If Andre was in WWE today (deterioting health and all)…

[fg]

…do you think WWE would allow him to wrestle (after WM3 that is)?

I personally don’t think so. Times have changed a lot and I think that Vince and company would say no but would they have guts to tell Andre?

If they did, Andre would have wrestled elsewhere after not getting his way with WWE. I know Andre LOVED wrestling so much that he couldn’t live without it. That’s why he wrestled until his death even though his last match was a sad sight.

[James Fabiano]

If all that happened now? Well hopefully he'd be eligible for the same surgery that Big Show had, and it would help.

[tafkaga]

That's hard to imagine. Andre's myth was extremely protected, and even more as he got older. If he's brought out for a one time nostalgia appearance, that's one thing, but I can't see Andre's act working like it did in 1987. Giants simply don't resonate with promoters, nor with fans like they once did. I'm not sure they would have to tell Andre he couldn't wrestle so much as he would just walk out the door after finding out how they want to use him.

[sungod2020]

Do you mean today, as in if he was still alive? For starters, he'd be 76 years old. He'd be lucky if he made it to 50, much less wrestling, and if you saw his last few matches(post WWF), it was a sad sight to see. 

If you meant if a 40 year old him was transported into today, well there would be medication to help him live longer than he did IRL, so I can picture him hanging on for a few more years. He'd probably get "please retire" chants from the audience though and ripped by the IWC for holding back younger talent.

Nov 15, 2022 9:13:42 GMT -5 James Fabiano said:

If all that happened now? Well hopefully he'd be eligible for the same surgery that Big Show had, and it would help.

Bare in mind the technology to fix his gigantism before it became what it was did exist, he just refused it because it(his gigantism) is what made him marketable, perhaps knowing full well it would catch up to(if not kill) him somewhere down the line, he even took that as a reminder from doctors. 

[Mozenrath]

Unlikely, though depending on the circumstances, they could try to keep him around in some kind of role. He wasn't exactly the easiest promo to understand in the world, but he had a charisma to him.

[fg]

Nov 15, 2022 9:38:08 GMT -5 sungod2020 said:

Do you mean today, as in if he was still alive? For starters, he'd be 76 years old. He'd be lucky if he made it to 50, much less wrestling, and if you saw his last few matches(post WWF), it was a sad sight to see. 

If you meant if a 40 year old him was transported into today, well there would be medication to help him live longer than he did IRL, so I can picture him hanging on for a few more years. He'd probably get "please retire" chants from the audience though and ripped by the IWC for holding back younger talent.

Nov 15, 2022 9:13:42 GMT -5 James Fabiano said:

If all that happened now? Well hopefully he'd be eligible for the same surgery that Big Show had, and it would help.

Bare in mind the technology to fix his gigantism before it became what it was, he just refused it because it(his gigantism) is what made him marketable, perhaps knowing full well it would catch up to(if not kill) him somewhere down the line, he even took that as a reminder from doctors. 

No, I meant if he was the same age as he was in 1987 and if he was born in 1982 and not 1946.

[tafkaga]

2022 Andre

[sungod2020]

Nov 15, 2022 9:47:42 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Unlikely, though depending on the circumstances, they could try to keep him around in some kind of role. He wasn't exactly the easiest promo to understand in the world, but he had a charisma to him.

I could see him being someone's enforcer like he was with Ted Dibiase. He wouldn't(or very rarely) be partaking in actual matches, but would give off the illusion of being a threat. 

[karl100589]

On a side topic, what was the biggest factor in Andre continuing to wrestle after WM3? Was it Vince exploiting the guy by using him as an attraction or was he adhering to Andre’s wish to still compete?

[jason1980s]

Nov 15, 2022 16:02:24 GMT -5 karl100589 said:

On a side topic, what was the biggest factor in Andre continuing to wrestle after WM3? Was it Vince exploiting the guy by using him as an attraction or was he adhering to Andre’s wish to still compete?

