Brian Damage
The If Factor is a series of articles that features real scenarios in pro wrestling that, at one point or another, were suggested, planned, and considered but did not get the green light to continue. What would the landscape of professional wrestling look like if these ideas came to fruition?
The If: Andre wins the 1991 Royal Rumble
As the 1991 Royal Rumble pay per view approached, Andre the Giant was announced as the very first participant to enter that match. While Andre was the first wrestler to be announced, he never actually competed in the match. Was it a classic case of a promoter doing the old “Bait and Switch” routine? Hardly. Vince McMahon and the WWF had big plans for Andre at that particular event.
According to WWE executive Bruce Prichard, Andre was scheduled to win the match. Keep in mind, this was before the match became a number 1 contender’s affair. It was simply a match for bragging rights. At this point in Andre’s career, he was broken and could barely walk let alone wrestle much. The writing was on the wall that the Eighth Wonder of the World’s legendary career was winding down. Vince McMahon wanted to give one of his top attractions a big sendoff. What better way to do that than winning the Royal Rumble? Andre was always known as the master of battle royals and Vince believed that the Rumble was the perfect ending to his career.
The problem was, according to Prichard…Andre was in such terrible shape physically that any length of time in the ring wasn’t possible. Vince wanted to book Andre as the number 30 participant, making his time limited, but even that was just not feasible at that point. The walk to the ring alone would be a challenge, that is how bad his body was then. So without any way to make Andre’s involvement possible, the Royal Rumble was changed to Hulk Hogan winning it all.
Vince would have a swan song for Andre in the Summer of that year. It was just a shame that the original plan didn’t work out.
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