Demolition Smash Recalls Experiences Working With WWE Icon Andre The Giant

Andre the Giant was one of the biggest stars in wrestling during the 1970s and '80s, and someone that his fellow professional wrestlers respected. However, Demolition Smash admitted that Andre was and wasn't seen as a locker room leader at the time. "Andre was kind of quiet about it, he wasn't a real leader of the dressing room, but anything he said everybody would do," Smash told "Wrestling Shoot Interviews." "There were other people that were spokespeople, Andre wasn't. But what Andre said, everybody did, let's put it that way."

Being a locker room leader is often a position that is given to talent, with The Undertaker being a famous example, and while Andre might not have taken on that moniker, the fact others did as he said showcases the respect he had from his peers. Considering Andre was such a larger-than-life character in wrestling it is easy to imagine that he was that way backstage. While that wasn't the case, it didn't mean that Andre was someone people weren't sure about, as Smash confirmed that the WWE Hall Of Famer was a really good guy in real life.

"I played a lot of cribbage with him," he said. "Andre didn't trust a lot of people because people would use him, so he only had that certain amount of friends. He would definitely do anything for his friends, he was a lot of fun to be around. Wrestling him, thank god I was friends with him otherwise he would have torn me up too, you know? But, a really good guy to be around, a lot of fun."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Wrestling Shoot Interviews" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.