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Andre The Giant Doc on HBO
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Haven't been a huge wrestling fan for years but this looks fantastic. Can't wait to watch! The Flair 30 for 30 was good hoping for more of the same here.
https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/andre-the-giant
Kevin
Kevin
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It looks great. Hope it is.
Will be interesting to see if his memorabilia gets a lift.
Flair’s 82 All Star has gotten very firm. Not rising per say but much more liquid at the market price.
Would love to see a Bo Jackson effect here! LOL
Andre was the man. wish I had gotten a chance to see him in person. I did meet Big John Studd back when I was 8. He was a mountain of a man, and the scary thing is that Andre was much bigger.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I'm getting pretty excited about this documentary, the trailers of this looks very good. I was a bit disappointed in the 30 for 30 with Flair but my expectations for this one on Andre is quite high. It will be here this week!
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
When does it air?
Yea, but Rick Flair could flat out wrestle - he is my favorite professional wrestler. In my opinion, Andre always looked a bit out of place in wrestling. I mean his leg kicks could be timed with an hourglass - LOL
Of course professional wresting is all about the entertainment, not sport, as we all know. And in reality in an actual wrestling match, likely almost any of those professional heavyweight wrestlers could have easily and quickly pinned Andre, without breaking a sweat.
That being said, i have the utmost respect for professional wrestlers. While the sport side of it is not real, the athleticism, as well as the pain and suffering from the grueling theatrics they perform...all that is absolutely real. They certainly earn and deserve every dollar they make.
@stevek
It might just be kayfabe but everything I have ever heard was that Andre had incredible strength.
I've heard that as well, and the documentary will be interesting and will probably point that out. I'm just mentioning what i saw on TV in the ring. Andre was painfully slow. Often with Andre's punches, the other wrestlers had to lean in to make it look relatively good as though they were actually being hit - to me that made it all the more fun IE: putting on a good show - LOL
Andre was always good entertainment and fun to watch.
Thanks to Youtube we can watch some of his matches from the late 70's and he was very agile and could work. After maybe 82 or 83 is when they go down hill.
Last night had potentially the worst missed blow that was sold in the Undertaker vs. Cena match.
Interesting about the late 70's with Andre. i guess those i did not see.
I've never attended a live professional wresting show, but i know others who have. and they say when you're there in person, that the missed blows are so obvious, versus on TV where they can get the best camera angles to make it appear real.
It's still fun realizing all that. They know what's going to happen and how it's going to turn out, but of course we don't. It's similar in many ways to any ongoing TV show involving fictional characters with a story line about good guys and bad guys, perhaps like the old westerns...the good guys usually wore the white hats, and the bad guys the black hats - LOL...and it made for good entertainment.
I had to see it.
About 2.47 into it, foot missed for sure.
Favorite Andre moment was him shaking Bob Uecker like a rag doll during a Wrestlemania 4 interview.
1 day late. I have almost a 7hr flight tomorrow and would have loved to add it to the playlist.
Kevin
I think people who judge Andre his last ten years don't fully realize how much pain he was in. He suffered a lot of loss in his athletic ability after busting his ankle.
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
"EARLIEST KNOWN FOOTAGE OF ANDRE THE GIANT"
Watching Andre on Saturday morning wrestling TV before my father would kick us out of the house for the day.
As a young man, Andre the Giant was basically the athletic equivalent of Shaquille O'Neal. Strength, speed and agility that seemingly did not go with his body type. Big men can't usually take the pounding. I think most people who only know of Shaq as the fat guy on TNT would marvel at the way he moved when he was on the Orlando Magic...
...same for Andre.
PS - And if you know any wrestling history, Hulk Hogan basically started out as Andre's caddy/whipping boy.
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest
Most people picture this Andre (Wrestlemania Andre):
...not this Andre (young Andre):
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest
Anyone who has ever tried to chop down a tree with an axe like that, knows how difficult it is to do what Andre did in that video, and he's not even breathing hard.
I will always remember his range as an actor. He convincingly played a giant, of all things, in The Princess Bride.
One of my favorite films of all time.
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest
Getting close to kick off time!!!
Great stuff.
The old footage of Vince McMahon was priceless.
I saw the Giant when I was 3 or 4 years old at Charleston County Hall. Main memory was how excited my dad was to see the match.
