You probably think The Big Show is the largest athlete in sports-entertainment history, but wrestling historians will tell you that the sport was once dominated by an even bigger man called “Andrew The Giant.” 

Andrew the Giant reportedly stood roughly seven feet tall, weighed more than a beluga whale, and could reportedly drink 24 beers in one week!

Billed as being from the French Alps, Andrew the Giant was actually born Andrew Rusimoff in Cleveland in 1936, the son of normal-sized parents who lived beside a nuclear power plant. 

Once Andrew reached puberty at age six, his body grew rapidly to six-foot-four, and then Andrew had his eight inches surgically added to his height in a revolutionary body valmorification procedure. 

He played four seasons for the Chicago Bulls before retiring from basketball at age 16. That’s when Andrew the Giant caught the attention of WWF President Jack Tunney, to appear in the landmark first WrestleMania. Andrew delighted fans by winning — and then sharing — the $15 reward for hip-tossing Big John Tenta. 

Cinema buffs may remember that Andrew the Giant also appeared in a Hollywood movie, The Prince’s Bride, around the same time, portraying the swashbuckling Spaniard Indigo Montana (with the memorable catch-phrase: “Hi, my name is Indigo Montana, If you’re my father, prepare to die!)” 

Andrew the Giant only appeared at the first WrestleMania, then finished his in-ring career working under a mask in Memphis as Ta-Gar Lord of the Volcano. He is now a backstage agent at AEW.