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It is widely known that pro wrestlers "billed" heights are in excess of their real heights. Until recent times, the wrestling term "kayfabe" was used to desribe the story, modus operandi, and statistics of wrestlers, refering to the storyline or exagerations that surround the business. Andre the giant's height was no exception. It is now known that guys such as Paul Wight(Big Show), Great Khali(Dalip Singh), Giant Gonzalez(Jorge Gonzalez), and other such entertainment giants, were all billed taller than their real height. Big Show, for example, was billed at up to 7'4", when the storyline was used that he was Andre's son seeking revenge against Hulk Hogan for his Wrestlemania 3 victory over Andre. In real Life, Big show has stood as tall as 7'1", however, he is closer to between 6'11.5" - 7'0" now, because of spine surgery and increasing poor posture, the same ailments that Andre suffered from in his late life. Great Khali has been billed up to 7'3", however, he actually stands a solid 7'1" tall. This has been confirmed by the Indian Bodybuilding association. Giant Gonzalez has been billed up to 8 feet tall, but his real standing height, as confirmed by the Atlanta Hawks and Argentinian basketball team, was in fact, 7'6.5".
There is WORLD WIDE speculation as to what Andre's true "peak" standing height was, and it was sparked by the discovery of a picture of him standing with Wilt Chamberlian and Arnold Schwarzenegger on the set of Conan The Destroyer. He appeared to be about and inch shorter than Wilt Chamberlain, and the picture was taken in 1983, when Andre was past his prime, height-wise. By then, he weighed considerably more than he had in the 70's, and his posture was beginning to be affected by slight scoliosis(abnormal spinal curvature) and a dowdger's hump at the base of the back of his neck. The journalist that leaked the photo was Dave Meltzer, a wreslting journalist who was famous for breaking "kayfabe" to report about the behind the scenes of pro wrestling. Dave estimated Andre's true standing height to be 6'11.5" based on a standing height of 7'0.5" for Wiltchamberlain, however, his analysis was flawed, since Wilt Chamberlain had been officially measured at 7'1.16" by the Guiness Book of records. This would have put a 1983 Andre at around 7'0" even. there have been numerous reports from other wrestlers, doctors who claimed to have measured Andre, and Andre's personal handlers and family members, that Andre's peak heightin the late 60's and early 70's was somewhere in the neighborhood of 215cm-218cm (7'0.5"-7'1.5"), and that he was indeed 6'10" at the time of his death, due to having had spine surgery to fuse vertabra together, and increasing posture problems caused by his medical condition, Acromegaly. Over time, Acromegaly, if left untreated, increases bone density and mass and makes movement more difficult and increases spinal curvature and bad posture, reducing the person's height.
I personally have examined hundred's of photos of Andre, from early in his career to late in his career, and based on that analysis, i believe his peak height was around 7'0.5" to 7'1.5", and most likely closer to 7'0.5" tall. he was definately around 6'10' at the time of his death, due to his disease Acromegaly taking its toll on his body, combined with the spine fusion surgeries he had. It would be nice if the creators of this website can visit the debate over on the www.celebheights.com forum, as the thread has had many thousands of posters, and do some research into his medical records to settle this once and for all for the Andre fans around the world. we would not think any less of him, since he is the ONE TRUE GIANT OF WRESTLING.
The argument over Andre's true height continues:
http://www.celebheights.com/s/Andre-The-Giant-2039.html
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