Didn't realize his connection with North Carolina.
Surprised there was no mention whatsoever of the Shepard Fairey stickers that furthered the legend, especially when they definitely delved into the mythology surrounding his persona. Must have been some sort of copyright/money issue.
saucywombat@hotmail.com
How was it? I may try to watch it tonight on demand after the Flyers' game.
Somehow, an image had popped into my head:
Too bad Andre never got a chance to be a Remulak heavy on SNL or the Coneheads movie. It would have been funny seeing him in costume saying, in unison, "We are from France. "
I thought it was great. I need to re watch the first ten minutes again. I had it on the regular HBO and paused it to make a drink and take a leak and then switched to the HD channel and it went live.
I have watched countless wrestling DVD's and shoot interviews and I love hearing the stories about the past, that said I can never tell if Hogan is being real or embellishing to make it sound even better.
He claims that Andre never gave him the go ahead on the finish until in the ring. In other interviews I have heard Vince say that Andre was so proud of his appearance and involvement in WrestleMania III that it seems unlikely to me that they didn't have an iron clad agreement when they went out in front of 93,173 at the Pontiac Silverdome.
One take away I had was how tough it must have been to be Andre. The story of him having to relieve himself in a bucket behind curtains on an airplane must have been so embarrassing and uncomfortable. The non stop traveling schedule must have been so difficult. He looked like he was enjoying himself at times and we can only hope that was the case. I also enjoyed Arnold's story of him lifting him up like a rag doll confirming his mythical strength.
So far his merchandise seems to be getting some interest on EBAY. A lot of items sold in the past 24 hours.
I thought it was really well done. Two things that really stuck out: he has a daughter and he died alone in France. I am really glad they didn’t focus on his relationship with his daughter’s mother.
Died at 46....so young!
I watched last night...... I thought it was good. Of course, they could have spent a lot of time in other areas, but it was good. Now hopefully this will give a boost to his collectibles.....
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
That really got to me too. So much so, I paused the broadcast and took a picture of my TV of the shot of him sitting in the two airplane seats. I am a tall guy, but will try to never complain about discomfort on a plane again after seeing that.
Glad to hear the wrestling guys liked it. I learned a lot I didn't know.
I could've watched at least another 30 minutes. And would've loved more behind the scenes stories. What a great human though.
Seeing Vince choke up at the end got me. I felt he had some regrets in terms of Andre. He helped make the WWF/E what it became. Probably should've gotten a small piece of the company for putting Hogan over the top. I was big on wrestling in the early 80s, and that WM3 match was huge and I remember getting a VHS tape a few days later from a friend who recorded it. It was a hot commodity.
I have the 82 AllStar card and gold I got it when I did. But now really wanting one if the earlier 70s cards.
Was also a huge 6 MillionDollar Man fan. Finding out he was Sasquatch was quite the revelation. Even tried to see if he had a card in that set, but didn't see one on a quick search.
I wonder who he enjoyed working with more...
The Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
Hmmmmmmm
Much more excited about the 3 hour HBO special that premieres this Saturday at 8 eastern: Elvis Presley the Searcher.
Hope you enjoyed the special.
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
Rainy day in Orlando so got a chance to look through some cards. Had a rough idea but wasn’t exactly sure how many I had. 18 PSA graded Andre’s.
Just watched the documentary today and thought they did a great job. I wished it was a little longer with more stories, but that’s ok. I’ve heard so many stories over the years from other wrestlers shoot interviews about Andre and it seems that even a 3-4 hour documentary wouldn’t have been long enough if they dug that deep. I wonder if Vince regrets how their relationship ended? I remember in 1992, Andre showed up on a WCW Clash of the Champions and I can remember being 8 years old watching it on TBS and thinking that he didn’t belong there. He should have been a part of NY until his final days in my opinion.
The Andre special was as good as advertised, and I remember him well as a kid. One thing about Andre and his size was his height was about 7 feet, and you can find guys that tall - see the photo of Arnold and Wilt with him. The thing that set him apart was with Acromegaly your head, hands, and feet grow to crazy proportions and his hands were monstrous.
