12 Things We Learned From The Eighth Wonder Of The World: The True Story Of André The Giant
8. His First Ever Loss Was To Kendo Nagasaki
To British wrestling fans, Kendo Nagasaki is somebody thought fondly of for his antics during the World of Sport era and beyond. But one thing most wrestling fans will be completely unaware of, is that Nagasaki was the first person to ever get a singles win over André the Giant.
Of course, back then André was still going by his Jean Ferré moniker, but regardless, this was the first ever loss of one of the greatest careers in the history of the business - and a career that saw very few losses over the years.
That first defeat for Jean Ferré came in 1969 in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, which was essentially the hometown of the man behind the Kendo Nagasaki gimmick, Peter Thornley.
Prior to that match-up, André actually took Kendo to one side and explained how he was still learning the ropes, how he had come to the UK to hone his craft, and that he was sincerely sorry should he accidentally hurt Nagasaki during their match.
For his part, Nagasaki pushed the powers-that-be for him to get the win over André, and it was a victory by technical knockout for the masked grappler. In two subsequent rematches between the pair, André would lose clean to Nagasaki, before then losing via DQ.
Kendo Nagasaki has gone down in infamy for how he was laser-focused on always making himself look like the biggest star possible, regardless of who he had to trample over to be showcased as that. And for what it's worth, he is one of the only people in history to have faced André and never lost - with that first loss taking the aura of invincibility away from André and resulting in him no longer being as big of a draw to live audiences across the UK.