At WrestleMania I, Andre was involved in a rivalry with fellow big man Big John Studd, to see which one of them could be considered the true giant. This feud took place at a time when Andres acromegaly was beginning to take a severe toll on his body, as he never had surgery to fix the overactive pituitary gland. He was in constant pain from all the pressure on his bones and joints, and he reached a point where he needed to exert as little effort as possible. Andre the Giant passed away on January 27th, 1993, at the age of 46, of congestive heart failure in his sleep. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered on the lands of his ranch in Ellerbe, North Carolina. After his death, Andre was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as the only entrant for 1993, the first ever inductee. His legacy lives on through many classic moments in WWE history, as well as the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. He was voted as the second-greatest big man in WWE history, behind only The Undertaker.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
