Andre the Giant

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1

Man:

Most of us,

when we're children,

your parents

read fairytales to you.

There are knights,

there are dragons,

there are sorcerers,

there are giants.

He was those drawings

come to life.

He was a living manifestation

of our childhood dreams.

Ring Announcer:

And from Grenoble

in the French Alps,

weighing 477 pounds,

the eighth wonder

of the world,

Andr the Giant!

Man:

Everybody remembers

that moment

where they first saw

Andr the Giant.

We're all intrigued

by Andr the Giant

the human,

but the reason

we're intrigued by that

is because he seems

like so much more.

He was a god.

Ring Announcer:

The crowd goes wild.

This is the one

we've all been waiting for.

Andr the Giant.

Ring Announcer:

Holy mackerel!

Andr the Giant,

off the top turnbuckle!

Ring Announcer:

Andr cleaning house!

Announcer 2:

This is one man you

do not want to get riled up.

Ring Announcer:

Look at the size

of the Giant!

Andr still undefeated.

Ring Announcer:

Oh, slam!

Andr picked him up with ease!

Andr is unbelievable!

( crowd cheering )

( birds singing )

( man speaking French )

( camera clicks )

( clicks )

( clicks )

( clicks )

( man #2 speaking French )

( Andr "The Giant" Roussimoff

speaking )

( Andr continues speaking )

( grunting )

Patric Laprade:

He was just starting.

He was at the time

maybe 6'9, 6'10

when he was wrestling

in France.

He hadn't fully grown yet

'cause he started around

19, 20 years old.

He was leaner than what

North American people

remember of him.

So he would do a much more

athletic style than what

we saw in North America.

( grunting )

( both speaking French )

The first name that they used

in France was Jean Ferr.

The name come from

a folk hero from France

that was named Grand Ferr,

which means Great Fairy.

The backstory for

the Jean Ferr character

was that he was

a lumberjack.

That he was, you know,

discovered

in the middle of the woods

chopping wood.

( Andr, man speaking French )

You have to sell

a background story

to your character,

and he had the size

to be believable

that he was a lumberjack.

Thank you, Monsieur.

Laprade:

Andr was wrestling in many

venues all over Paris.

He was also working a lot

on the south coast of France,

and during the summer

was working in a lot

of festivals

all over the country.

( speaking French )

Laprade:

The first country

outside of France

where Andr wrestled

was Monaco.

And then he went

to Japan,

and he was called there

"Monster Roussimoff."

In June of 1971,

that was the first match

he ever had

in North America,

that was in Verdun,

just a suburb of Montreal,

and he was working

for a promotion

called Grand Prix Wrestling.

The very first ad said

that he was a giant

of 7'4", 390 pounds,

from the French Alps.

Being a giant from

the French Alps,

it's a much better story

than just being, you know,

a guy from a town

that nobody have heard of.

From the French Alps,

7'4", 415 pounds,

the friendly French Giant,

Jean Ferr!

( crowd cheering )

( man groans )

Commentator:

And there's a shot

to the top of the head.

And he's going into

the figure-four.

- Well...

- Commentator #2: Oh!

First thing, I said,

"There's money to be made

with the guy."

And they did draw money,

they sold out all over,

and the Giant

became a household name.

We'd get into a little town

and they'd come from all over.

You'd draw

3, 4, 5, 6 thousand people

at least 5 nights a week.

Commentator:

There's a shot

to the top

of the head.

Commentator #2:

Maurice is in very bad shape.

David Shoemaker:

Wrestling comes out

of circus sideshows,

and Andr in a lot of ways

was one of these...

sideshow spectacles.

Anybody would pay a quarter

and line up to see him.

But you don't go back

a second or a third time.

So at a certain point, the move

with a wrestler like Andr

is to move on,

to migrate

to a different territory,

and, you know, try out

greener pastures.

Man:

One, two, three

I'm your boogie man,

that's what I am

I'm here to do

whatever I can...

Shoemaker:

The '70s was the heart

of the territorial era

in pro wrestling

in the United States.

( shouting )

Wrestler:

I love to hurt people

and I'm gonna hurt you

very, very bad.

Commentator:

Heads up! Ooh! Oh!

Shoemaker:

When Andr came down,

professional wrestling

was divided up

into these fiefdoms

around the country.

I think at one time

there were as many

as 32 separate territories.

Hello again, everybody,

and welcome

to Mid-South Wrestling.

Welcome to another hour

of Florida Championship

Wrestling.

Welcome again to an exciting

hour of wrestling.

Jerry Lawler:

You had certain stars

in your territory,

in your region,

and they were seen

as far as your local television

coverage would go.

Nobody had

a national TV show.

Announcer:

Lone Eagle rolling over,

and here they come back.

There they go again,

come on.

Do what you want,

I'm your boogie man...

You have got to wrestle me

right here and right now.

Do what you want,

I'm your boogie man

Lawler:

We had a TV show in Memphis.

200 miles north of Memphis,

then that started

the St. Louis territory.

Then they had a whole set

of different wrestling stars

there.

And over to the east was

the Carolinas territory,

and they had a whole set

of different stars there.

Outside of Canada when Andr

first came to North America,

he was wrestling

mainly in the Midwest.

( cheering )

Laprade:

Minneapolis, Milwaukee,

Detroit.

In Detroit, he was actually

called the "Polish Giant."

And in Minneapolis,

he was called either

Andr Roussimoff

or Andr the Giant

Frenchman.

The name under the Giant,

the first time it actually

happened, was in Chicago.

There was a promoter there

who wanted to book Andr,

so he called the promoter

back in Montreal.

So he said, you know, we call

him Gant Ferr, Giant Ferr.

So the promoter there

starts laughing and says,

"I cannot call him

a giant fairy!

What's his real name?

What's his first name?"

So he said,

"Well, it's Andr."

"Well, okay, we'll call him

Andr the Giant then."

Announcer:

Here is the eighth wonder

of the world!

Andr the Giant!

( cheering )

Commentator:

My goodness!

Look at these fans!

In appreciation

for Andr the Giant!

Gene Okerlund:

When Andr started

circulating in the territories,

he'd come in for a period of

maybe six weeks or seven weeks

and then was gone

and onto the next territory.

Hello, ladies and gentlemen,

I'd like to tell you my name,

you know who I am.

I am so happy to come back

in Florida to see all

my friends.

I want to welcome you once again

to the Mid-Atlantic states

for Mid-Atlantic

Championships Wrestling.

My pleasure.

Oh, s, s.

I guess that's Spanish.

Shane McMahon:

Andr started very small.

He started in small towns

performing in front

of 10 people,

100 people, 300 people.

By the time he got to

my grandfather's territory,

which was the Northeast,

then you had made it, you know,

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