The Greatest Heels in WWE History - No. 8

There are a slew of modern wrestlers who may claim themselves to be a giant in the WWE. Some of the superstars who immediately spring to mind are The Undertaker, Kane, The Big Show and the Great Khali. But who was the first giant in the WWF, was taller than the four mentioned above, and at one time in his career, weighed in at 675 lbs (174 lbs more than the Big Show)? At 7 ft 4 inches, imagine his intimidation over his opponent across the ring; Andre the Giant was the first official giant in the WWE.

Andre debuted in the WWE in 1973, at the Mecca of WWE, Madison Square Garden, when he took on Buddy Wolfe. In those days, WWE bouts were few and far between, unlike the weekly affair it is these days. After a successful debut, Andre clashed with professional boxer Chuck Wepner in a wrestler vs boxer ‘fight’, which was unscripted. There was chaos and the bout finally ended when Andre threw Chuck over the top rope.

1980 saw the beginning of a feud which ran for half a decade. Andre the Giant battled Hulk Hogan for the very first time at an event Showdown at Shea, in Pennsylvania. They continued their battle in Japan until 1983.

By 1981, Andre was an established name in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He had a bitter feud with a Mongolian Killer Khan, who, according to a storyline, broke Andre’s ankle. After months of recuperation, Andre got his revenge at Madison Square Garden, which ended in a double DQ, but beat him fair and square in Philadelphia in a Mongolian Stretcher match.

In 1984, Andre got into a tussle with another ‘giant’ Big John Studd. Studd and his team mate Ken Patera knocked out Andre in a tag team match, before cutting off his hair. Andre took out Patera and beat Studd in a Body Slam Challenge at Wrestlemania I.

At Wrestlemania II, Andre dominated a 20 man battle royal , and threw Bret Hart over the ropes to win the contest. Andre continued his feud with Studd and this time King Kong Bundy joined the fray as well. But Andre requested time off, as he wanted to treat his acromegaly illness as well as tour Japan. He had also got himself a role in a movie. A storyline developed which saw Andre being fired by WWE President Jack Tunney, for a no show in a tag team match against Studd and Bundy. Andre returned in late 1986, wearing a mask in a team known as The Machines. It was Bobby Heenan (manager of Studd and Bundy) who complained that the masked man was Andre, but couldn’t prove it, and Andre was reinstated.

In early 1987, Andre the Giant turned heel to take on the one man show of the WWE at the time – Hulk Hogan. On an edition of Piper’s Pit, Hogan was presented a trophy for being WWE Champion for 3 years, and Andre came out to congratulate him. The next week, Andre was presented a trophy for being the only man never to suffer a pinfall or submission in WWE history, Hogan came out and took away Andre’s spotlight. Another week later on Piper’s Pit in a discussion between Hogan and Andre, Heenan (who was now Andre’s manager) accused Hogan of using Andre, and a match for the WWE Championship was booked at Wrestlemania III, before Andre tore Hogan’s shirt and laid him out with a crucifix powerbomb.

The highlight of the match at Wrestlemania was the body slam by Hogan, but Andre had agreed to lose long before, because of his ailing health. The feud went on right through the summer of 1987, before both were made captains of their Survivor Series teams. Andre pinned Bam Bam Bigelow to win the match for his team.

The Million Dollar Man was unable to ‘buy’ the title from Hogan, so he used Andre to win it for him. After beating Hogan for the Championship in Feb 1988, he ‘sold’ it to Ted Dibiase, but WWE President Jack Tunney deemed it invalid and the title was vacated. At Wrestlemania IV, Hogan and Andre collided again in a WWE Championship tournament which ended in a double DQ. The plan was for Andre to take Hogan out, so that Dibiase would have a clear path to the title. A last 1 on 1 confrontation took place inside a steel cage at Wrestlefest, while Andre and Dibiase teamed up to face Macho Man and Hogan at Summerslam.

Andre then fought briefly with a hugely popular Jim Duggan, before entering into a major feud with Jake the Snake Roberts. Jake exposed his fear for snakes and interfered in many of Andre’s matches, causing him to run away in fright. It all came to a head at Wrestlemania V, where Jake used his snake to gain a psychological advantage over the colossal giant.

The returning Big John Studd provided Andre his next challenge, and during late 1989, Andre engaged in a lot of feuds with ‘the next big thing’ The Ultimate Warrior. He then joined forces with Haku, a wrestler from the Heenan stable, and the duo fought and won many a battle with Demolition, including winning the WWE Tag Team Championships. The held on to the belts until Wrestlemania VI, when Demolition took advantage of a mistimed move by Andre. Heenan blamed Andre for the loss and slapped him, but the giant slapped Heenan while also throwing Haku outside the ring.

Andre made brief appearance at Wrestlemania VII, coming to the aid of Big Boss Man in a match against Mr. Perfect. He was also set to appear in the 1991 Royal Rumble, while the storyline included four heel managers – Heenan, Mr.Fuji, Sherri and Slick trying to recruit him. Jimmy Hart then announced that he had signed Andre to partner Earthquake, but Andre denied it and was attacked by Earthquake, badly injuring his knee. Hart signed Tugboat to form the Natural Disasters, which led to Andre’s last appearance in the WWE at Summerslam in 1991, on crutches as the Bushwackers faced the Disasters. After the match , as the Disasters tried to attack Andre, the Legion of Doom outnumbered them while Andre hit them with crutches as they left.

There is no doubt that Andre played a major role in shaping the way for giants in the business. He proved that there is more to a giant than just using size as an advantage. He was possibly also responsible for giving wrestling fans their first Wrestlemania moment.

Read other articles in the series here: Greatest Heels in WWE History