the cause but people with heart failure should not be drinking as much as he did, if at all.

Personally I feel who are we to judge what kind of pain he faced from his disease and size everyday of his life. People do what they gotta do to make it through the day. I'm sure he knew he didn't have much of a chance at a long healthy life whether he was sober or not.

 

[glumpy]

maybe a little off topic?

 

[TheFanatic]

In searching for a reference of what kind of car he drove I found this little nugget:

In the A&E documentary, Arnold Skaaland mentions how André wished he could see a Broadway play. Arnold offered to buy tickets, but André then passed up the opportunity, citing how he was too big for the seats and that people behind him would not be able to see. This was cited as a principal reason for why André frequented taverns more than anywhere else. In the A&E Biography episode, Arnold Skaaland tells the story of when André was in a bar one night, four men came up to him and began harassing him about his size. At first, André attempted to avoid confrontation, but eventually he proceeded to chase the hecklers until they locked themselves in their car. André then grabbed the car and turned the car over with the four people trapped inside. André was never arrested for the incident, presumably since local police officers had a hard time believing four inebriated men's story about an angry giant having overturned their car.

 

[Harry Manback]

In searching for a reference of what kind of car he drove I found this little nugget:

In the A&E documentary, Arnold Skaaland mentions how André wished he could see a Broadway play. Arnold offered to buy tickets, but André then passed up the opportunity, citing how he was too big for the seats and that people behind him would not be able to see. This was cited as a principal reason for why André frequented taverns more than anywhere else. In the A&E Biography episode, Arnold Skaaland tells the story of when André was in a bar one night, four men came up to him and began harassing him about his size. At first, André attempted to avoid confrontation, but eventually he proceeded to chase the hecklers until they locked themselves in their car. André then grabbed the car and turned the car over with the four people trapped inside. André was never arrested for the incident, presumably since local police officers had a hard time believing four inebriated men's story about an angry giant having overturned their car.

I don't give a #### how drunk you are, or how many of you there are, WHY THE #### DO YOU MESS WITH SOMEONE WHO IS 7ft TALL AND WEIGHS 1/4 OF A TON!?!?!?!?!?

My god, people are stupid.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

In searching for a reference of what kind of car he drove I found this little nugget:

In the A&E documentary, Arnold Skaaland mentions how André wished he could see a Broadway play. Arnold offered to buy tickets, but André then passed up the opportunity, citing how he was too big for the seats and that people behind him would not be able to see. This was cited as a principal reason for why André frequented taverns more than anywhere else. In the A&E Biography episode, Arnold Skaaland tells the story of when André was in a bar one night, four men came up to him and began harassing him about his size. At first, André attempted to avoid confrontation, but eventually he proceeded to chase the hecklers until they locked themselves in their car. André then grabbed the car and turned the car over with the four people trapped inside. André was never arrested for the incident, presumably since local police officers had a hard time believing four inebriated men's story about an angry giant having overturned their car.

I'll bet those guys never teased a 500 pound man again.

 

[steviey]

Alcohol may not have been the cause but people with heart failure should not be drinking as much as he did, if at all.

I agree...people with heart failure should not be drinking as much as he did...cause, you know...their heart failed...why are dead people drinking in the first place?Andre The Zombie?

As soon as you figure out what heart failure actually is maybe I will consider what you have to say smart guy. Based on your post you clearly have no idea what it means.

 

[Getinthemix]

"When Andre went out with a group of friends, he was the designated driver -- even when he was drinking."

I'd be willing to bet that this is how most teenagers and 20-somethings roll... least drunk guy drives.

Here's a question. What the hell did he drive? At 550 pounds what could he drive? Did he roll in a tricked out Mack Truck? I mean the guy sits in a 3/4 ton pickup and all of the sudden it's a 1 ton!?!?!

The 1/2, 3/4 or 1 ton designation on a truck, does not signify how much it weighs. It signifies what it is rated to carry.

 

[Das Boot]

maybe a little off topic?

That was great.

 

[Philo]

"When Andre went out with a group of friends, he was the designated driver -- even when he was drinking."

I'd be willing to bet that this is how most teenagers and 20-somethings roll... least drunk guy drives.

Here's a question. What the hell did he drive? At 550 pounds what could he drive? Did he roll in a tricked out Mack Truck? I mean the guy sits in a 3/4 ton pickup and all of the sudden it's a 1 ton!?!?!

