Posted on 10/01/2002 10:48:02 AM PDT by adam stevens
Wrestling Giant's Daughter Wants Father Remembered
SEATTLE (Reuters) - It would be hard to forget Andre the Giant, whose freakish size belied surprising grace and agility and made him one of the most popular professional wrestlers of all time, even now, nearly a decade after his death.
Andre the Giant, nicknamed "The Eighth Wonder of the World," was billed as 7-foot-5 and 520 pounds with a sprawling 71-inch chest and 16-inch hands that made beer cans look like thimbles.
Yet to his only child, watching today's beefcakes strut for screeching fans at a raucous World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. news conference last week, the man who was one of the foremost worldwide attractions in professional wrestling in the 1970s and 1980s seemed less than an afterthought.
"It seems like they don't honor him. It's almost like he's forgotten," said Robin Christensen, 23-year-old daughter of Andre Roussimoff, born in France in 1946 with overactive growth hormones that would ultimately lead to his death in January 1993 at age 46 after a lifetime with the medical condition known as acromegaly.
Nearly 6 feet tall herself and bearing a striking resemblance to her father, Christensen hopes WWE will mark the 10th anniversary of his death when it brings its signature WrestleMania event next March to Seattle, where she lives.
During his career, Andre the Giant was one of the top attractions in professional wrestling -- a spectacle of matches with predetermined finishes that blends athletics with outlandish showmanship.
Andre wrestled frequently for the World Wrestling Federation, as WWE was known until earlier this year, but also was a wrestling star abroad, particularly in Japan. He also appeared in several films and television shows, most notably a key role in director Rob Reiner's 1987 hit "The Princess Bride."
'WE HONOR ANDRE'S MEMORY'
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, the world's most-famous wrestling impresario, gave few details about the program for WrestleMania -- an annual pay-per-view extravaganza that is the biggest day of the year for professional wrestling in the United States. But McMahon spoke fondly of Andre the Giant.
"We honor Andre's memory almost every day. Hardly a day goes past where we don't think and/or talk about Andre, but nothing specific (was planned) for WrestleMania," McMahon told Reuters after the presentation.
McMahon promised to pack 50,000 fans into Seattle's Safeco Field and "blow the roof off" at WrestleMania, which dates to 1985. WrestleMania came of age in 1987, when Hulk Hogan pinned Andre the Giant, symbolically taking over as wrestling's biggest star, in front of an announced crowd of 93,000 people at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan.
But handouts detailing the history of WrestleMania focus on attendance and box office receipts, failing to mention any specific wrestlers until the 1995 event.
A stylized version of Andre the Giant's imposing visage is still seen in cities around the world, stenciled across street signs and sidewalks by artist Shepard Fairey beginning in the 1990s, or by followers he inspired.
But while Fairey's work helped rekindle interest in the mountainous wrestler, which his daughter appreciates, Christensen is less enthralled by Fairey's sales of prints including his Giant stencils.
'HE NEEDS TO PAY ROYALTIES'
"I can't get into it because there are legal procedures," Christensen said. "But he needs to pay royalties."
In a similar case involving sales of T-shirts bearing the likenesses of the Three Stooges comedy troupe, the U.S. Supreme Court ( news - web sites) ruled last January that a portrait artist must pay the Stooges' heirs $75,000 in profits plus $150,000 in legal fees.
Christensen enjoys watching the current crop of WWE wrestlers, and she stood and screamed with the young crowd when her favorites were introduced in Seattle, bathed in flashing lights and pulsating music.
"They're unbelievable guys," she said with a grin.
The largest of the current WWE behemoths, "Big Show" Paul Wight, is listed at 7-foot-2 and 500 pounds.
Christensen had no doubts about who would win a match between Andre the Giant and Big Show.
"Oh, I know my dad could take him," she said.
Brief bio: NCAA champion wrestler at "a prominent collegiate wrestling program in the Big 8 Conference".
First week on campus, the guy who was the starter at the weight Danny Hodge was going to compete at was sitting at the lunch table in the dorm, in front of the girls and everyone. (This was b4 Wilkinson hall was built...) Danny Hodge walks by, so the starter dude yells out at him: Hey, Hodge, come here! Danny Hodge walked over to the guy's table, where he proceeds to tell him all about how he's going to pin his @$$ in eliminations next week. In front of the girls and everything. Cool as ice, Hodge just reached down and took the apple off the guy's plate, and squished it in his hand, down to the core right there in front of him.
After the olympics, (not sure if it was 1956 or 1960), Danny Hodge turned pro rassler, and teamed up as a good guy with Gorgeous George, Jr. (Son of the famous bad guy rassler from the 40's, Gorgeous George, Sr.)
Many Friday nights were spent by OKSooner waiting for Championship Wrestling to come on at 10:30, which alternated between the resident bad guys with the Arab promoter (Skandar Akhbar) maiming some innocent soul, or being matched up against "Hodge and George" the next week for paybacks.
No matter who the bad guys were, Danny Hodge and G.J. Jr. always won, but for some reason they never did quite get those masks off of them. Usually because Skandar Akhbar slipped some kind of weapon under the rope to one of them. Once the ol' redneck chick who hung out with S.A. snuck a COKE BOTTLE in to the bad guys in her purse.
Seriously, though, Danny Hodge was a real wrestler who had been to the olympics and was one of the first to bring some true athletic talent to the show. At one point he even went to Japan and did some sumo wrestling, just for the fun of it, and did collegiate WRESTLING clinics at local grade skools and YMCA's.
I'll always remember the local announcer, Danny Williams signing off from Channel 4: "...AND WATCH OUT FOR FLYING CHAIRS!"
Rob Van Dam and Eddy Guerrero are some of the others, to name a few.
Before that I had watched AWA as a youth and kinda grew out of wrestling for awhile.
You sound like a long time fan. I grew up watching the Detroit territory in the early 70's. The Sheik, Bobo Brazil, Pamparo Firpo, Tex McKenzie.... those were the days. What got you hooked?
Rulon Gardner is a wrestler. The man he defeated for the Olympic gold, Aleksandre Karelin is a wrestler.
Hogan and Austin are actors.
Just to clarify. Carry on.
Bunker is the only one whose ever been thrown out of the matches for throwing hot dog wrappers at the fan favorite Hulk Hogan.
Cable and Ted took all the good ones with him to Georgia. Georgia became the place to be in the early 80s. Add Flair, Piper, Road Warriors, Midnight Express, Andersons, Blanchard, Nickolai.
Those were awesome days in wrestling.
I was in the Gboro Coliseum the night wrestling changed forever. Ric Flair and Greg Valentine beat the Andersons for the tag championship. What was do different was that Flair and Valentine were the heels and half the crowd popped HUGE. There were probably 1000 young people surrounding the ring cheering for the new champions. David Crockett looked like a deer in headlights. After that, they were completely unable to "turn" Flair in any way. No matter what Flair did, he always had a loyal following.
Gordon Solie and Boris Malenko. A match made in Heaven.
Georgia - You forgot Tommy "Wildfire" Rich. His comeback started the Georgia revolution. I wish I had saved some Solie/Ole tapes. They were a good team.
One of my favorites was Killer Karl Kox who had an imaginary sidekick named Alex.
Yep. "Superfly" Snuka just never learned. Saty out of the pit!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.