How Andre The Giant Finds Himself Staying Relevant Online Nearly 30 Years After His Death
The late, incomparable WWE Hall of Famer Andre the Giant is one man who always stood out in a crowd due to his massive stature and signature features, but as the 30th anniversary of his untimely passing approaches in January, a large portion of the population might not be as familiar with Andre's appearance as dedicated wrestling fans remain.
Hilariously enough, Twitter user @ColossusNick recently caused quite a stir-up on Twitter by posting a picture of a 3D model and claiming Andre's distinguishable face was "how Joseph, the husband of Mary the Mother of Jesus Christ might have looked." To further sell the validity of his tweet, he claimed that scientists at Stanford University had come up with the data to recreate the face. The tweet went viral for a variety of reasons, whether people genuinely believed what was posted or because they thought the joke was comical.
At of this writing, the tweet has over 95,000 likes, nearly 18,000 re-tweets, and a slew of comments from people that range from intrigue to "A-ha!" moments when they realize the visage is that of Andre. Sports Illustrated even did a piece on the entire ordeal, applauding the Twitter user for giving folks some lighthearted humor with the fake news post. To top it all off, Twitter even added a fact check to the information to point out to users that it was incorrect.
Andre's Legacy Lives On
Andre's legacy cannot be understated, as he was one of the very first wrestlers to transcend sports entertainment and enter the world of Hollywood. One of "The Eighth Wonder of the World's" most notable appearances came in the film "The Princess Bride," where he portrayed Fezzik, an outlaw who ran in a pack with a small man named Vizzini and the revenge-seeking Spanish swordsman, Inigo Montoya. Before his untimely passing, Andre appeared in over a dozen television shows and films, showing how talented he was and how he maintained a good reputation with connections outside of wrestling.
Several books, films, and biopic TV shows have paid homage to the impact Andre made in sports entertainment, with arguably the most notable coming in 2018. In April of that year, HBO released a high-budget "Andre The Giant" documentary that was said to be "the most watched sports documentary in history" at the time. His memory lives on in WWE, as well, with the company creating an annual "Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royale" that takes place during WrestleMania season. The winner typically receives a towering gold trophy of Andre, and bragging rights that they topped everyone else in the match to come out the victor.
Andre passed away at the age of 46 on January 28, 1993, due to congestive heart failure in his sleep. He was in Paris at the time of his death to attend the funeral of his father, who died shortly before he did.