Cedar Rapids police arrested professional wrestling superstar Andre the Giant on August 21, 1989, after an altercation with a cameraman at the Five Seasons Center. The 7-foot-4, 500-pound wrestler, whose real name is André René Roussimoff, was charged with assault and criminal mischief following the incident.
Witnesses say tensions flared when a cameraman continued filming despite André’s objections. What began as a heated exchange reportedly turned physical, ending with damage to the man’s equipment. Officers responding to the scene took the wrestler into custody without further incident.
For fans, the arrest was a reminder of the complicated life behind the persona known worldwide as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” Born in rural France in 1946, André suffered from acromegaly, a rare disorder that caused his extraordinary size but also brought chronic pain and health struggles. Despite these challenges, he became one of the biggest attractions in professional wrestling, captivating audiences across the globe and cementing his place in pop culture history.
While André’s size and fame made him larger than life inside the ring, friends and colleagues often described him as a soft-spoken, generous man outside it. Yet the pressures of constant public attention—and the physical toll of his condition—at times boiled over, as seen in Cedar Rapids.