I thought Hogan gave some great interviews where he impersonated Andre and Macho Man perfectly. His cards are sure to rise now, so DPeck will be seeing his PM box fill up for sure
If anyone knows DPeck, he does not cave and release his supply.........
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
Would of liked to have seen the special. We jettisoned our premium cable years ago. Will look for the video if it comes to our local library. They do seem to get HBO videos from time to time.
On YouTube for free right now.
That’s how I watched it. Blue jay, I would check it out there before it gets pulled.
I don't have HBO, but was able to see through on demand.
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
Thanks for the tip.
According to Dave Meltzer, Wade Keller, Jim Cornette and others, the finish was decided a year in advance and was never in doubt. Andre losing was always part of the pitch Vince gave him.
And it makes sense. This would have been Andre's biggest check he'd ever get and he was pretty much retiring. Why would he not cooperate?
@silvor I can't see a reason.
If Andre was in such poor health how was he going to shoot on Hogan? Hulk might not have been a legit hooker like many others but he was a mountain of a man. Andre was a life long pro and this was indeed his biggest pay day and the angle had been in the works for months on TV and obviously longer behind the scenes.
I actually watched the documentary again on Saturday with my wife and I have to say I am less pleased with it the second time. The "wrestling historian" made so many comments that really aren't factually true it was disappointing. Andre's ankle injury had nothing to do with Vince going National and the business wasn't passing him by. He was still the top drawing wrestler in the Northeast from 81 to 84 and played a major role during 85, 86 and went on to co headline Wrestlemania III in 87.
One take away I would love to learn more about was Vince releasing him or essentially cutting ties. Vince tends to get emotional in the interviews but it looks like this might have been actually tough for him. Especially since his father was Andre's primary booking agent.
I also had to laugh when they mentioned how they never made reference to any of the prior bouts Andre and Hulk had in the early 80's when building the feud. As a kid I never knew they had wrestled before and WWF took full advantage of the wave of new fans that didn't either. It wasn't until I was an adult I realized they battled numerous times and in 1980 in front of the largest house in North America up to that point. Haha.
Vince is a genius that is for sure.
Hogan talks about Andre not liking the Iron Sheik.
You have to watch the match on YouTube between the two. I saw it had 311k views so I knew it would be good.
There might be some truth to this. Andre doesn’t sell one move and is very stiff. The end looks brutal.
Recorded this documentary and still need to watch it.
Here is my one and only Wrestling Card in my collection. As a kid Andre was for sure TV entertainment.
I remember you posting that in the past. That is a very nice card!
@Dpeck100 Thanks!! Andre was captivating for sure!
Watched some YouTube videos of Andre last night and no question he was a large man. There were some matches where guys like John Studd or Ernie Ladd where close to Andre in height, but the size of his head, hands, feet, backside were just not from this planet. Loved how he used to pound the Sheik for how he treated the under card wrestlers or Savage for using baby oil. Problem was those guys could not step out of character, and Andre could hurt them if he wanted and the fans would just think it was part of the show.
Even though Hogan may exaggerate or completely bend the truth, there is definitely no debating after watching Andre in his prime that the finish was going to go which ever way he wanted it and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Watching him pick the Iron Sheik up by his trunks like a rag doll really emphasizes just how strong he was. Generally the wrestlers weight was pumped up some but he easily weighed 235 pounds and to be able to simply grab a handful of tights and lift a man of that size from the ground is incredible.
I think the reason so many to this day are so fascinated by the wrestling folklore is because even though it was scripted there are so many men who participated in wrestling that were either incredibly strong or extremely tough in a real life situation. The things wrestlers used to be able to get away with and stories that are told of the crazy antics and bar fights just add to the mystique.
Today most of the wrestlers are cut up and look like they spend all day in the gym. Watching a round Harley race that smoked several packs a day and drank probably 24 beers a day you sometimes confuse appearance with toughness. The reality of it is these men during this lost era were legit and might have not been shredded to the bone but could mop the ring of most of today's stars.
It is really great that these documentaries are being produced and highlighting pop culture icons that truly left a mark on the world. Andre The Giant will never be forgotten and I am very thankful for Youtube so I can watch so much of the action that took place before I was born or during my youth when we didn't have cable television.
Never really ever watched any wrestling, but he was great in Princess Bride.
That's one impressive Andre.......
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable