The giant drinker

Every time you wanted a good show, you would expect to hear these words, “Standing at seven feet and four inches tall, weighing in at 540 pounds, the Eight Wonder of the World, Andre the Giant!” With his opponents trembling with fear, and his fans with widened jaws, Andre Roussimoff would give one hundred percent in the ring. He came in giant proportions and let out sheer power and aggression.

He started to drink alcohol when in the Japanese Wresting League. This continued when he joined the WWF in 1972. A man of enormous stature, he consumed beer in massive quantities. All of his associates had stories about his wild drinking and his need for alcohol. During the one month shooting of the movie “Princess and the Bride”, Roussimoff had a $40,000 bar tab. He was said to sit in his hotel room and just order beer after beer. His rival and later friend, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, once said, “[Andre the Giant] once sat with us in the bar of a hotel and drank 156 beers.”

Roussimoff became a dominant force in the WWF elevating his status to championship contender. He competed in many of the early Wrestlemania events. Before these important matches, Roussimoff would drink record amounts. He once drank 16 bottles of wine and went to wrestle in a 20-man match. He won the match and didn’t even stagger. He drank a lot, but it appeared to never affect him in the ring; however, he would actually pass out after matches because he drank so much.

He left the WWF for a short time because of a broken foot. While home, he started drinking uncontrollably. This time at home ultimately damaged Roussimoff. He developed heart and liver problems because of his size and drinking problem. He started losing his edge and became an in-ring villain. He went on a rocky losing streak for 3 years. Roussimoff made a huge comeback in 1990 after attacking his stable partner, Haku, and slapping his manager, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Throughout 1990 and 1991, he made in the WWF after that. His last WWF appearance was in 1992. After that, he returned to Japanese wrestling until December 1992.

His death surprisingly didn’t come from liver failure. On of January 27, 1993 in a Paris hotel room, he died from congestive heart failure in his sleep, shortly after attending his father’s funeral. Even though drinking didn’t kill him; he was dubbed as, “The Greatest Drunk in History.”