Andre the Giant

by Michael Krugman

  “MEAN” GENE OKERLUND INTERVIEWS ANDRÉ & HEENAN

  “Gentleman,” Mean Gene Okerlund begins, “I’ve heard nothing but complaining and griping. You, Bobby Heenan, saying that Big John Studd is responsible for what happened to André the Giant—”

  André angrily grabs Mean Gene by the lapels. “You’re right, he’s responsible,” the Giant rages. “He is the worst referee I ever have. I know what I did in that ring and everything was legal! He disqualify me. So don’t say he is a good referee.”

  He lets Okerlund down, and as the announcer regroups, Heenan takes over. “Y’know, it’s pretty sad when a little pipsqueak like you stands here and thinks he can talk to this man like he’s nothin’! I don’t care and he don’t care if you’re three feet tall or you’re six-foot-ten like John Studd. Now Studd was assigned to be a referee. Because he can’t do a good job, that’s not our fault. He wanted to stick his nose where it didn’t belong, and you saw what happened! Okay, he disqualified this man. Fine. We can take that. But when he put those hands around the neck of John Studd, one thing went into Studd’s mind. He knew that he was in the ring with a giant!”

  “All right. André, where do we go from here with you and Mr. Studd?”

  “Where do we go from here? I will tell you one thing,” André says, pointing a finger in Okerlund’s face. “I’m the only giant in the professional wrestling. And I will show him that, and he is going to find what kind of giant I am, because I’m coming in that ring, and John Studd, you are going to have a giant receipt. That’s all I have to say.”

  André cuts off all further questioning, and the camera goes to black.

  April 5, 1989: War Memorial, Syracuse, NY

  BIG JOHN STUDD VS. KING HAKU

  Bobby Heenan takes the mic from a sky-blue-tuxedoed Mike McGuirk. “At this time, I want everybody to get out of their seats. I want you to get down on one knee and show a proper respect for the King of World Wrestling Federation, King Haku!”

  Cue Big John Studd’s entrance. The bell rings, and Haku tries to take Studd down with a barrage of chops and kicks. He even attempts a bodyslam, but Studd overpowers him and goes on the offense. A clothesline brings Haku down, followed by a big fist into the breadbasket. Studd whips Haku into the ropes, slingshotting him into an elbow. A big slam plants Haku on the canvas. Studd picks Haku up in a bearhug, tying his arms tight. Haku refuses to submit as André arrives. Studd flings Haku down and stares down André, challenging him to come into the ring.

  Haku takes advantage of the distraction by nailing a crescent kick to the back of Big John’s head, though he barely reached it due to the huge height differential. Studd drops face-first into the ropes, perfectly setting André up to choke his archrival on the middle rope. Haku kicks and chops at Studd’s back as the ref counts, despite the obvious infringement. Finally, he calls for the bell at 2:19, awarding the match to Studd via DQ.

  The beatdown continues until “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan arrives, two-by-four in hand. He cracks the wood across André’s back, releasing Studd from the choke, and then gets into the ring to whack Haku. Duggan stomps around the ring—“Hooooooo!”—as Studd gets to his feet. Though still woozy, he calls out to André, demanding he return to face him. Nevertheless, the Heenan Family departs, reeling from the lumber attack.

  May 17, 1989: Entertainment Convention Center, Duluth, MN

  KING DUGGAN VS. DAVE WAGNER

  King Duggan—recently crowned after defeating Haku—enters with crown, cape, flag, and two-by-four.

  “Finally we have a king we can be proud of,” gushes Vince McMahon. “A king that we can look up to. A king who exemplifies sportsmanship.”

  Duggan takes out Dave Wagner in an instant, scoring the pinfall at 1:49—down, set, running clothesline.

  As the bell rings, Heenan comes out and tries to steal Duggan’s crown. Duggan comes down, grabs the Brain, and tosses him into the ring. Heenan begs for mercy as Haku arrives and runs into the ring. Duggan whips the Brain into the former King, and the manager rolls out between the middle ropes. Haku and Duggan begin trading blows.

