10 Dark Secrets About WWE Legends

8. André The Giant Is A Massive Racist

Randy Savage
WWE.com

To this day, André the Giant is immortalised by WWE. A titular trophy is contested in his honour every WrestleMania season, not that the match is anything anybody has ever taken seriously.

He was the subject of the last great wrestling lie - very few people in the Pontiac Silverdome knew he'd been slammed before, even by Hulk Hogan himself - and while he was pure, immobile presence by 1987, André in his athletic prime was a phenomenon. He could move, he could go, he was so effective as the unbeatable giant that to this day, no wrestling promoter since has realised that you can't book a monster for long in the age of endless episodic television. André was the perfect act for the perfect time.

While he was exceptional at playing a gentle, endearing giant in the Princess Bride, that just underscored how great André was as a worker. Known to be jovial in many encounters with fans, he apparently did not extend the same courtesy to Bad News Allen; on a 1980 bus ride in Japan, Allen, understandably irate at André telling a relentless stream of racist jokes, offered to pull over and fight Andre there and then.

André refused to fight the Olympic bronze judo medallist.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!