Andre the Giant Page #2

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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,

all the way to the big time.

Shoemaker:

Vincent J. McMahon, Vince Sr.,

was one of the real

power brokers

in those days

of professional wrestling.

He had New York.

We say New York--

the territory ran up

and down the Atlantic seaboard

from Bangor, Maine, to D.C.

Vince McMahon Jr.:

My dad first found out

about Andr

because of the exposure

that he was getting in Canada.

Someone said,

"Vince, you have to get

your hands on this guy.

He's an

extraordinary attraction."

So my dad met with Andr

and they hit it off really,

really well.

And my dad

started booking Andr.

My dad built the way

the public looked at him now,

as an attraction,

he was a giant attraction.

Announcer:

Andr will now demonstrate

feats of strength.

Look at this,

it's off the ground!

Over 2,000 pounds

of solid dead weight.

Andr the Giant has done

the unbelievable!

Dr. Terry Todd:

I began to see pictures

of Andr,

I said, "I want to cover this

guy as a unique physical being,

a man who's living in a world

that's not made for him."

What's it like

to be seven feet tall

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