Deep Dive on the Andre 87 Belt!

History of the real belt:

Genesis:
Andre and Hogan sat across from each other, eyes locked. Years of friendship had eroded after the shocking turn of events only a few weeks prior. Manager extraordinaire, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan insisted that a new belt be created "to fit a giant of a man" at the contract signing for the main event of Wrestlemania III. The tension in the room was palpable to say the least.


Debut(s):
It is unknown when exactly the Andre 87 Belt was created. It is possible that the belt had been designed prior to the conception of the Andre angle. If that were the case, it wouldn't take much time to create a larger strap for the likes of Andre The Giant. What is known is that iconic belt maker Reggie Parks created the Andre 87 design. More on that later.

-The True Debut-
On March 10, 1987, the WWF filmed a set of TV tapings at the sold out Hara Arena in Dayton, OH. It was here that the Andre 87 Belt was first seen by the eyes of the public. Jack "on the take" Tunney awkwardly revealed the massive championship belt to the 8,000 fans on hand. The crowd began to boo even before the Rowdy one was able to put it on full display. The materialization of a real belt instilled fear in the Hulkamaniacs. They wouldn't create a new belt unless Andre was going to win it, right? The fear of Hogan losing became very real to many. Piper hoisted it high in the air before setting it back onto the table in front of him. Enter Bobby Heenan and Andre The Giant. The uncrowned champion momentarily puts the newly created belt around his waist but ultimately decides to sling it over his left shoulder. Despite the massive size of the belt, Andre still manages to make it appear small.


The belt is undoubtedly larger than most. Here is a size comparison (using replicas) illustrating the difference between the belt that came before the Andre 87 and the belt that was to come after the Andre 87


What is interesting about the debut segment is that it did not air until one week prior to Wrestlemania which leads us to...

-The Television Debut-
In the clip below, Host Bobby Heenan and sidekick Gorilla Monsoon discuss the belt on the March 16th edition of WWF Prime Time. This would be the first time the majority of the WWF audience would have seen the Andre 87 Belt.


But wait, theres more...

-The Second Debut-
One day after the Andre 87 Belt was unveiled for the first time, the World Wrestling Federation ran a show in nearby Columbus, OH. Another 8,000 fans packed the Ohio Center and would bear witness not only to the Andre 87 but to Hulk Hogan dismissing the validity of the belt on The Snake Pit. This episode would air on March 22nd - exactly one week before Wrestlemania III - and it would be the last time anyone would see or hear about the Andre 87 Belt...sort of.


The End(?):
Seconds before delivering the iconic line "The irresistible force meets the immovable object", Gorilla Monsoon claims "This is the final time, Jess, win, lose, or draw, for the Hulkster to wear that particular belt into the ring."
(I used to have the clip but can’t find one at this time)

Despite Monsoon's statement, Hogan continued using the same belt he had been using since late 1985 (dubbed "The Hogan 86").

In late 1987, the AWA held a tournament for the International TV title. The belt made for them used the same design as the Andre 87 with minimal changes (most notable is the reduced size of the strap).



The inaugural champion would be Greg Gagne who would also be the final champion as the belt was retired less than two years later. Below is an AWA International TV Title Match featuring champion Greg Gagne taking on Curt Hennig. The belt is seen being used as a weapon towards the end of the footage.
Edit: YouTube took the clip down

The Andre 87 briefly found new life thanks to the cinematic classic No Holds Barred.



The belt was re-leathered using a shorter white strap. Andre 87 can be seen for just a brief moment in one single scene (something I did not learn until researching this) as well as in some of the promotional information:






For reasons unknown, the decision was made to primarily use the Winged Eagle belt (the current WWF World Heavyweight Championship belt at that time) on a white strap.


In the early 90's, the white strap Andre 87 was eventually donated to Planet Hollywood in Florida by Vince McMahon himself. That is Andre 87's last known whereabouts. Planet Hollywood eventually went out of business. The belt is said to be in a box somewhere in storage but to this day, no one knows for sure.




Legacy:
Many years later, a private collector requested to get a copy made by Reggie Parks. It took him a while to find the original artwork for the Andre 87 but eventually a replica was produced for the reported sum of $3,500. It is unknown how many official copies are out there.





Not too long after that first order, WWF/WWE’s replica belt licensee at that time joined in by creating more affordable (lower quality) copies of the Andre 87 Belt. For some this renewed interest in the belt and helped to create a new interest for others (such as myself). These belts became rare and go for a decent little chunk of change these days!



Today you can buy a very similar version from Fandu belts. There aren’t any company logos and the artwork is slightly off. That said, the quality exceeds that of any standard WWEShop replica I have ever seen.





www.fandubelts.com/product-page/dual-andre-87-heavyweight-championship-belt

Wow very thorough - I learned a lot! Never knew this belt had so much history attached to it. What a great post!

Good read. Thanks for posting!

Awesome thread. I learned a lot from this and now I want to buy some classic belts lol

Thanks for this, much love

This is an unprecedented display of strength and determination.

We salute you.

Interesting read regarding the Andre '87 belt and thanks for compiling the information. 👍

Fun read. Thanks

Thank you to everyone for the kind words. Sorry to bump this thread but I was excited to see WWE has finally released a replica version for the first time in around 20 years!

shop.wwe.com/en/andre-the-giant-world-heavyweight-championship-replica-title-belt/p-83230639572191+z-809-206660370?_ref=p-DLP:m-GRID:i-r0c0:po-0