Why does Andre get a free pass yet Khali doesn't

[111111]

Everytime I see an Andre The Giant match it seems to be full of clumsy botches which don't get me wrong is what you'd expect of an attraction giant wrestler but he seems universally loved by fans yet The Great Khali who is pretty much the recent equivalent of him seems to get shat on constantly.

Is it nostalgia clouding judgement, perhaps it's the fact he worked with the mega charismatic Hogan and was lifted up by being in proximity to him (the same way anyone who goes near The Miz gets a rub) or is there something I haven't seen in my (admittedly) limited exposure to Andre? to me it seems like Andre is just as awful as Khali both in ring and on the microphone.

[mizerable]

I guess for me, Andre had charisma. He was great as a babyface, he was great as a heel. He played his role outside of the ring so we'll, that it made the things he did inside the ring easy to forgive.

Khali just had that deer in the headlights look to him at all times, he had presence, but not much charisma. On top of that, the company booked him as a joke after he turned face.

Regardless of that though, I would rather take a Khali WWE title reign in 2017 over knowing we have Jinder Mahal as champ.

[Deleted]

Probably because at one point before the injuries/weight Andre was actually pretty good.

[BrodietheSlayer]

Judging Andre purely off of his last run would be like judging Undertaker purely off of his last 3 Wrestlemania matches. You're watching a legend at the tail end of his career.

Kahli was awful at every point of his career, at least the WWE part of it.

[Muskrat]

Well, for starters, when he was touring in the 70's as an attraction he was MUCH more mobile then he was during his later WWF run. And by the time he was very limited in the ring, he was already such a legend that people respected him.

Plus, in a more kayfabe era, who gives a shit if he lumbered around a bit. It didn't take much to believe if that dude got his hands on you he could and would f***ing destroy you. By the time Khali was around kayfabe was dead and ring work expectations were alot higher.

[Crappler El 0 M]

Andre was a legendary special attraction for most of the 1970s into the early 1980s before his health started deteriorating due to injuries and his acromegaly in the early-to-mid 1980s.

He didn't get a pass from all fans. The "smart" fans of the day who voted for the the Observer year-end awards voted Andre for awards like "Worst Wrestler" or "Most Embarrassing" or "Reader's Least Favorite Wrestler", as well as "Worst on Interviews" and "Worst Feud of the Year", not necessarily winning every year, but being in the top 3 to 5.

[Deleted]

Workrate really wasn't that important back than. Work smart not hard

[Kevin Hamilton]

Decades of being better. That's really the major difference. Andre has a body of work you can point to and say: 'he could put in good work then.'

Khali has exactly none of that.

Couple that with what others have mentioned, Andre had presence and charisma that went far beyond 'just' being huge. Khali doesn't. If Khali was even say 6'5, he'd have been like a Bam Neely.

It's not giving Andre a pass as much as it's just a huge gulf between the two legitimately in talent levels.

[Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster]

Because there has never been in a point his career where Khali didn't suck.

Andre was good until his body started to deteriorate and by the end of his career the poor bastard was pretty much two steps away from being a full blown crippled.

[bootytea]

The standards were much much lower back then, especially since a lot of people weren't exposed to the kind of work rate we have now.

I remember being so excited to see Hogan versus Andre at Wrestlemania 3 for the first time and being really disappointed at the quality of the actual match. Great atmosphere, but horrendous match..

[TWERKIN' MAGGLE]

The Princess Bride was better than The Longest Yard remake.

[The Ichi]

Presence. Andre had it, Khali doesn't.

That and it being a whole different time.

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

I'm still trying to figure out what the point of winning his Battle Royal is.

[Kevin Hamilton]

Andre/Hogan was exactly the kind of match it was supposed to be. You're NOT gonna get a buncha moves, but you were never supposed to get that.


Plus, even if Andre had never been any good in the ring; he was Fezzik.




Fezzik.

[Zombie Mod is not a ghoul.]

Aug 12, 2017 18:59:31 GMT -5 Confused Mark Wahlberg said:

I'm still trying to figure out what the point of winning his Battle Royal is.

to give the wrestlemania preshow an extra match?

[Juice]

officialfan.proboards.com/post/10299823

Khali was fun as hell

[Deleted]

Aug 12, 2017 18:52:35 GMT -5 The Ichi said:

Presence. Andre had it, Khali doesn't.

Pretty much this. With Andre it was like "oh shit, this dude is huge, how can anyone stop him?"

With Khali, he was just another guy that happened to be really tall. Yes, he did suck in the ring but a)he had no charisma and b) WWE didn't book him like an unstoppable monster.

[Slanted and Enchanted]

Aug 12, 2017 17:40:18 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

Andre was a legendary special attraction for most of the 1970s into the early 1980s before his health started deteriorating due to injuries and his acromegaly in the early-to-mid 1980s.

He didn't get a pass from all fans. The "smart" fans of the day who voted for the the Observer year-end awards voted Andre for awards like "Worst Wrestler" or "Most Embarrassing" or "Reader's Least Favorite Wrestler", as well as "Worst on Interviews" and "Worst Feud of the Year", not necessarily winning every year, but being in the top 3 to 5.

This is a good point and it's rarely brought up that yes the IWC did exist even way back in the 80s. People who read The Observer hated Hogan and coveted anything that was related to Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, NWA, and NJPW. In modern terms this is equivalent to people bashing Roman Reigns and loving anything related to AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, ROH, and well...NJPW again. I believe that even a legend like Gorilla Monsoon was constantly bashed because for them he could not hold a candle to Gordon Solie.

Of course the 'IWC' of this time period was such a minor blip in the radar that anyone in the arena who would act like they're in 'BIZARRO WORLD' would be drowned out by the predominantly casual crowd.

[Joe Neglia]

Aug 12, 2017 17:28:41 GMT -5 111111 said:

Everytime I see an Andre The Giant match it seems to be full of clumsy botches which don't get me wrong is what you'd expect of an attraction giant wrestler but he seems universally loved by fans yet The Great Khali who is pretty much the recent equivalent of him seems to get shat on constantly.

Is it nostalgia clouding judgement, perhaps it's the fact he worked with the mega charismatic Hogan and was lifted up by being in proximity to him (the same way anyone who goes near The Miz gets a rub) or is there something I haven't seen in my (admittedly) limited exposure to Andre? to me it seems like Andre is just as awful as Khali both in ring and on the microphone.

Andre spent 20 years in good health building up a good reputation as a good worker before the last 5-6 years of his career and health turned into a sad show of pain and misery for him in front of the audiences.

That's why.

[Joe Neglia]

Here, watch this 2 and a half minute fan cam from his 2nd MSG match from 1973. It's not an HBK/Hart classic, but look at how he works the crowd with his antics, how he shows off raw power by lifting his opponent with just his neck, the speed of his uppercuts, the way he forms psychology with the crowd through it all. Even for a squash match, you can see he gets it and he knows exactly how to work with what he is and what he has:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksuJ6nMDh-g