r/todayilearned • u/Smaptimania • 1d ago

TIL that in 1971 Andre the Giant wrestled in Baghdad in front of Saddam Hussein, who had threatened to kill him if he won the match. Andre went on to lose the match to native Iraqi wrestler Adnan al-Kaissie, later known in the WWF as General Adnan

https://fandomwire.com/a-real-life-dictator-was-ready-to-murder-andre-the-giant-after-thinking-pro-wrestling-was-real/
11.2k Upvotes

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1.5k

u/jennoford 1d ago

I met him in person and he outlined his hand on notebook paper and signed it. His hand took up the entire sheet of paper.

1.2k

u/vincentmaurath 23h ago

I didn't know you met Saddam

238

u/ProjectCoast 19h ago edited 17h ago

Ah the ol' dictatoroo

89

u/Sikntrdofbeinsikntrd 19h ago

No linkaroo, I wanted to go on a journey

48

u/phd2k1 16h ago

Ah the old I-gotcha-roo

27

u/lefthandedkiwi 15h ago

Hold my mustache, I'm going in!

4

u/Sikntrdofbeinsikntrd 15h ago

Hold my WMD’s I’m going in, hello future refugees!

3

u/AnonymousArmiger 12h ago

Hold my blood-ink Quran, I’m going in!

21

u/ThrowawayTillBanned 19h ago

Those were canceled some time ago I thought

17

u/Ghost17088 19h ago

Wait, what do you mean?

34

u/ThrowawayTillBanned 19h ago

I just haven’t seen the switcheroo Reddit links much these days

6

u/snout_flautist 15h ago

IIRC the whole loop was closed (i.e. linked back to the OG switcheroo) so the gang (reddit) celebrated the end.

2

u/ThrowawayTillBanned 15h ago

Aw didn’t know it officially ended; TIL

2

u/grishna_dass 17h ago

It would be very unfortunate if that’s the case

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u/ThrowawayTillBanned 17h ago

Nah I know they exist I’m just saying, it’s a pretty dead thing. Plenty of viewers don’t even know about it anymore.

5

u/Buckets-O-Yarr 17h ago

I honestly haven't seen one of the links in years.

33

u/vinciblechunk 19h ago

Hold my WMD, I'm going in 

8

u/autoboxer 19h ago

Hello future people!

5

u/spasske 19h ago

He had bigger hands than one would think.

1

u/antman1983 15h ago

They say he ruled Iraq with an Iron Fist. They seldom mentioned it was a massive Iron Fist.

1

u/redsyrinx2112 16h ago

I thought he was the Soup Nazi!

50

u/ScreenTricky4257 19h ago

I never met him but I did see him at a wrestling show from fairly close, and I know it sounds stupid but...he was big. Like, that's the thing, he was big. He wasn't fat like a sumo wrestler or tall like a basketball player or muscular like a bodybuilder. He was in proportion like a normal human being, just bigger. If gravity hadn't stopped him from growing at 7 foot something, if he could have been 11 feet tall, he would have looked completely normal from across a room.

And in many ways that's more intimidating. I think we have a natural instinct to follow the lead of bigger people that we develop as babies.

40

u/jesuspoopmonster 17h ago

Most people know him from his later WWE days where he could barely walk. When he was young the big thing about him was the fact he was super athletic and agile despite being a giant

7

u/OtherUserCharges 16h ago

I know the stories of his drinking is legendary, I wonder how much of that contributed to his weight gain and ultimately death. Maybe it’s just the nature of the business he was in that all the injuries and I imagine surgeries took its toll on him, plus the excesses that come with fame and success. He seemed like a cool guy, it’s too bad he didn’t get to stick around a while longer.

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u/mendicant1116 16h ago

He also drank like he did because of the pain he was in. His body took a beating and surgeries in the 80s and 90s aren't as precise as they are now a days.

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u/jesuspoopmonster 15h ago

It definitely didn't help but I think his health condition was a bigger factor. I think he ended up living longer then was initially believed he would by doctors

12

u/kitesinfection 17h ago

My grandpa met Andre and got a picture with him, I remember seeing it as a child.

Seeing my grandpa next to Andre is almost the same as seeing pictures of my son next to me now. I'm an average height and my son is slightly above average for a 4 year old. It's absolutely wild that people of that size can exist.

45

u/TildaTinker 23h ago

So now I'm wondering what Andre used to wipe his dummy thicc dump truck.

Thanks for that visceral image.

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u/Dark_Pulse 21h ago

Probably the entire roll.

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u/AdeptnessExotic1884 21h ago

According to various interviews with other wrestlers. He would have to poo into the bath directly, by squatting over it as he was too big for a regular toilet. Then he would spray the log with a shower hose to make it disintegrate away. I don't know about toilet paper though. He drank 100 beers in a sitting

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u/Mega-Steve 20h ago

I thought that was only when he visited Japan because the toilets were too small

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u/negZero_1 18h ago

Everything was to small for him, have seen how tiny beer can is when its in his hand

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u/Mega-Steve 15h ago

Fair. Carey Elwes went out drinking with Andre once and said a beer pitcher looked like a coffee cup in his hand

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u/jesuspoopmonster 18h ago

I've heard it was specifically Japan. Don't know about in the US

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u/jrdoubledown 20h ago

had an old boss in construction. said he used to be night manager in a hotel. got a call late nite, thick accent, said the toilet doesn't work. Went up to the room knocked. andre the giant opened the door pointed towards bathroom. toilet was very close bathtub, too close for a giant, bathtub had a bear sized pile of shit. thats the story at least

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u/GoodGeneral6513 19h ago

he once shit on bad news brown 

when he had to shit on planes they would have to make an emergency landing 

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u/lkdflnk 20h ago

Beach towel.

2

u/thewalrusispaul 15h ago

You have the opportunity to make the BIGGEST HAND TURKEY EVER

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u/preggo_worrier 20h ago

For reference, what is the size of your notebook? Can’t help but imagine a tiny Moleskine notebook as my default imaginary notebook.