  André comes down and pulls himself up on the apron as Duggan gloats over beating Haku to the mat. He turns, sees the Giant, and attempts a clothesline, only to be caught in one of André’s patented chokes. A headbutt knocks the King to the canvas. He lifts Duggan up, holds his arms behind his back, and Haku hits a crescent kick to the head. The official rings the bell to stop the mayhem.

  Big John Studd comes down and takes out Haku. André headbutts Duggan, landing him in the corner for a Giant boot to the throat. Studd comes up behind André and readies a double ax-handle. André turns and hits a series of chops, but when he gets cocky, Studd drives his right fist right into his ample labonza. André doubles over and rolls out.

  “I have never, ever seen André the Giant dropped with one single punch,” says a shocked Jesse Ventura. “He caught him lucky, it has to be, McMahon. Has to be a lucky shot.”

  “Studd would not be chopped down by André,” Vince McMahon says. “Just when André was gonna let him have another one, Big John Studd leveled the Giant.”

  “Must’ve been a low blow.”

  “It was not.”

  The two behemoths meet in the ring.

  “Had to be,” reiterates Ventura.

  “It was not,” argues Vince.

  Duggan and Studd pose in the ring as André gets his breath back. He decides to go for Studd again, but as he climbs up onto the apron, he is stopped by the ref. Studd pushes the ref aside and clotheslines André, who rolls over the rope into the ring. André goes down, and Studd hits him with a forearm to the back. As André rises, he takes another clothesline that sends him down and out of the ring.

  “I think André’s had enough,” says Vince.

  May 17, 1989: Entertainment Convention Center, Duluth, MN

  THE BROTHER LOVE SHOW WITH BIG JOHN STUDD

  “My guest this week is a man who has a giant problem,” Brother Love says. “staring him in the face. He is Big John Studd. Brother Studd, you have stuck your nose into other people’s business. Perhaps maybe where your nose does not belong.”

  “All right, hold it right there,” Studd growls. “Not the way I saw it. I saw Haku and André the Giant stick their nose into King Duggan’s business.”

  “Well, let me tell you one thing. People who stick their nose into André the Giant’s business often end up with broken noses.”

  “Well, let’s take a good look at this nose. Does it look broken? Let’s take a good look at André the Giant. I saw him get tossed around like he’s never been tossed around before, in his whole career!”

  “I-I-I’ll tell you something, I have never seen André the Giant manhandled the way that he was. But-but-but, he must’ve been sick! As a matter of fact, I know for a fact that André the Giant had a fever! He had a hundred-and-five-degree fever!”

  “Well, he was sick, you’re right,” Studd yells. “He was sick of fear, of Big John Studd! And then he was sick of pain, when he felt this giant fist driven right into his ribs and dropped him to the floor!”

  “I’ll tell you one thing, you may have done it once, but I promise you, you will never manhandle André the Giant like that again!”

  “I’ll tell you what. Every time I step in the ring with André the Giant, I will chop him down like the giant oak tree that he is! And there’ll be only one giant oak standing, and that’s the Giant, Big John Studd!”

  In June, the showdown came to a surprising conclusion at a TV taping in Madison, Wisconsin. The card saw André working two matches that day, first with Hillbilly Jim and later in a Tag Team match alongside Rick Rude against Jim Duggan & Ultimate Warrior. However, the real action was behind the curtain.

  VINCE McMAHON: “Studd came to me because André was beating the shit out of him every night. Maybe not beating the shit out of him, but he was definitely roughing him up a little bit. Studd was scared to death that one day he’s going to really piss André off and th
at’s going to be it. He’s going to die.

  “We were doing television in Madison, Wisconsin. There was a rumor going around—the boys were stirring shit, that’s part of the fun we have on the road— about how André was really going to beat the shit out of Studd because he had said something bad about André. And of course he hadn’t said anything—André was working him. He had no intention of beating John up that night, although he didn’t like him.

  “Here’s this six-foot-ten, 350-pound guy in my office, literally shaking. ‘Vince, I can’t do it, I just can’t get in there. I’m scared to death of this man, he’s going to kill me.’

  “‘No, he’s not. He’s just working you, he’s playing with you.’

  “‘No, you don’t understand, I heard it from the boys, he’s really going to kill me. I can’t do it. I’m quitting. I’m quitting the business.’

  “And he walked out. He quit the business. It was the last I ever saw the guy.”

