I saw him in the first really big show they did in the Superdome, about 40,000 in the place around '79 or '80. Some of my school buddies and I shelled out the big bucks for the "Golden Circle" tickets; 5th row. Orndorff was a mid-level draw. Big matches in that one were JYD vs Michael Hayes in a cage match (Hayes had blinded the Dog a couple of weeks earlier; Dog rassled with his eyes patched and they were chained together), Freebirds vs Dusty Rhodes/Buck Robley in a double bullrope match, DiBiase vs Mr. Wrestling II. Andre the Giant wrestled a relative unknown at the time named Hulk Hogan.
Michael PS Hayes and The Freebirds were the first stable of heels that I rooted for back in the day. I got into rasslin as a yungin watching with my 90 year old great grandmother. She loved it and was a huge Hayes fan.
about 1980 +/- after watching 'rassling' at the blackham coliseum, i saw Andre the Giant exit the building and he truly looked like a giant to me. And when he and another big wrestler (maybe Dusty Rhodes?) sat in their car it turned into the first low rider i ever saw. They looked pretty cool driving away - that kinda scene was probably the inspiration for 'low riding' i thought years later.
Yep, one of the things I remember about that Superdome show was Andre's entrance. Hogan was already in the ring and he was a BIG man. Then I looked over to the arena entrance and saw Andre's head above the crowd, and my first thought was, "Why are they carrying him?" Of course, he was walking. Really was a giant.
Sad day, one of my first live shows and probably 3 of my first ten. Those boys threw it down in the 70's. Didn't always have those beards either. Dusty always did but Billy only got his after they disappeared for a few years. Here is a very old and crude early recording.
J.R. Richard dead at 71 Says he was from Vienna, La. I just remember him having great stuff! https://www.fox23.com/news/trending...r-richard-dead-71/OWHJTP46IVA2ROOLNYZJO2LLKY/