Andre wanted to wrestle as long as he could. He wrestled just weeks before his death, though mostly 6 man matches. Vince didn't want him wrestling and I guess didn't even have a spot for him on tour as a non wrestler after late 1991. He signed with Herb when Vince cut ties in 1990 and he was happy to appear on the WCW TBS anniversary special in 1992 because Vince cut him lose the previous year.

[Hit Girl]

Andre in 2022 would be like Kingpin. The leader of a real posse.

[David-Arquette was in WCW 2000]

Nov 15, 2022 10:16:20 GMT -5 tafkaga said:

2022 Andre

It never ceases to amaze me just how damn cheap Jakks were at times.

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

It's hard to say as it's a much different business now. What was acceptable in 1988 wouldn't be acceptable today.

With that said despite how limited he was physically Andre was still very effective and actually had a pretty good year in ring in 1988. His series with Jim Duggan in the summer that year was shockingly good and way better then they had any right to be. Then he also some good stuff with Savage in the fall. I think you could also make an argument he was the MVP of the 1989 Royal Rumble. However right around he started feuding with Jake is when it went down hill fast as he was really starting to deteriorate physically. The Wrestlemania V match was terrible and then they were having to do stuff to get around him not being to do much like having the Warrior beat him in under a minute and then the Colossal Connection where he would mainly just stand on the apron while Haku did like 95% of the work with it being played off as strategy as a cover (Haku wears him out, Andre finishes him).

They probably kept him around a bit longer then they should've but I don't think he overstayed his welcome as long as a lot of people make it out to be. He still had a little left in the tank in 88. Then he was cooked in 89 but he still had name value that they wanted to capitalize on so they found ways to still utilize him effectively and then he's done early in 90 as he never wrestled again for the company after Wrestlemania VI with him just making non wrestling appearances throughout 91.

[Deleted]

He wouldn't want the schedule. Can't see him working every Raw and ppv.

[jason1980s]

Nov 15, 2022 19:13:39 GMT -5 David-Arquette was in WCW 2000 said:

It never ceases to amaze me just how damn cheap Jakks were at times.[/quote]

Jeremy from Jakks cited that cost cutting had to be done in the first series so that they could spend the money to sign guys like Warrior and make their outfits better. It's crazy to think that Andre, one of the most famous wrestlers of all time had so many outfits that had mistakes. LJN had the reverse strap and covered it up by reversing the photo on the card back or someone stupid used a reverse photo and the makers used that as reference. Jakks in 1998 did the same darn thing with the reverse strap. Then they did the two straps Classic 1.


I wonder what Herb Abrams would have done with Andre in early 91. Obviously it never got to that point with Vince calling him back. It probably wouldn't have gotten to that point as Herb probably couldn't afford Andre but still a big "what if?" I'm sure Andre would have gotten in the ring wearing the singlet and done something if Herb could pay him or maybe even if Herb just promised to pay him.

[Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃]

If Andre was alive right now, he’d be the NWA world champion….
Hell, he’d be more mobile than their current champ

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

Andre's limitations would have been super exposed if he was on TV every week. We had Khali on TV a decade ago barely able to move any of his extremities and it was fairly obvious.

[dangerousdanpotato]

Nov 15, 2022 19:13:39 GMT -5 ThankGodForSidJustice said:

...he never wrestled again for the company after Wrestlemania VI with him just making non wrestling appearances throughout 91.

He did wrestle a few more house shows for WWF into 1991. I seem to remember he tagged with the Rockers in one match.

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

Nov 17, 2022 6:42:54 GMT -5 dangerousdanpotato said:

Nov 15, 2022 19:13:39 GMT -5 ThankGodForSidJustice said:

...he never wrestled again for the company after Wrestlemania VI with him just making non wrestling appearances throughout 91.

He did wrestle a few more house shows for WWF into 1991. I seem to remember he tagged with the Rockers in one match.

I know he accompanied them to the ring for a match against the Orient Express on the UK Rampage show in England. I guess maybe they did a six man against Orient Express and Fuji on another show on that tour that wasn't televised.

[tirtefaa]

Deteriorating health?

Andre would likely be in a wheelchair if he was alive for 5 more years, let alone 30. The guy could barely move in the last few years of his life.