  After Studd’s surprise departure, André agreed to help put over the World Wrestling Federation’s rising star, Ultimate Warrior. Born Jim Hellwig—and now legally known as Warrior—he started out in Mid-South and Bill Watts’s UWF before moving on to the Von Erichs’ World Class Championship Wrestling in 1986. It was there that he took on the first incarnation of his character, performing as the Dingo Warrior. One year later he went to work for World Wrestling Federation, which refined his role and renamed him the Ultimate Warrior. His pastel-painted face, tasseled ring attire, incomprehensible promos, and perfect physical condition set him apart, masking his actual in-ring skill, which was mediocre at best. Regardless, Warrior became a fan favorite, moving quickly through the ranks until attaining the Intercontinental Championship from the Honky Tonk Man at SummerSlam 1988.

  But before Warrior could make it to the main event, he needed one final crash course in the business, the kind of schooling only the Giant could provide.

  BRUCE PRICHARD: “I don’t think that André really cared too much for the human being Jim Hellwig. And he wasn’t too keen on Hellwig’s in-ring skills, which were very limited at best.”

  BOBBY HEENAN: “To me, the man had no idea about wrestling. Didn’t care about the history of this business. Didn’t care about anything. It was like the guy had just come out of a Gold’s Gym and had a can of tuna and a raw egg and said, ‘Hey. I just saw a WWE truck go by. I’m gonna call them, and I’m a wrestler.’ He knew nothing. Nothing.”

  JIM “J.R.” ROSS: “I don’t think André liked him. I don’t think André wanted to be in the ring with Warrior any longer than absolutely necessary.”

  Fortunately for André, his matches with Warrior tended not to last very long. The fast-paced encounters were seemingly more about Warrior’s dramatic ring entrance than actual wrestling matches. Despite his open dislike of Warrior, the Giant accepted his role and allowed himself to be squashed in order to take the new star to the next level.

  VINCE McMAHON: “Jim Hellwig learned how to treat the Boss, every night coming in the locker room with a nice bottle of wine. That was his way of showing respect for André so that André didn’t kill him one night.

  “The Boss was trying to teach Hellwig how to work. ‘Slow down,’ he told him, because if you get too fast during a match, the audience can’t digest what you’ve just done. André told him a second time, ‘Slow down.’ Third time, Hellwig was going to tackle André, and of course he’s going full speed, he had not slowed down. André didn’t really hit him, he just stuck up an arm, and boom! Knocked Jim right out. ‘Now slow down,’ André said.”

  October 28, 1989: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

  ANDRÉ (W/HEENAN) VS. ULTIMATE WARRIOR FOR THE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE

  André and Heenan enter to huge heat. Howard Finkel, making the ring announcements, accidentally introduces “André the Ultimate Giant,” which in many ways, he was. Within seconds, Heenan is jawing with referee Danny Davis. “Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please,” says Finkel. “I’ve been informed by the referee that unless Bobby Heenan leaves the arena [the crowd cheers], he must leave the arena at the count of ten [Heenan rants at Finkel], if he is not out of the arena, Mr. Heenan will be suspended!”

  The crowd counts to ten as Heenan makes his way back up the aisle. “Good riddance to bad rubbish there, I’ll tell you right now,” says Hillbilly Jim, joining Gorilla Monsoon on commentary.

  Finkel begins announcing Warrior, but the crowd noise nearly overwhelms him. The entrance music hits, and Warrior comes tearing out of the back, circling the ring as the Garden explodes. He goes through his usual gimmick, climbing onto the apron and shaking the ropes as André awaits. The Giant seems bemused by Warrior’s hijinks, gesturing with a finger that this guy might be crazy. André takes hold of the top rope and mocks the ultimate entrance as Warrior climbs in and runs the ropes. Warrior sees and nails André from behind with a clothesline. The Giant reels and receives a second clothesline, which drops him to one knee.

  Warrior runs the ropes as André rises and gets ready to attack. Unfortunately, he lumbers smack into a third clothesline, which fells him in the center of the ring. Warrior comes off the ropes and hits a big splash. Referee Davis counts to three, and it’s all over in nineteen short seconds.