The 1/2, 3/4 or 1 ton designation on a truck, does not signify how much it weighs. It signifies what it is rated to carry.

I'd love to see a heavy-duty truck that only weighed 1000 lbs.

 

[brutha]

While it can be argued that a miniscule handful of professional wrestlers matched Andre’s in-ring achievements

I doubt it. I think his losses can be counted on one hand and it was only in the twilight of his career that he allowed any of those to happen, including Hogan beating him. he could have easily retired undefeated despite often wrestling 4-5 or more guys at once. yeah I know it was just wrasslin and all, but still....I wish I could have seen him wrestle in his 70s prime and stupid as it may be to have cared in the least, I also hated with a passion that he was turned into a "bad guy" kids LOVED him back in the day, the gentle giant

 

[Al Davis]

One of my favorite Andre the Giant experiences.

Six Million Dollar Man vs. Sasquatch

 

[Raider Nation]

One of my favorite Andre the Giant experiences.

Six Million Dollar Man vs. Sasquatch

I had forgotten how BRUTAL 70's sound effects were.

 

[Penguin]

One of my favorite Andre the Giant experiences.

Six Million Dollar Man vs. Sasquatch

I had forgotten how BRUTAL 70's sound effects were.

LOL, everytime he threw Steve Austin it sounded like missiles being launched.

 

[TheFanatic]

"When Andre went out with a group of friends, he was the designated driver -- even when he was drinking."

I'd be willing to bet that this is how most teenagers and 20-somethings roll... least drunk guy drives.

Here's a question. What the hell did he drive? At 550 pounds what could he drive? Did he roll in a tricked out Mack Truck? I mean the guy sits in a 3/4 ton pickup and all of the sudden it's a 1 ton!?!?!

The 1/2, 3/4 or 1 ton designation on a truck, does not signify how much it weighs. It signifies what it is rated to carry.

I know that but I wanted to try to relate the fact that the guy himself weighted a a quarter ton. I didn't do a great job of that. Maybe I should've said, "if he drove a half ton pickup he cut down the carrying capacity by half just by sitting in it."

 

[Raider Nation]

There was a 2-hour documentary on the Biography channel the other day called "The UNreal History of Professional Wrestling."

Andre was prominently featured, of course.

One thing they mentioned was that you could have pushed a hard-boiled egg through ANY of his rings.

 

[The Big Guy]

There was a 2-hour documentary on the Biography channel the other day called "The UNreal History of Professional Wrestling."

Andre was prominently featured, of course.

One thing they mentioned was that you could have pushed a hard-boiled egg through ANY of his rings.

Including his "special" ring? The one he wears during sexy time?

 

[zdaddy]

Andre led a sad and pathetic life.

All of his friends said he was happy wresting and drinking. Do you know something they don't?

I know that when someone has to drink "two liters of vodka just to make me feel warm inside” they aren't happy.

How do you know this?

 

[zdaddy]

Andre led a sad and pathetic life.

I know that when someone has to drink "two liters of vodka just to make me feel warm inside" they aren't happy.

It wouldn't be a reach to think that the drinking was his form of painkillers for the wrestling-related injuries.

Either way, it led to his death.

Yeah, it had nothing to do with the fact that he had a debilitating disease.He was 550 lbs. at his peak. Alcohol just isn't going to affect him the same way it does normal people. Plus, I just loathe people who pass judgment to make themselves feel better about their own pathetic lives.

It's a Jesus thing....

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

This might be one of my favorite pieces of trivia ever.

Samuel Beckett Used to Drive André the Giant to School, All They Talked About was Cricket

by James Plafke | 9:16 am, July 11th, 2011

We don’t normally post many “today I learned” posts, but this one is just too awesome. Anyone who has ever watched wrestling back in the good ol’ days or has seen The Princess Bride knows that André the Giant was a massive, humongous — ahem, giant — guy. The famous Hulk Hogan was billed as 6 feet 7 inches tall, and everyone should remember this iconic moment between he and André, in which André made a guy who billed as the average height of an NBA player look tiny. When André was 12, he was already over 6 feet tall and weighed 240 pounds. He was too big to fit on the local school bus and his family didn’t have the money to buy a car that could deal with his weight if it drove him to and from school.

