André René Roussimoff was a French-Bulgarian professional wrestler and actor. He was best known for his work with WWF.
At the age of 18, Roussimoff moved to Paris and was taught professional wrestling by a local promoter, Robert Lageat. After a few years, he made his name by wrestling in the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa. After his decline in popularity due to no opponents left to face, they turned to Vince McMahon Sr who helped them out.
Roussimoff debuted with WWF and was instantly a face. He was a major face during the '70s and '80s. He had two time limit draws for the world title but never lost. In 1976, Andre fought professional boxer, Chuck Wepner, in an unscripted boxer-versus-wrestler fight. Wepner won the match via count-out.
In the '80s, Andre had a rivalry with Big John Stud to determine who is the real giant in the world of wrestling. At WrestleMania, Andre defeated Stud in a body slam contest and won $15,000.
At WrestleMania II, Andre won a WWF vs NFL battle royal. After Mania, he took some time off to heal and shoot for a movie.
Andre's biggest rivalry was with Hulk Hogan. He turned heel for the first time in his career. During Piper's Pit, Hogan was awarded a trophy for being the WWF Champion for three years. Andre showed up and attacked Hogan and challenged him for the championship.
At WrestleMania III, Andre faced Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship and lost. The highlight of the match was when Hogan body slammed Andre. Hogan began a rivalry with Ted DiBiase and Andre was involved in the storyline. Andre was hired by DiBiase to defeat Hogan. At Main Event, Hogan lost the WWF Championship to Andre, and he sold it to DiBiase.
At WrestleMania VI, Hogan and Andre were counted out and lost the tournament. At SummerSlam, Andre and DiBiase teamed up and lost to The Mega Powers. Andre began his rivalry with Jake Roberts which concluded at WrestleMania. At WrestleMania V, Jake Roberts defeated Andre by disqualification.
After feuding with Roberts, Andre formed a team with Haku called The Colossal Connection. The team defeated Demolition for the WWF Tag Team Championship. At WrestleMania VI, they lost the title to Demolition and Andre turned face when he slapped Bobby Heenan.
It was his last feud before taking a hiatus due to his deteriorating health. In 1990, he returned but made small appearances. He took part in six-man tag matches and assisted superstars at ringside. At WrestleMania VIII, he sided with the Big Boss Man against Mr. Perfect. He appeared briefly in WCW during Clash of Champions XX.
After Mania VI, he mostly wrestled for NJPW. He worked in tag matches with Giant Baba. Similar to WWF, he worked in tag and six-man tag matches.
