André the Giant

Dir: Jason Hehir

2018

****

At the very beginning of Jason Hehir’s documentary on the life and career of wrestling legend André the Giant, the audience is told that what you think you might know about the man might not true, and that there is a huge difference between the man and the myth. I confess, I went into the film expecting it to be an expose on all the wild shenanigans the giant Frenchman got up to in and out of the ring but it turns out there was a lot more to him than just being able to drink 12 bottles of wine a night. Besides, when you’re a giant, 12 bottles of wine is only a couple of glasses to us regular folk. He was born André Roussimoff in Molien, to the north-east of Paris in the canton of La Ferté-sous-Jouarre. He was the son of immigrants, his father was Bulgarian and his mother was Polish. His nickname growing up was "Dédé". As a child, he displayed symptoms of gigantism very early, reaching a height of 6.3 ft and a weight of 208 lb by the age of 12. André was a good student, particularly in mathematics, but he dropped out after the eighth grade since he did not think having a high school education was necessary for a farm labourer. He spent years working on his father's farm, where, according to his brother, he could perform the work of three men. He also completed an apprenticeship in woodworking, worked in a factory but none of these occupations brought him any satisfaction. At the age of 18, André moved to Paris and was taught professional wrestling by a local promoter who recognized the earning potential of his size. He trained at night and worked as a mover during the day to pay living expenses. He was billed as "Géant Ferré", a name based on the French folk hero Grand Ferré, and began wrestling in Paris and nearby areas. Canadian promoter and wrestler Frank Valois met André in 1966, becoming his business manager and adviser. He began making a name for himself wrestling in the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa. He made his Japanese debut in 1970, billed as "Monster Roussimoff", wrestling for the International Wrestling Enterprise. Wrestling as both a singles and tag-team competitor, he quickly was made the company's tag-team champion alongside Michael Nador. During his time in Japan, doctors first informed Roussimoff that he suffered from acromegaly. Japan was big for André but he soon moved to Canada, where he became an immediate success, regularly selling out the Montreal Forum.  However, promoters eventually ran out of plausible opponents for him and, as the novelty of his size wore off, the less tickets he sold. He wrestled numerous times in 1972 for Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association (AWA) as a special attraction until Valois appealed to Vince McMahon Sr., founder of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), for advice. McMahon suggested several changes. He felt André should be portrayed as a large, immovable monster, and to enhance the perception of his size, McMahon discouraged him from performing maneuvers such as dropkicks (although he was capable of performing such agile maneuvers before his health deteriorated in later life). He also began billing Roussimoff as "André the Giant" and set up a travel-intensive schedule, lending him to wrestling associations around the world, to keep him from becoming overexposed in any area. Promoters had to guarantee André a certain amount of money as well as pay McMahon's WWWF booking fee. It is safe to say André was at the cusp of a new beginning in wrestling but it is also safe to say he himself was a reason behind that change. On March 26, 1973, André debuted in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (later World Wrestling Federation) as a fan favorite, defeating Buddy Wolfe in New York's Madison Square Garden. André was one of professional wrestling's most beloved heroes throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1976, André fought professional boxer Chuck Wepner in an unscripted boxer-versus-wrestler fight. The wild fight was shown via telecast as part of the undercard of the Muhammad Ali versus Antonio Inoki fight and ended when he threw Wepner over the top rope and outside the ring and won via count out. In 1980, he feuded with Hulk Hogan, where unlike their more famous matches in the late 1980s, Hogan was the villain and André was the hero, wrestling him at Shea Stadium's Showdown at Shea and in Pennsylvania, where after Roussimoff pinned Hogan to win the match, Hogan bodyslammed him much like their legendary WrestleMania III match in 1987. The feud continued in Japan in 1982 and 1983 with their roles reversed and with Antonio Inoki also involved. In 1982, Vince McMahon, Sr. sold the World Wide Wrestling Federation to his son, Vince McMahon, Jr and everything changed. As McMahon began to expand his newly acquired promotion to the national level, he required his wrestlers to appear exclusively for him. McMahon signed André to these terms in 1984, although he still allowed him to work in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling. All of the smaller state run leagues died out and wrestling found a new, national audience on cable television. One of André’s feuds pitted him against the "Mongolian Giant" Killer Khan. According to the story line, Khan had snapped Roussimoff's ankle during a match in 1981 by leaping off the top rope and crashing down upon it with his knee-drop. In reality, he had broken his ankle getting out of bed the morning before the match. The injury and subsequent rehabilitation was worked into the existing André/Khan story line. After a stay at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, André returned with payback on his mind. The two battled on July 20, 1981, at Madison Square Garden in a match that resulted in a double disqualification. Their feud continued as fans filled arenas up and down the east coast to witness their matches. On November 14, 1981, at the Philadelphia Spectrum, he decisively defeated Khan in what was billed as a "Mongolian stretcher match", in which the loser must be taken to the dressing room on a stretcher. Another feud involved a man who considered himself to be the "true giant" of wrestling: Big John Studd. Throughout the early to mid-1980s, André and Studd fought all over the world, battling to try to determine who the real giant of wrestling was. In 1984, Studd took the feud to a new level when he and partner Ken Patera knocked out André during a televised tag-team match and proceeded to cut off his hair. The reality was that André got on very well with his arch rivals and behind the scenes the they all got on famously. André was at the centre of the wrestling world, in the documentary many wrestlers talk of how they looked up to him (literally as well as figuratively) and that he was the reason they got into the sport in the first place. People remember the latter half of his career because it was on television but he’d been doing the same gigs for over a decade all over the world. The interviews with his friends and colleagues are heartfelt and it is clear that twenty-five years after his death, he is still desperately missed. Wrestlers are bad actors, so when these guys begin sobbing in front of camera you can believe the tears are real. Hulk Hogan is especially upset when talking about their famous Wrestle Mania match of 1987 and, explaining that at this point André was in huge amounts of pain but went ahead not only because he needed the money, but because he knew it was what was best for his friend and for wrestling in general. Vince McMahon, Jr sheds a few tears also in a remarkably revealing interview. I don’t think he’s a great guy and he has pushed many a wrestler in the ring when their health really wasn’t up to it, but whether it was guilt or what, his tears were clearly meant. Along with many of André’s wrestling buddies, his cast-mates from The Princess Bride are interviewed as are family members. The interviews with his driver are perhaps the saddest and heartfelt, especially when he spoke of how André knew he was not long for the world. It’s a sad film for sure but also a great celebration of the man and his achievements. Whether you like wrestling or not, the guy is a legend and will clearly remain as such.