Samuel Beckett, Nobel Prize winner (literature) and esteemed playwright, probably most noted for Waiting for Godot, bought some land in 1953 near a hamlet around forty miles northeast of Paris and built a cottage for himself with the help of some locals. One of the locals that helped him build the cottage was a Bulgarian-born farmer named Boris Rousimoff, who Beckett befriended and would sometimes play cards with. As you might’ve been able to guess, Rousimoff’s son was André the Giant, and when Beckett found out that Rousimoff was having trouble getting his son to school, Beckett offered to drive André to school in his truck — a vehicle that could fit André — to repay Rousimoff for helping to build Beckett’s cottage. Adorably, when André recounted the drives with Beckett, he revealed they rarely talked about anything other than cricket.

 

[Soulfly3]

My old man is 6'5" tall about a solid 260 pounds of raw farmworking muscle.

He has a photo from outside Garden City Arena where met the Giant... It's the most ridiculous thing to look at. My father, who towers over most folks, was completely dwarfed by 'Dre.

Not only this, my fathers hand is COMPLETELY invisible in the photo - he recalls feeling like he had the hands of a child in comparison.

He also noted he had the worst breath he had ever smelled, and sounded like he had a subwoofer in his throat. pure bass when he spoke.

Wish Id have met him

 

[Lehigh98]

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wilt Chamberlain, and Andre the Giant Have Dinner

Here's Arnold Schwarzenegger's tale of an evening out with Wilt Chamberlain and Andre the Giant in 1983 and what happened to him when he paid the bill against Andre's wishes. (Hint: It's a bad idea to do pretty much anything against Andre the Giant's wishes.)

 

[Raider Nation]

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wilt Chamberlain, and Andre the Giant Have Dinner

Here's Arnold Schwarzenegger's tale of an evening out with Wilt Chamberlain and Andre the Giant in 1983 and what happened to him when he paid the bill against Andre's wishes. (Hint: It's a bad idea to do pretty much anything against Andre the Giant's wishes.)

Awesome.Imagine if you owned an all-you-can-eat joint and you see Wilt and Andre heading towards the entrance?

How fast can you hang the CLOSED sign?

 

[Jewell]

(Hint: It's a bad idea to do pretty much anything against Andre the Giant's wishes.)

During another incident which has been verified by witnesses, four bar patrons showed an incredible lapse in judgement when they decided to try to pick a fight with Andre’. At some point the big man decided he had enough, and the men ended up fleeing the bar on foot and locked themselves in their car in preparation to make a getaway. Andre’, enraged, flipped the car over with the four men in it. Andre’ then left the four inebriated fellows there to explain to the incredulous responding Police Officers how they were “chased out of the bar by an angry giant who turned their car over.”http://manlyexcellence.com/2011/09/21/andre-the-giant-by-sgt-rock/

 

[Raider Nation]

My old man is 6'5" tall about a solid 260 pounds of raw farmworking muscle.

He has a photo from outside Garden City Arena where met the Giant... It's the most ridiculous thing to look at. My father, who towers over most folks, was completely dwarfed by 'Dre.

Not only this, my fathers hand is COMPLETELY invisible in the photo - he recalls feeling like he had the hands of a child in comparison.

He also noted he had the worst breath he had ever smelled, and sounded like he had a subwoofer in his throat. pure bass when he spoke.

Wish Id have met him

The WWF (at the time) came to my town when I was maybe 8 years old or so. It wasn't an arena or anything like they have now. It was more of a State Fair type of thing. Anyway, my friends and I were standing right by the ropes where the wrestlers walked to the ring. He walked right by me ... thisclose.Talk about a "larger-than-life" figure, especially to a little kid. My God. He may as well have been 50 feet tall.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

There was a 2-hour documentary on the Biography channel the other day called "The UNreal History of Professional Wrestling."

Andre was prominently featured, of course.

One thing they mentioned was that you could have pushed a hard-boiled egg through ANY of his rings.

Including his "special" ring? The one he wears during sexy time?

lol

 

[cstu]

Earliest known footage of Andre.

However, the best part of that link is the discussion with 'Wrestling Historian' Jake Ster.

 

[loser]

Andre led a sad and pathetic life.

All of his friends said he was happy wresting and drinking. Do you know something they don't?

I know that when someone has to drink "two liters of vodka just to make me feel warm inside they aren't happy.

I don't think he was talking about his feelings.

So Steve Spurrier created ISIS? Makes sense now.

 

[Harry Manback]

Earliest known footage of Andre.

