This biography is from “The Anthology of Professional Wrestlers”. You can buy the book here

ANDRE THE GIANT

The eighth wonder of the world. Andre The Giant is one of the most recognised wrestlers in the world. Andre’s legacy will continue while ever the WWE has an audience, in great part due to his legendary match with Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania III. It was only fitting that Hogan made the announcement of the inaugural Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal for Wrestlemania 30. Born Andre Roussimoff in Grenoble, France in 1946, the future WWE Hall of Famer displayed signs of gigantism from an early age. He dropped out of school early, ready to work on the family farm. He worked as an apprentice woodworker and a machine operator before moving to Paris in 1963 to learn the art of professional wrestling. His first manager, Canadian Frank Valois, was careful not to have his client over exposed to audiences, and moved Andre through Germany, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand early in his career. Billed as Monster Roussimoff, Andre first went to Japan in 1970, which is where he first learned from doctors he was suffering from acromegaly. Andre moved on to Canada, and also worked for Verne Gagne’s AWA, before Valois reached out to Vince McMahon 29 Snr and the WWWF. McMahon also recognised the benefits of keeping Andre as a special attraction, and moved him around many North American territories. It was McMahon Snr that rechristened Roussimoff as Andre The Giant. Andre began working for the WWWF in 1973, and soon established himself as one of the most popular wrestlers then or since. His specialty was winning battle royal matches, and though billed as unstoppable and unbeatable, he never figured in the hunt for the federation’s world title during the 1970s. He did however wrestle other promotion’s champions, including Harley Race and Nick Bockwinkle, wrestling to time limit draws to keep all competitors looking strong. Andre also participated in a famous wrestler v boxer exhibition bout against journeyman boxer, Chuck Wepner in 1976. The match was shown via closed circuit television on the undercard of the Muhammad Ali V Antonio Inoki match. The match ended when Andre through Wepner over the top rope. While working for WWWF, Andre also worked for other promotions, and captured the Australasian Tag Team Titles with local hero, Ron Miller. By limiting his appearances in each promotion, Andre soon became the biggest box office smash the world of wrestling had ever known. When Vince McMahon Snr sold WWF to his son Vince in 1982, Andre was signed to a contract that had him wrestle 30 exclusively for WWF (although he was still allowed to wrestle for NJPW). One of his better known feuds in the early 1980s was with another giant, the Mongolian Giant, Killer Khan. One of the angles worked was Khan had broken Andre’s ankle by landing on it from the top rope. In reality, Andre had broken his ankle at home on the morning of the match, but worked through the injury, and then worked it into the storyline, as he rehabilitated and sought revenge. Andre would win a Mongolian Stretcher match to end the feud in triumph. Another giant foe for Andre was Big John Studd. Andre and Studd had wrestled all over the world by the mid-1980s, and a televised match ended with Studd cutting off an unconscious Andre’s hair. Managed by Bobby Heenan, Studd offered a $15,000 prize if Andre could perform a body slam on him. The match was scheduled for the biggest wrestling event at that time; Wrestlemania. Andre won the match by body slamming Studd, and proceeded to throw the prize money into the crowd, before Heenan managed to retrieve the bag. Andre continued his dominance, winning a battle royal match at Wrestlemania II, before entering his best remembered feud – one with WWF World Champion, Hulk Hogan. It started with Hogan receiving a trophy for being champion for three years on an episode of Piper’s Pit. Andre would later receive a smaller trophy for being undefeated in the WWF, and Hogan came out to congratulate Andre, taking the focus off the Giant, and onto himself. A visibly annoyed Andre 31 would later challenge Hogan to a match for the WWF World Title at Wrestlemania III; a moment recently judged as the #1 moment in Wrestlemania history. The match was billed as the classic immovable object meets the irresistible force. Legend has it that Hogan was unsure right up until the match that Andre would stick to the script. Hogan tried and failed to slam Andre early in the match, injuring his back in the process. This was the start of Hogan’s back problems which plagued him throughout the rest of his career. Andre toyed with Hogan after this, taunting the champion to get up after each knockdown. Hogan eventually recovered, and successfully body slammed Andre before making the cover to win the match and retain his title in front on the biggest ever crowd for a wrestling event. Andre would later have his revenge though, working as a hired gun for Ted DiBiase to lure the title away from Hogan and onto DiBiase. With the help of crooked referee, Earl Hebner making the three count despite Hogan’s shoulders being clearly off the mat, Andre The Giant was finally WWF World Champion. Andre immediately gave the title to DiBiase, but this transaction was ruled invalid by WWF President, Jack Tunney. A tournament was to be held at Wrestlemania IV to determine the champion. Andre and Hogan were scheduled to appear in a first round bout, and both men were counted out as they brawled outside of the ring. 32 Andre would later feud with Jim Duggan and Jake Roberts, before forming a tag team with Haku known as the Colossal Collection. The team won the WWF Tag Titles from Demolition in December 1989, before losing them back to the same team at Wrestlemania VI. After the match, Andre fought with both Haku and manager Bobby Heenan, receiving his first cheers since he had turned on Hogan three years earlier. By this time, Andre’s health was in serious decline and he made just sporadic appearances in subsequent years, in both WWF and AJPW up until 1992. Andre was also known for his acting roles in television series such as The Fall Guy, The Greatest American Hero, and The Six Million Dollar Man. It was his role as the giant, Fezzik in the movie The Princess Bride that he is best known and loved for. Andre was also known for his incredible drinking ability. He allegedly drank fourteen bottles of wine on the day of his match with Hogan at Wrestlemania III; and often drank over 100 beers in a single sitting. Before back surgery, doctors were concerned about the level of anaesthetic needed to sedate Andre, due to his size. Andre commented that it took a couple of litres of vodka for him to get a buzz. This was used as a guide. 33 In January 1993, Andre The Giant returned to Paris to attend the funeral of his father. While there, he died in his sleep of heart failure, at the age of 46. In 1993, Andre was the inaugural and only wrestler inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame. In 2005, WWE released a DVD covering the life of Andre on and out of the ring; and in 2014, Hogan returned to WWE programming to announce the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal for Wrestlemania 30.