Ranking the 5 biggest box-office draws in WWE history

#1 – Andre The Giant

Andre the Giant – always and in every sense, number one

André René Roussimoff, or simply Andre The Giant, shared an symbiotic relationship with the company in so far as saying that the WWE made him, and he made the WWE. Despite suffering from acromegaly, a growth disorder, Andre contrived to use his condition to his advantage and started wrestling at as early as 18 years old.

Make no mistake, he was reportedly already 6 foot 3 inches tall and weighed in at 200 pounds when he was merely 12, which sums up the propensity of his condition and in turn, the odds that he had to overcome.

Before Vince McMahon Senior sifted the rough to uncover the diamond, Andre wrestled all over the world in various promotions, and regularly displayed disbelief-inducing spots for a man of his considerable ilk. At the behest of Vince McMahon Senior, he cut out the more athletic spots in his move-set and instead focused on presenting himself as an immovable object in the ring.

This turned out to be a marketing master-stroke as it fuelled an unbeaten run than spanned 15 years. The Eighth Wonder of the World was born and fans from all corners flocked to witness the novelty of a 7 foot 4 inch tall behemoth tear through his opposition.

Andre’s influence though, was not merely constrained to the realm of pro-wrestling, as he was the earliest cross-promotional Superstar whose popularity fork-lifted him into Hollywood stardom as well. He was a globally recognizable face, whose generously proportioned frame was said to have been matched by an equally giving heart.

The defining moment of WWE in the 20th Century had Andre The Giant’s indelible stamp all over it – at Wrestlemania 3, in what was the first and the greatest of torch-passing moments to ever punctuate WWE’s history, the Immovable Object had finally been moved. Coupled with the advent of Hulkamania, the WWE then rose to new found heights of popularity and acceptance. Andre’s role at the heart of WWE’s rise though was rarely overlooked.

Andre The Giant was the first ever Inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1993. Befittingly, he was the sole inductee that year; the WWE’s ode to the influence that the man bore. Even today, in the WWE Headquarters at Connecticut, his hand-print welcomes visitors at the reception entrance, almost as though to subtly remind the WWE Universe who was the first among equals.