Andre’s Workrate and Beyond
By Scott Keith on 11 November 2023
Hi Scott,
The '84 WWF and Mid-South reviews got me thinking about Andre the Giant's role in the Hulkamania era and his ability as a worker versus an attraction. Obviously he was always best as a rarity to crowds in the regional era, but he had to know how to work a match and an angle to have promoters lining up for repeat performances, yes? I want to split the lines of inquiry I have for you and the blog into three parts. First up:
Have you seen enough prime- and just-past-prime era matches from Andre to decide whether he fit that era's idea of a 'good worker' as opposed to a (very obviously appealing) sideshow? Could El Gigante, Giant Silva, or Omos just have easily made the card as appealing in the initial Hulkamania era leading up to the WM III showdown, or was Andre special? Instead of Andre congratulating Hulk on his title win, could another generic giant have been booked in his place, because the story was really about Hogan and not his specific opponent?
Looking forward to the discussion, and if this has enough interest I can post my two other queries next.
Andre was an extremely smart worker, who understood exactly what he needed to do in order to entertain people and get the match over. That’s why there’s been a million people who are physically bigger than Andre but couldn’t draw a dime.