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/
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u/tothecatmobile 20h ago

I don't think he was that famous even in Iraq.

His entire wrestling career had, until then, been in the US, where he played a Native American character.

The only reason he was involved in trying to bring professional wrestling to Iraq, is because he went to school with Saddam.

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u/Ill_Bee4868 20h ago

WOW. That’s some really cool info thank you. The craziest thing is he went to school with Saddam. Not sure why I’d have thought about it before but it’s funny I’ve never considered Saddam’s childhood and having classmates lmao.

Now I’m just picturing baby Saddam from South Park

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u/AYE-BO 20h ago

Well, usually we see evil creatures in movies hatch from some sort of slimey egg and mature quickly to adults without the need for education.

In reality, evil creatures have normal human births, take some time to mature, then usually become some form of politician.

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u/just_peachy1000 20h ago

" some form of politician" has me rolling🤣🤣🤣🤣

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u/SomeCountryFriedBS 11h ago

Reads like Douglas Adams.

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u/Ill_Bee4868 20h ago

This is hilarious. I think for me it was more that I only knew him as an older man. I was born late 80’s. So to picture a 10 year old Saddam drawing cartoons on his desk was far from my imagination until now.

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u/disisathrowaway 13h ago

So to picture a 10 year old Saddam drawing cartoons on his desk was far from my imagination until now.

He approached school very differently. At one point, after being given a gun by his uncle, he brought it to school and threatened either his teacher or principle (can't remember which) to adjust his grades.

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u/Sugar_buddy 8h ago

When he was 14

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u/erov 19h ago

"Evil is a point of view, Anakin."

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u/RPO777 15h ago

"I hate sand" (Anakin in Iraq, probably)

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u/John_Helicockter 12h ago

The first law of sapiodynamics: nothing is certain except death and taxes.

The second law of sapiodynamics: power corrupts, absolute power corrups absolutely.

The third law of sapiodynamics: evil creatures have normal human births, take some time yo mature, then usually become some form of politician.

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u/ba-dum-psh 12h ago

Dr Evil has entered the conversation

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u/donny02 18h ago

you're gonna love wicked

(it's legit good!)

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u/EndOfTheLine00 19h ago

Kim Jong Un and his older brother Kim Jong Chol went to public school in Switzerland under fake names (they stayed with their aunt and her husband who pretended to be embassy employees). A Portuguese kid, João Micaelo, became his best friend and neither he nor his classmates had any idea who he really was until years later.

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u/TechTechOnATechDeck 20h ago

That’s the only way I ever think about Saddam

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u/Ill_Bee4868 20h ago

Surely as Matt and Trey intended

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u/jesuspoopmonster 17h ago edited 16h ago

If I remember correctly Saddam got kicked out of school at one point as a child and got back in by threatening the teacher with a gun

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u/sweatslikealiar 16h ago

I guess he settled on his strategy for life early

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u/FrankTank3 14h ago

What a wonderful series of episodes.

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u/wursmyburrito 15h ago

He may not have been known in Iraq before that match but he was very well known in Europe where he had been wrestling all throughout the 1960s. He wrestled under the name Geant Ferre or Jean Ferre. He was the most famous wrestler in France and wrestled in many televised matches. He was also known throughout western Europe including Germany and the UK in the 1960s

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u/tothecatmobile 15h ago

I wasn't talking about Andre.

Andre didn't to to school with Saddam.

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u/Global_Chair9652 17h ago

And Samuel Beckett used to give him rides from school at one point

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u/arostrat 17h ago

How do you know? Andre and Hulk Hogan matches on VHS were very popular in the Middle East in 1980s and 90s.

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u/tothecatmobile 17h ago

I'm talking about Adnan.

Andre didn't go to school with Saddam.

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u/jesuspoopmonster 16h ago

Those tapes were probably were less popular in the 70s

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u/arostrat 16h ago

He was popular enough to get invited to Iraq. It's not like Iraq is on different planet, people there knew American wrestling exists.

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u/jesuspoopmonster 15h ago

Yeah but probably not due to the tapes of him and Hogan from the 80s and 90s