Cedar Rapids Police Recall Andre The Giant Incident Thirty Years Later

Any wrestler of a certain era will have stories to tell regarding one of wrestling’s biggest characters, Andre The Giant. Many were told in HBO’s well-received Andre documentary, while others live on as fan stories and fodder for list videos. One particular story made the rounds again, as the Cedar Rapids Gazette looked back on an incident involving the Eighth Wonder of the World that took place right in their backyard.

Officer Dave Zahner was on duty at the Five Seasons Center in August of 1989. Andre was booked that night in a squash match against The Ultimate Warrior, with Warrior defeating the Giant in short order. A TV cameraman was filming for a piece about fans who like the sport despite its predetermined results. The WWF gave him permission to record the event, but the ring announcer warned him not to touch the main event.

The cameraman recorded Andre’s entrance and the bell is rung, but the squash was over so quickly that he couldn’t put his equipment away. That was when Andre struck, trying to grab the camera away from the newsman. He ended up slapping the journalist upside the head, breaking the camera in the process. The police separated the two, and Officer Zahner was faced with the task of arresting a 7-foot-4, 520-pound man.

You don’t know what’s for show and what’s not. But it was definitely a shove, definitely an assault and he definitely did some damage to the camera.

The article continues to chronicle the story, including using a pair of leg shackles rather than traditional handcuffs and the legal proceedings that resulted from the encounter. A news broadcast from the incident is included below:

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