  “It’s unbelievable,” says Gorilla. “This place is going bananas. André doesn’t know what hit him.”

  Warrior, who has yet to stop running, skedaddles back to the locker room. The Giant, still in the ring, demands the microphone. “Stop the music!” he bellows, then turns to Danny Davis. “Wait a minute, what, why you count one-two-three? Why? Did anyone ring the bell to start a match? How come you count one-two...he don’t even ring the bell! He don’t even ring the bell to start a match, you don’t have the right to count one-two-three!”

  The Giant throws down the mic and heads for Davis, who wisely slips out and runs to the back. André, moving gingerly, follows as the fans boo mercilessly.

  Perhaps the most memorable occurrence of the program happened outside the ring after a thirty-second match in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Immediately following the match, André was arrested by the Linn Country, Iowa, Sheriff’s Department on assault charges for his attack on local cameraman Ben Hildebrand, who had broken his promise not to shoot any of the in-ring action. A furious André had grabbed the camera cables and put a headlock on Hildebrand, who later went to the hospital with bruises. Though he didn’t spend any time in jail, the Giant was required to post a $1,200 bond before being freed.

  André and Warrior battled through late in the year, including a main event at Survivor Series that saw Ultimate Warrior clotheslining the Giant over the top rope, where he was counted out just twenty-seven seconds into the match. Though André and Warrior’s matches were far from classics, the program fulfilled its mission. The feud with André gave Warrior the bona fides to move into the big leagues—he would confront Hulk Hogan at the Royal Rumble 1990, and the two went on to headline WrestleMania VI. André might not have entirely approved, but once again the Giant had done right by McMahon, doing his part to create what would be wrestling’s hottest attraction for much of the early 1990s.

  JIM “J.R.” ROSS: “I think his series of matches with André around the country was truly what solidified Warrior in those markets. André the Giant was, and always will be, a legend in our business, and when some young guy comes in that has a unique look and a unique ring presentation and entrance and music and the whole presentation, and this new guy wins, and wins often and convincingly, it can’t do anything but help André’s opponent, in this case, the Warrior.”

  “MEAN” GENE OKERLUND: “The Ultimate Warrior’s feud with André the Giant was something I thought that the office was gonna probably put on their list of real money-making projects. I don’t think it made quite as much as they wanted it to, and to tell you the truth, I think André might have got up to here with the Ultimate Warrior.”

  TED DIBIASE: “I’m sure that that was one feud that he was glad that came to a
n end. Because André was so big that you had to be especially talented to be able to make people believe that anybody could beat you up. But André could do it. And he’s asked to go out there and make this guy. From a business point of view, I understood. From a personal point of view, it made me sick. Absolutely sick. For one reason: I knew he [Warrior] didn’t appreciate it.”

  The Giant raises high the Tag Team Championship, December 13, 1989.

  15

  Some celebrities are able to escape the spotlight with a pair of dark glasses and a baseball cap. Unfortunately, those kinds of disguises were simply never feasible in André’s case—it’d take much more than just sunglasses to conceal the seven-foot-four Eighth Wonder of the World. While many of his wrestling peers would avoid attention by slipping into the airport lounge, André had been taught a valuable lesson from Vincent J. McMahon. A star attraction such as André the Giant was his own best advertising and should always be in a position where he could be seen by the paying customers.

  Of course, the fans were always thrilled to meet and greet the one-and-only Giant, and André tried to oblige with a smile. But as his physical discomfort developed into constant pain and agony, André’s ability to grin and bear the pressures of stardom began to fade and his disposition grew dark.

  ARNOLD SKAALAND: “André was one of a kind. You would walk with him and everyone would look at him. It was hard for him, because he was always looked at.”

  DON MURACO: “André couldn’t go anywhere. Everyone else, except for maybe Hulk, could at times be inconspicuous. But not the Giant. A giant is always a giant.”

  TED DIBIASE: “When you’re seven-foot-four, 450 pounds, I don’t care where you go, every eye is on you. It’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, look at this guy.’ You add fame to that, and it just multiplies. Where’s André gonna hide? How is he gonna disguise himself? He couldn’t. And so everywhere he went there was a barrage of people constantly coming at him. Ultimately it got to where he couldn’t take it.”