Long before professional wrestling was dominated by weekly television drama and scripted rivalries, it was built on legends —larger-than-life figures who helped carry the business on their broad shoulders. Andre the Giant was one such character in the WWE, who is remembered as the most iconic wrestler to have ever stepped into the WWE ring.
However, a rather unfortunate story in his long and decorated career is often forgotten by the wrestling community. And for a veteran like Andre the Giant, it was a matter of life and death when he once went out of the United States for a wrestling match.
The tale of Saddam Hussein’s threat to murder Andre the Giant
The year was 1970. Saddam Hussein, who was then the deputy to the President of Iraq, was passionate about professional wrestling. However, there was one problem: he had only seen it on television and wanted to bring the sport to Iraq. That is when he remembered his childhood friend Adnan Al-Kaissie.
Saddam and Adnan had gone to school together as youngsters. The friendship had blossomed beyond school, where they would go to a local coffee shop together, watch TV together, and play games.
However, Saddam soon changed schools, and Adnan, after completing his early years of education, moved to Oklahoma State University for further studies. Life changed course for these childhood friends. Adnan decided to pursue wrestling as a profession, while Saddam was more inclined towards politics. Nevertheless, the latter watched wrestling with great enthusiasm.
So, for Saddam, who better to call to set up a professional wrestling match than his childhood friend? Adnan began bringing wrestlers from the West to Iraq for wrestling events he was organizing at that time, and among them was a young, gigantic wrestler named Andre Roussimoff, the man who would later become the iconic wrestler Andre the Giant.
In late 1970, the stage was all set for an emphatic contest between Adnan Al-Kaissie and Andre Roussimoff. In a jam-packed Al-Sha’ab Stadium, Baghdad, full of Iraqi soldiers with their rifles, the two wrestlers were supposed to outperform each other and win in a best-of-three-falls match.
However, Adnan was shocked when he realised that Saddam Hussein had thought all along that professional wrestling was real. Recalling the incident in the book Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America by Abraham Josephine Riesman, Adnan shared the fear that was instilled in him after what Saddam said to him before the match. Adnan recalled Saddam saying:
“Be victorious, Adnan. We are all counting on you. Be victorious. This guy is big, but he is a pu**y. I know that you can beat him. If he hurts you in any way, he is going to get this.”
Saddam then pointed towards a holstered gold pistol tucked in his coat. Almost immediately, Adnan understood what it meant and went ahead with the contest, puzzled and scared for his life and that of his opponent.
Andre the Giant knowingly lost the match to save his life
By then, Adnan had realised that he was now stuck in a precarious situation and bringing Andre in Iraq was turning out to be a crappy idea. Saddam would murder Andre if he won, and afraid of the consequences, Adnan told his opponent about everything, and the two wrestlers consciously decided that Adnan would have to win unanimously to save both their lives.
The match, which was earlier decided to have gone 2-1 in Adnan’s favour, instead went 2-0 his way because Adnan was scared that if Andre scored even a single point in the match, Saddam would not take it graciously and murder him as a result.
The stadium erupted in cheers and sounds of bullets fired in the air by Iraqi soldiers, celebrating the victory of their countrymen. Andre, almost startled by what was happening, immediately rushed out of the ring, thinking one of the bullets might, intentionally or otherwise, hit him. The young wrestler got out of Iraq that same day and went on to become one of the most iconic wrestlers of all time in the WWE.
Adnan also had a successful career in professional wrestling. After some success with other brands like New Japan Pro Wrestling and the AWA, he came to the WWE and even became a World Tag Team Champion.
Fans remember him to this day for his remarkable performance at the 1991 SummerSlam, where he, along with Iron Sheik and Sgt. Mustafa, collectively known as the Triangle of Terror, went on to face the combined forces of The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan.
While both Andre the Giant and Adnan Al-Kaissie went on to enjoy successful careers in professional wrestling, it’s easy to imagine how differently things might have turned out had Andre come out on top in their early encounter. That single match could have changed the course of their careers entirely.
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