I don’t feel like commenting on his death, so I’ll let Andre the Giant speak for me.
ANDRE THE GIANT “I’don’t like to speak badly of people. I have grown up thinking and being told that if you cannot say something nice about someone, you should not say anything at all. But I must break that rule in this case because I hate Hulk Hogan very much. He is a big ugly goon and | want to squash his face.”
Enough said.
When did Andre say that?
I’m sure you know this, but you have to be somewhat cautious when one professional wrestler trash talks another in any context. Trash talking is very much a part of Kayfabe from what I gather.
In worse news, Chuck Mangione also died yesterday. I loved his music as a kid, and he seemed like a decent person on top of being a gifted musician.
There’s this post: [URL not included]
ANDRE THE GIANT ” don t like to speak badly of people. have grown up thinking and being told that if you cannot say something nice about …
Instagram · 14 hours ago
(Also on pinterest, but it hasn’t propagated much yet)
—
cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_the_Giant%E2%80%93Hulk_Hogan_rivalry#Friendship
— Iron Sheik
Ah, Walter, so it turns out Hogan was the bigger man:
https://www.wrestlinginc.com/1309388/hulk-hogan-reacts-passing-iron-sheik/
—
“Today, we honor the legacy of a wrestling icon. Rest in peace, Iron Sheikh,” Hogan began. “The wrestling world has lost a true legend, and Sheikh’s contributions to our industry will never be forgotten. I’ll always cherish the battles we had in the ring. Our matches were intense, and our rivalry was legendary. We shared a bond that only fellow wrestlers can understand. Iron Sheikh’s unique charisma, undeniable talent, and unforgettable personality made him an unforgettable figure in the hearts of wrestling fans worldwide. His legacy will continue to inspire generations of wrestlers to come.
“Rest in peace, Iron Sheikh. You will always be remembered as a true warrior of the ring.”
This guy definitely lived way too long. His contribution to society was more negative than positive.
Snopes tried to verify the Andre the Giant quote to no avail so far:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/andre-the-giant-hulk-hogan-quote/
Did Andre ever actually say it? These things need vetting and sourcing.
Terry Bollea turned real life heel as indicated by him being a MAGAt. His Hollywood Hulk Hogan persona heel turn with The Outsiders (Hall/Nash) and nWo was kinda cool to behold though. The last gasp of wrestling IMO alongside Goldberg’s winning arc. Then WCW got absorbed by McMahon. I never really liked WWE.
Before the election I recall Kevin Nash pushing for Kamala Harris to be elected. Good for him on that. Fuck Terry Bollea (aka Hulk Hogan).
Scott Hall was a bit of a hot mess outside the ring. But when I read The Walking Dead comics featuring the Saviors storyline, the way Negan was drawn reminded me of Scott Hall. He was too old by the time Jeffrey Dean Morgan landed the role (oddly JDM was on Shameless briefly). Henry Rollins or Danzig might have been more an inspiration for the character, but Hall looked the part. He passed away kinda horrifically in 2022 after a hip fracture.
People call wrestling fake. Not me. It is a choreographed performance art with a high degree of physicality and great danger of injury in the ring. Outside the ring the lifestyle can be brutal or fatal. Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring is a horror series really.
@9– Pro wrestling is real in that the wrestlers perform amazing physical feats before a live audience and often sustain real injuries. Pro wrestling is fake in that the matches are scripted, the outcomes planned in advance, and most of the moves are designed to look impressive while not hurting anyone. Hence the term kayfabe.
Thats a Trump enabling, Trump kult member, racist, union-busting, back-stabbing thug died the other day.
As the old adage goes you should only speak good of the dead*, Hulk Hohan is dead, Good.
.* No you shouldn’t. Maybe to their families but truth matters and calling out wrongs matter and some evil people do make the world a lot better by departing it than when they lived in it and did on-going harm with their lives and I’ve no issue with celebrating when those people die.
Hogan obvs.
I wouldn’t say that all the physical activity of professional wrestling is fake. Some of it is because they know how to do the falls, but I’m sure it’s physically demanding. And while the matches may be planned and choreographed, and the outcomes contracted, sometimes mistakes can happen and the person who is supposed to win gets injured. So, there’s a “real” side to the wrestling part. Kayfabe is mainly the harangues and strutting that go on around the ring, the bragging and trash talk, the grudges, etc. That’s pretty much all fake. Oh, and when Donald Trump beats up Vince McMahon outside the ring…you know that’s totally kayfabe, just like Taco as president.
Yeah, it takes a lot of skill and coordination between the wrestlers to pull off some of their moves without actually causing any serious injuries.
True story. I sat right behind Andre the Giant on a flight from Nashville to Reno. He was Enormous. His hands were bigger than my head and the sweat poured down his neck in rivers. All I could think of was if this guy goes berserk up here we are all dead meat. All was fine though seemed like an ok guy but jeese he was HUGE!!! Oh and Edgar Winter was on the flight too.
Kathi, yea. He was the real thing.
Josephine Riesman wrote a really great anti-eulogy for him here:
https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/hulk-hogan-dead-anti-eulogy-josephine-riesman
@16. John Morales : Loved him in The Princess Bride – bnrilliant performance & character there.
.***
Steve Shives shares his thoughtful thoughts on Hogan’s passing
here – I Come to Bury Hulk Hogan, Not to Praise Him just over 15 mins long and reckon well worth hearing.
I loved Andre the Giant in The Princess Bride, but more importantly, all of his cast mates on the film loved him too, no kayfabe involved. If you watch any retrospectives, everyone working on the film had nothing but glowing praise for Andre, his kindness, and his truly enormous appetite.
Both have entries on IMDb.
Hulk Hogan’s Worst-Rated Movie On IMDb Was A Forgotten Attempt At A Greek Epic
Andre the Giant acted in one of the best movies ever made, The Princess Bride.
@15: A little scale for everyone and also because I love seeing these two legends together. Both of them are gone, sadly.
https://youtu.be/QvEYaX9ywQg?si=KLfzx-ULw1dVA7GV
My wife told me a story from when she was a kid at a friend’s birthday party. Andre was there and she said every single kid at the party got on his back and he lifted them all up at once.
Approximately 8 children were there.
That photo of Andre looks like it was taken in late 70s or early 80s, before the first Wrestlemania.
I can’t even place an early memory of Hulk or Andre. I recall on USA Network (I think) a WWF or forerunner with uberginger Bob Backlund being the shit and Superfly Snuka doing stuff off the top rope.
I was more into NWA in Florida (hell ya!) and Georgia commentated by Gordon Solie RIP. If you have to ask who that was you obviously don’t know. History!
This was The Dude.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skip_Young_(wrestler)
He had amazing leapfrog ability. My dad took me to see several live NWA events in the Orlando area and I might have seen Sweet Brown Sugar live. I do recall touching Dusty Rhodes on his way to the ring. We saw my dad’s childhood hero Nature Boy Buddy Rogers live. My mom had a thing for Bruno Sammartino.