12 Wrestlers Who Competed Under The Influence
1. Andre The Giant
The famous drinker predictably was, on occasion, a famous drunk. And eventually, one of Andre The Giant's favourite hobbies eventually caught up with him between the ropes. A legendarily bad match from 1986 between the Giant and Akira Maeda fell to bits thanks in part to Andre's altered state.
Narked about his condition or simply trying to make the best of a potentially-disastrous situation (depending on which account you believe), Maeda seemingly tried to embarrass his w*nkered foe after totally losing his patience with the stumbling state of things. Kicking angrily at Andre, the match bordered on becoming a real fight as hard boots cut the 7-footer down to size.
The late Giant was three sheets to the wind, of that we know, but the rest of the contest remains a curious wrestling oddity. Shrouded in wrestling apocrypha, some believe NJPW founder Antonio Inoki wanted the the mess the fans received in order to teach Maeda a lesson in humility, using a wasted and uncooperative Andre as a human weapon against the cocky upstart. As far as punishments go, it was a cruel and unusual way to dish one out.