If you’re like me, you likely only saw the legendary Andre the Giant at the very tail end of his career, when he was 800 pounds and preparing to shoot on Hulk Hogan in front of 93,000 fans. (What can I say, I love a Hulkster tall tale?). Younger Andre was apparently a sight to behold, and we are going to get some of that in this squash match from way back in 1974 (!!!) as he battles three men at once!
And these guys have a plan. Well, some sort of plan I guess as they all maul him into the ropes at once. Andre somewhat nonchalantly pushes them back, causing them all to fall to the mat in a heap. It’s almost like an early version of the ROAR spot!
Seeing that result in utter failure, they decide to go at it one at a time with shoulder blocks. Again, no dice. I do love Andre deftly sidestepping the guy in the black singlet, causing him to go flying out of the ring. Somewhere a young Chris Hamrick must have been watching and think “I could do that spot better!” (Google it and thank me later.)
Next up we get whatever on earth this is. Somehow, all three foes wind up facing forward while ‘trapped’ in Andre’s crotch. Next time you’re watching a Young Bucks match and someone says there were no contrived spots back in the day, I want you to show them this have them explain it in the comments section below.
Somehow the guys are able to get Andre on his back, but he kicks them all off at once and follows that up with a single leg monkey flip! If he’s gonna pull stuff like that out of the bag, I need to add more young Andre matches to my watch list.
They get the big guy back in the corner, but he again shoves them down like tenpins.
Undeterred, they give the corner another attempt, but this time Andre kicks one of them no joke three-quarters of the way across the ring.
Deciding to show off his strength, he gorilla presses the masked chump who came off the top with a flying knee drop. No doubt a young Jim Hellwig was watching this…oh who am I kidding, that guy never watched wrestling in the 1970s.
We save the best for last, as the last guy standing attempts to punch Andre…but Andre holds him at arms length by his forehead. A BAAAAACK body drop comes next, and then we get a GIANT splash.
This was all joyous to behold. Trust me, Andre ain’t gonna be a stranger to these parts going forward!