However, the best part of that link is the discussion with 'Wrestling Historian' Jake Ster.

I don't think that's Andre.

 

[Gary Coal Man]

Earliest known footage of Andre.

However, the best part of that link is the discussion with 'Wrestling Historian' Jake Ster.

I don't think that's Andre.

Looks like a young Andre to me.

 

[Raider Nation]

Earliest known footage of Andre.

However, the best part of that link is the discussion with 'Wrestling Historian' Jake Ster.

I don't think that's Andre.

Looks like a young Andre to me.

Impossible to mistake those good looks.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

Earliest known footage of Andre.

However, the best part of that link is the

discussion with 'Wrestling Historian' Jake Ster.

I don't think that's Andre.

He was only 5 in that video but definitely him

 

[Raider Nation]

Read this.

Go on... read it.

 

[Andrew74]

Read this.

Go on... read it.

That was a giant article. But a good read.

 

[Raider Nation]

It's funny that most of us as kids wanted to be Andre the Giant. Little did we know that he probably wanted to be us.

 

[ghostguy123]

Those of you in this thread talking about his drinking and depression or whatever, and cancer, and heart disease............you fools should be ashamed of yourselves and banned from anything fun every again. Good god. Two reasons.

1- This thread is about one of the most iconic humans ever, a #######g legit GIANT. Ya just don't ruin threads like that.

2- Andre's disease he was born with was going to kill him long before any disease he would have acquired from his lifestyle. Did it speed up the process a little?? Sure, but guess what, just about every human does the same thing to a lesser extent. If I was a damn giant and knew I was gonna die before age 50 I would be doing all that crap that doesnt kill you till 60-70 also.

ANyway, much appreciated this thread. I still need to catch up on a couple of the links that I didnt get time to read, but damn Andre was a ####### fairy tale legendary mother F'er.

And who are these idiots provoking the guy in a bar? We needed 4 Darwin awards there.

 

[ghostguy123]

It's funny that most of us as kids wanted to be Andre the Giant. Little did we know that he probably wanted to be us.

tears :(

 

[Deranged Hermit]

My old man is 6'5" tall about a solid 260 pounds of raw farmworking muscle.

He has a photo from outside Garden City Arena where met the Giant... It's the most ridiculous thing to look at. My father, who towers over most folks, was completely dwarfed by 'Dre.

Not only this, my fathers hand is COMPLETELY invisible in the photo - he recalls feeling like he had the hands of a child in comparison.

He also noted he had the worst breath he had ever smelled, and sounded like he had a subwoofer in his throat. pure bass when he spoke.

Wish Id have met him

The WWF (at the time) came to my town when I was maybe 8 years old or so. It wasn't an arena or anything like they have now. It was more of a State Fair type of thing. Anyway, my friends and I were standing right by the ropes where the wrestlers walked to the ring. He walked right by me ... thisclose.Talk about a "larger-than-life" figure, especially to a little kid. My God. He may as well have been 50 feet tall.

I met him when I was about 8-9 years old too at the old Philly Spectrum. A guy who worked for my dad also worked at the Spectrum and got us back stage. Saw all the big names: Andre, Hogan, Bundy, Tito, Bulldogs. My dad is a 6'2 massive construction worker and he looked like I did standing next to him when he stood next to Andre.

 

[The Ref]

If I had to pick someone to go up against him in a drinking contest im taking Wade Boggs.

http://voices.suntimes.com/sports/sports-prose/the-legend-of-wade-boggs-and-a/

 

[Hang 10]

Good thread. After reading I immediately went to watch that larger than life documentary on youtube.

 

[Bobcat10]

Read this.

Go on... read it.

 

[Quez]

The greatest drunk driver of all time!

 

[Hang 10]

In the Washington post today: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2015/04/02/joe-theismann-credits-george-allen-for-his-famous-photo-with-andre-the-giant/

What a great picture of Joey T. and Andre. A NFL QB looks like a child in the big mans arms.

 

[ummich10]

funniest part of the CBS sports article - sitting on Jake Roberts during a match then farting on him.

 

[Leviathan]

Dude must've been hung like an Orca.

 

[ILUVBEER99]

If I had to pick someone to go up against him in a drinking contest im taking Wade Boggs.

http://voices.suntimes.com/sports/sports-prose/the-legend-of-wade-boggs-and-a/

i'll take one Andre the Giant vs 5 Wade Boggs in a drinking competition.