Bruce Prichard Discusses Andre the Giant Not Liking Bam Bam Bigelow

During the most recent episode of Something to Wrestle, Bruce Prichard discussed Andre the Giant not liking Bam Bam Bigelow and Andre roughing up Bam Bam during a match at Madison Square Garden.

Bruce Prichard on Andre the Giant not liking Bam Bam Bigelow:

"Andre didn’t like Bam Bam. Go back and watch some of the fucking matches. You watch Andre grab him by the top of his garment, and Andre would just reach out since he didn’t have any hair to pull and grab him by his shirt and yank him and throw him around. Andre treated him like a ragdoll. Not a fan of Bam Bam’s at all…..Andre didn’t like big guys. I think he felt Bam Bam had a bit of an attitude coming in and that he was a young guy that hadn’t really earned his stripes in Andre’s eyes. Just didn’t like him. You know what, when you’re 7-4, 500 pounds and referred to as ‘The Boss,’ you don’t really have to have a reason for anything you do.”

On Andre roughing up Bam Bam during an MSG match in 1988:

“I was there. Just brutality. Bobby Heenan would tell the story that you could almost hear [Bam Bam] just trying to get the hell out of there. Andre, again, go back and watch it – it’s gonna be on tape somewhere – and it was just Andre pretty much man-handling him. I think in some ways, I don’t know if it was Andre trying to get Bam Bam to fight back or to see ‘Okay, what are you made of, kid?’ And maybe if he had actually fought back with Andre, it may have been a different scenario. But the fact that he didn’t, whether it was out of respect or he just couldn’t, I don’t have that answer. But Andre pretty much beat the shit out of him. Just brutalized him…..I think there’s a difference in fighting back and giving a receipt and letting somebody know if you’re gonna hit me that hard, I’m gonna hit you this hard and let them know. You figure it out from there. I don’t think Andre was out to hurt him. If Andre wanted to hurt him and take him out, Andre would’ve hurt him and taken him out. So it wasn’t that. Who knows what Andre’s motives were. It may have just been, ‘I don’t like you, and I’m gonna beat the shit out of you tonight, and we can go.’ But who knows at that point.”

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Andre the Giant . MSG 06.25.88