Chris Jericho had Pat Laprade, author of “The Eighth Wonder of The World: The True Story of Andre The Giant” on the latest episode of Talk Is Jericho this week to discuss the history of the former WWE Hall of Famer. During the conversation Laprade (alongside Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer) discussed the contentious relationship between the former WWF Champion and Vince McMahon. According to him, Andre didn’t like the fact that McMahon kept him wrestling almost exclusively in WWF’s territory, whereas Vince McMahon Sr. gave him the freedom to travel all over.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“The big difference between the way that Vince Sr. and Vince Jr. used Andre was that Vince Sr didn’t use him much in his own territory because he was getting a cut on Andre when he was traveling all over the world,” Laprade said (h/t WrestlingNews.co for transcript). “He was making money on Andre without using him in his own territory and what he had learned from was that if you used Andre too much in the same territory, he was not going to draw as much as when you first book him. That’s what Andre liked.
“He could travel the world, visiting different friends, different promotions, and I think that’ what he didn’t like from Vince Jr that Vince Jr kept him more in his own territory and Andre didn’t get to see all his friends,” he continued. “He was traveling all over North America, but it was the same locker room over and over. I think Andre had a lot of bitterness toward Vince Jr because of this.”
Andre first debuted with the World Wide Wrestling Federation in Match 1973 and would continue to make appearances all the way up until 1991. He spent his final years working for All Japan Pro Wrestling and Universal Wrestling Association in Mexico before retiring in 1992. He passed away at the age of 46 due to congestive heart failure in January 1993.
During a recent interview with ComicBook, The Undertaker listed Andre on his personal Mount Rushmore of professional wrestling.
You got to have [Ric] Flair. You got to have [Hulk] Hogan. Stone Cold [Steve Austin]…. That fourth one’s tough. It could be Harley [Race]. It could be Dusty [Rhodes]. It could be Bruno [Sammartino],” Calaway said. “And I base that on contributions to the business. Not so much if they were a great worker or this or that, but… Oh, I know my fourth, it’s Andre [The Giant]. I don’t know why I forgot Andre. So yeah, it would probably be Flair, Hogan, Stone Cold and Andre.”
