Okay, so Andre the Giant may never have tasted championship success in Japan, but his time there comes with its own bag of myths and stories. Andre competed for New Japan at various times in the 1980s, and would win the G1 Climax on two occasions (1982 and 1985). Whilst not a championship title per se, the G1 Climax is widely considered one of the most prestigious wrestling tournaments in the world, and winning it is no small feat. It is Andres last match in Japan that comes with the notoriety though. In 1986, he took on Akira Maeda, generally considered the #2 Japanese wrestler in the promotion at the time. The number 1 guy was Antonio Inoki (him again), and as the story goes he decided to take Akira down a peg by having Andre maul him. Andre just happened to be drunk (no huge surprise), and the lack of co-operation throughout the match is staggering. Akira kicks and kicks, Andre merely chuckles. At various points the match stops so Andre and Akira can shout at Inoki, and the whole debacle ends with Andre laying down and asking Akira to pin him. Needless to say, Andre the Giant did not return to NJPW. Still, winning the G1 Climax twice is a pretty big deal.
Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.
