Author: Sometimes things don’t go as planned come bell time. Take, for instance, the time Andre the Giant and Akira Maeda met in Japan in May of ’86.
On one side of the ring, you had a giant who showed up to the venue drunker than usual, and on the other, a man who was building a reputation of someone hard to do business with if things didn’t go the way he thought they should.
Having these two in the ring together created a possibility for volatility, and much like a forest fire, it only needed a spark.
Andre the Giant and Akira Maeda – What Really Happened
One thing about the business that captures the attention of many wrestling fans is that sometimes things could go wrong and might not seem the way they’re supposed to. When the train goes off the rails, not only do accidents occur, history gets made.
Let’s turn the clock back to the spring of ’86 and talk about an altercation that occurred in a New Japan Pro Wrestling ring between who Gorilla Monsoon dubbed the immovable object, and a rising shoot fighter growing in the Japanese ranks.
Who Was Akira Maeda?
Working for a short while in Great Britain under the name Kwik Kik-Lee, it was during his time at the Japanese Universal Wrestling Federation where Akira Maeda began to stand out as an adept shoot wrestler and mat technician.
His reputation became one of great pride and little patience.
Andre the Giant at this Time of His Career
Andre the Giant was in the latter part of his career and in significant pain, so alcohol was his vice. That said, he did not take disrespect to the business lightly.
What started as a disagreement between NJPW owner Antonio Inoki and Maeda a few months prior over an angle that Maeda refused to work led to what occurred in the ring with Andre.
Maeda himself was nurturing a reputation of someone hard to do business with if things didn’t go the way he thought they should.
He looked at himself as a wrestling purist and wanted to keep everything between those ropes as real as possible.
Andre the Giant Shows Up Drunk to the Match
When Andre showed up to the Hiroshima Perfectual Gymnasium a little drunker than usual, Inoki saw his chance to take advantage of the situation by putting into Andre’s ear that he wanted Maeda “straightened out.”
While we do not know if Maeda got wind of what was going to happen, it is apparent from available footage that early on in the match, he knew things weren’t going to go the way they were supposed to.
Maeda was never able to get the full finish to the match from Andre before bell time, and he was unsure whether or not Andre was going to put him over (or allow him to win).
According to wrestling folklore, Andre would only sometimes let the finish of his matches be known before it was time to go in the ring, but only to wrestlers who had earned his respect.
On this night, Andre had something in mind which led Maeda to going into business for himself.
When an Andre the Giant Wrestling Match Turned into a Shoot
As Andre the Giant stumbled and lumbered around the ring, Akira Maeda grew increasingly incensed by the situation.
Quicker and more agile than The Giant, he was able to elude the big mauling grasps, and even double-leg the big man to the mat several times.
As each man grew angrier, the match continued to fall apart.
Referee Frenchy Bernard Loses Control of the Match
Frenchy Bernard, who often was the referee for Andre’s matches and traveled with him whenever he was working overseas, had lost control at this point.
Maeda had taken Andre to the mat and placed a variety of submission holds on him but the big giant would not cooperate.
It was then that Maeda decided to start leveling strong shin kicks to Andre’s thighs and knees.
With each slap that rang out through the arena, you could see the grimace on Andre’s face as the pain shot up to his thighs.
If there is one constant in the fight game, it’s that any time somebody is bigger than you, you can always take them out at the knees — which is precisely what Maeda intended to do.
Andre the Giant Lays Down in the Ring
While Andre the Giant began to succumb to the pain, his patience also began to deteriorate. With each missed grasp at his opponent, he grew more frustrated with the situation, until finally he just laid down in the ring and motioned for Maeda to pin him.
Doing so fueled Maeda’s anger even further as he looked outside to the New Japan official with bewilderment.
The Match is Left in a Cloud of Confusion
Finally, amongst this chaos, Inoki made his way to the ring to try and possibly salvage, if he could at this point, some semblance of a match or at least a distinct undeniable finish.
Inoki’s arrival achieved the exact opposite effect. When Maeda saw Inoki on the ring apron, he came apart, climbing out of the ring in disgust, and taking his frustrations out on an innocent metal barricade at ringside before walking to the back.
The entire match was left in a cloud of confusion.
The Fallout
Following the cluster of a match with Andre the Giant, Akira Maeda left New Japan to go back to the UWF and forge forward with the brand created on real wrestling and less on big card pageantry.
For Andre, this was a period shortly after WrestleMania II. He would soon return to WWF as a heel after leaving as maybe one of the biggest babyfaces in the history of the company.
It would start his run toward the title at WrestleMania III with Bobby Heenan at his side and Hulk Hogan firmly in his sights.
The fallout for Inoki was negligible, as New Japan Pro Wrestling continued to grow in the shadow of this incident. Needless to say, there would be no growing friendship between himself and Maeda in future business endeavors.
Other Notable Andre the Giant Stories
It’s hard to imagine a wrestler more memorable or larger than life than Andre the Giant.
From stories of brute strength, drinking prowess, and clearing out elevators with his farts in Japan, “The Eighth Wonder of the World” captivated people wherever he went.
Andre the Giant Documentary – 12 Things Learned (And Facts Left Out!)
Mean Gene Okerlund on Seeing Andre the Giant Cry
“Andre the Giant was a delight. Great memories. I got to know him well,” the late great WWE announcer Gene Okerlund once remembered.
“We had a couple of things in common: we liked good food, we liked good wine, we liked to play cribbage, and we liked to play Gin Rummy. When you’re spending a week or ten days at a crack on the road with these guys in your off-time, what are you doing? You’re drinking. You’re eating. You’re playing Gin Rummy.
“I was sitting on a plane coming from Denver, going to Minneapolis. He sat up in First Class; I sat in the back of the plane. He said, ‘Boss, you’re sitting up here with me.’
“We sat down, and he ordered himself a Bloody Mary – it was an 8 am flight, by the way. He had to have the ‘eye-opener’ – and he said, ‘You know, people think that I have a great life…that I can travel all over and everything…but I see them when they point at me…little kids laugh and say, what kind of a man is he?’
“I saw him cry. He was a very sensitive man. Nobody realizes this…”
Read further: Andre the Giant – 16 Unforgettable Tales Told By His Friends
Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant: Secret History Behind Feud
Although Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant forever changed the professional wrestling landscape at WrestleMania 3 in front of a reported 93,173 screaming fans, it was certainly not their first rodeo.
Outside of the ring, Andre made it quite difficult for Hulk Hogan.
Learn the true story of their legendary 8-year feud.
Unforgettable Andre the Giant Encounters with Fans
We asked our loyal readers what it was like to have met Ande the Giant, and you sure didn’t disappoint! These stories show a whole different side of the 8th Wonder of the World.
Read: Andre The Giant: Unforgettable Encounters with Fans
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