Bushwhacker Luke Reflects On His Relationship With Andre The Giant
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On Tuesday's edition of SiriusXM's "Busted Open Radio," hosts Dave LaGreca and Bully Ray welcomed WWE Hall of Famer Luke Williams of The Bushwhackers, who was there to promote the new book he wrote with longtime tag team partner Butch Miller, titled "The Bushwhackers: Blood, Sweat & Cheers."
With prompting from the hosts, the topic turned to his and Butch's relationship with Andre the Giant, who they knew not just from the WWF, but also their time as heels in Montreal, when they and Andre were getting their start in North America.
"When we first came to Montreal, we worked with him and Édouard Carpentier," explained Williams. "The promotion was owned by the two Vachons and Édouard Carpentier, the flying Frenchman, who was a big name in Madison Square Garden [in the] late '50s and all [throughout] the '60s. He drew big houses there. He was Andre's partner in the tag matches, and we worked a lot of tag matches with Andre. We even went up eight hours north of Montreal, right up the north of Canada, and worked with Andre and Dominic DeNucci. We traveled with Andre up there [with] his manager, and traveled back [with them]. So we'd been around Andre close[ly] for a long time."
The Bushwhackers' friendship with Andre the Giant
After barnstorming across the world for decades as violent heels using names like The Kiwis, Los Pastores, and The Sheepherders, Butch Miller and Luke Williams went to the WWF as cuddly babyfaces, calling themselves The Bushwhackers at the end of 1988.
There, they renewed their relationship with Andre the Giant, where they got to witness some of the more famous examples of wrestlers who raised his ire.
"If you were on his bad side and you were working with him, when you came back from the ring, you could see his imprints on your chest," he recalled."From that big hand to that open chop. Jake [Roberts] and him didn't get on; I guess you've heard stories. Of course, he never got along with the Ultimate Warrior. The Warrior wasn't for the business, he was for the body, you know what I mean? And he treated the fans bad[ly], too. The fans would come up to him, ask for his autograph, and he'd tell them to 'eff off.' That's how Jim was. But Andre, hey, Andre had a good heart. If he loved you, he took great care of you."
The duo worked with Andre the Giant a long time before they made their way to WWF as Andre wrestled in New Zealand in the '60s, and they have quite a few interesting stories during the time they spent with the late star.