NOwave
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,735
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Post by NOwave on Aug 7, 2013 17:44:28 GMT -5
The thread below titled "Andre off the top rope" got me thinking about this. There was a clip of him against Stan Hansen in 1979. Hansen was a legitimately tough Texas Panhandle cowboy. He played football for West Texas State, and got professional football tryouts. He was trained to wrestle by Terry and Dory Funk, Jr, who have said that Hansen was blessed with more raw strength than anybody else they ever trained. So, the question is: Could Stan Hansen have taken Andre in a shoot?
Here's a few other possibilities I came up with:
1) Bruno Sammartino (maybe the most powerful man ever in WWWF/WWF/WWE, body slammed Andre at least once)
2) Harley Race (legendary tough guy, worked as a bounty hunter, also body slammed Andre)
3) Danny Hodge (Golden Glove/AAU national champion in both boxing and wrestling, acknowledged by many wrestlers as the toughest ever despite being only 6'0", 180lbs)
4) Meng/Haku (probably the toughest Samoan wrestler ever, numerous stories of shoots)
5) Big Show/Giant/Paul Wight (approximately the same size as Andre)
6) Bruiser Brody (6'8", 320lb college and pro football player, very intimidating)
7) Bad News Brown (Olympic Judo champion, once challenged Andre, who backed down)
8) Kurt Angle (won Olympic Gold Medal in wrestling despite being >100lbs lighter than his opponent, and having a broken freakin' neck!)
9) Brock Lesnar (NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion and MMA heavyweight champion)
Assume that both Andre and the opponent would be at their physical peak. Add any other wrestler who you think should be considered. Who could have taken Andre?
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Post by Can you afford to pay me, Gah on Aug 7, 2013 17:54:56 GMT -5
Well being able to slam Andre doesn't mean in a shoot fight can take him. Would that mean Sting could take the Big Show? Andre while very big was he a fighter? A lot of people could take him if you have the skills not just the strength. Lesnar could do it because along with a freakish amount of strength the man is a train fighter. So it is a deadly combination. Bad News Brown if Andre back down from him there had to be a reason.
Just because your tough doesn't equal you can take someone. That mean you can just take it. I mean Mick Foley would he win in a fight? I doubt it but he tough. So is Terry Funk. But they don't have a skill to take down a guy.
In his prime another guys I say could do it is Ken Shamrock.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2013 17:56:43 GMT -5
Lou Thesz in his prime would probably wreck him.
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Post by Viking Hall on Aug 7, 2013 18:27:48 GMT -5
I've always wondered why Andre was seen as this unstoppable force when it came to real fights. Yes he was huge, yes he was strong, but was he ever known for being a fighter? Not to my knowledge. However big you are, however strong you are, being hit hurts. Taking into account that a lot of the wrestlers who were around in Andre's prime were legitimate tough men, trained fighters or both I would say the list of who could take him would take a good few hours to write. Andre was never the quickest, nor was he a trained fighter, someone like Bad News Allen was a hell of a lot quicker, legitimately tough and a natural fighter, in that situation size makes very little difference.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2013 18:32:07 GMT -5
Pretty much anyone with a shoot background. Being big does not equal being good in a fight. Ask Giant Silva.
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SOR
Unicron
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Post by SOR on Aug 7, 2013 18:48:02 GMT -5
Pretty much anyone with a shoot background. Being big does not equal being good in a fight. Ask Giant Silva. I agree with this 100% Arn Anderson/Sid anyone?
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Post by kamero00 on Aug 7, 2013 18:48:18 GMT -5
In his prime? No one. Too big, too strong
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2013 18:56:14 GMT -5
Other than being huge and powerful I doubt he had any real fighting skill. From stories I heard he mostly used his size to sit on opponents and stuff like that until the legend of Andre did the rest and intimidated anyone willing to take him.
With that being said guys who have extensive martial arts knowledge could take him down in a fight, regardless if he's 7ft and 450 or not.
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Post by Vice honcho room temperature on Aug 7, 2013 19:12:06 GMT -5
Dread Pirate Roberts
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2013 19:16:32 GMT -5
In his prime? No one. Too big, too strong All that a guy like Brock would have to do is get him off balance and on the ground and they could wail on him. Andre has always struck me as something of a bully and when a legit guy stood up to him he'd back down.
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SOR
Unicron
Posts: 2,611
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Post by SOR on Aug 7, 2013 19:37:07 GMT -5
Other than being huge and powerful I doubt he had any real fighting skill. From stories I heard he mostly used his size to sit on opponents and stuff like that until the legend of Andre did the rest and intimidated anyone willing to take him. With that being said guys who have extensive martial arts knowledge could take him down in a fight, regardless if he's 7ft and 450 or not. I don't even think it'd have to be extensive. 3-6 months of amateur wrestling training and some boxing and you could probably beat Andre. Once he's on his back what is he going to do?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2013 19:42:03 GMT -5
Other than being huge and powerful I doubt he had any real fighting skill. From stories I heard he mostly used his size to sit on opponents and stuff like that until the legend of Andre did the rest and intimidated anyone willing to take him. With that being said guys who have extensive martial arts knowledge could take him down in a fight, regardless if he's 7ft and 450 or not. I don't even think it'd have to be extensive. 3-6 months of amateur wrestling training and some boxing and you could probably beat Andre. Once he's on his back what is he going to do? Depends on the size of his opponent. If it's Brock Lesnar then his skill level from his debut UFC fight would be more than enough. I thought extensive more in a way of a smaller guy using skill to beat the giant. Kinda the Royce Gracie undersized "underdog" situation.
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Goldenbane
Hank Scorpio
THE G.D. Goldenbane
Posts: 7,331
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Post by Goldenbane on Aug 7, 2013 21:08:48 GMT -5
Possibly the Undertaker?
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Post by Jedi-El of Tomorrow on Aug 7, 2013 21:09:11 GMT -5
In his prime? No one. Too big, too strong Doesn't matter how big he is, take out a knee and he's down. I think Vladimir Kozlov could take Andre in a shoot.
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Post by rybackrulez on Aug 7, 2013 21:16:36 GMT -5
Hulk Hogan
Seriously, hulk trained japanese style and by the briscoes. Hulk also wasn't f***ed with in puro because guy was legit.
Anybody who could throw leg kicks would take out andre
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Post by Medicinal Thunder Liger on Aug 8, 2013 8:52:38 GMT -5
Lou Thesz in his prime would probably wreck him. Lou in his heyday has nothing on people like Hodge, or Gotch though to be honest. watch Maeda vs Andre if you want to see somebody really test him
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Post by Digital Witness on Aug 8, 2013 9:09:06 GMT -5
Stan Hansen would have beaten the crap out of Andre, and I'm pretty sure he legitimately did in some of their matches.
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Greer
Unicron
Points. Don't. Matter.
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Post by Greer on Aug 8, 2013 9:45:12 GMT -5
Man, this thread really makes me realize how tough the guys were back then.
No offense to the guys wrestling now but...
Hansen, Vader, Brody, Haku scares me a lot more than Cody, Kofi, Bryan, Orton.
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EyeofTyr
Hank Scorpio
Strange and Mystical
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Post by EyeofTyr on Aug 8, 2013 9:57:05 GMT -5
I wish I could find the video of it, but there was a video circulating the internet for a while of Andre when he was very young, like, super young. Dude was going by his real name in the video and it was about amateur wrestling...or something of that nature. I want to say martial arts but I know that's wrong. It was a segment off of a local French news station.
Either way, dude was moving in the video and had unreal form when taking down guys. If that Andre was set to face anybody...not sure anyone could've realistically messed with him. Admittedly he was, like, probably a hundred pounds lighter in the video due to not having the gut Andre became known for.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2013 11:33:46 GMT -5
It depends on when you're talking about. Young Andre, probably not a lot of people at all, but most of the ones you listed would have a good chance - except for the newer guys like Angle and Lesnar, and that's probably because you're comparing guys who are used to fighting within well-defined rules to old-school, carny wrestlers who are trained to take out anyone who shoots on them by any means necessary, because that's what the other guy will do. Collegiate wrestling holds and karate moves don't fare well against a kick to the groin or a thumb in the eye socket, I'd imagine.
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