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• Andre The Giant Was A Friend Of Both Vince McMahon And His Father

• Vince McMahon And Andre The Giant Didn't Always Get Along

• Vince McMahon Regretted Not Making Amends With Andre Before He Died

Vince McMahon always had his favorites. Shawn Michaels was his favorite in the 1990s. No matter the kind of trouble HBK stirred up, McMahon preferred him as champion and did all he could to protect him. In the 2000s, The Undertaker, a guy who had stuck by him through the best and the worst, became a close friend of McMahon. The boss left the building while WrestleMania 30 was still live so that he could accompany Mark Calaway to the hospital. That said, if Vince McMahon had an absolute favorite wrestler of all time, then that would be Andre the Giant.

RELATED: 5 Best Tag Team Partners Of Andre The Giant's Career (& 5 Worst)

The Eighth Wonder of the World is widely regarded as one of the greatest superstars of all time. He wasn’t a technical wizard or a master on the microphone but his physical charisma and overwhelming presence were all that he needed to become a massive box-office attraction. Andre was a draw in old WWE well before Vince took the helm.

Andre The Giant Was A Friend Of Both Vince McMahon And His Father

Vince McMahon Sr. pushed Andre as a top superstar. His son, Vince McMahon Jr., followed in his footsteps and treated Andre like wrestling royalty as well as a friend. Andre also shared a deep bond with Stephanie McMahon, the daughter of Vince McMahon. Stephanie once admitted in an interview that she grew up with Andre and regarded him as one of her best friends.

The bond between Stephanie and Andre was another big reason why Vince himself was so close to Andre. At the peak of the 80s wrestling boom, Hulk Hogan was the biggest superstar but Andre the Giant was Vince McMahon’s favorite employee and good friend. However, this friendship became strained towards the end of Andre’s career and was never truly amended, something that haunts Vince to this day.

Vince McMahon And Andre The Giant Didn't Always Get Along

Early on, there was some friction between Vince McMahon and Andre due to the travel schedule. Under Vince McMahon Sr., Andre was used to getting time off, but when Vince McMahon started booking for the company, he used Andre a lot more often. Not to mention, Andre was restricted to just one territory (WWE) and he wasn’t able to travel around the world and meet his friends. Supposedly, this little issue was handled, and the two carried on working together for the next couple of years.

Then, in the early 1990s, Andre was clearly past his prime, and while he performed from time to time, he was clearly in a lot of pain. Concerned for the well-being of his friend, Vince McMahon suggested to Andre that he should hang it up, which didn't make the giant happy. Despite his physical condition and deteriorating health, Andre still wanted to perform and this caused a big rift between McMahon and Andre.

RELATED: 10 Best Matches Of André The Giant's Career, Ranked

Andre then left WWE and in 1992 and went on to work for promotions in Japan and Mexico. The same year, Andre the Giant, the Eighth Wonder of the WWE, showed up on TBS, the television station of Vince’s sworn nemesis, Ted Turner. WCW was hosting Clash of Champions XX and Andre the Giant was a special guest. He was shown on camera and back at Stanford, Vince McMahon was very hurt. He felt betrayed by Andre and this led to the two not speaking to each other again.

Vince McMahon Regretted Not Making Amends With Andre Before He Died

Sadly, Andre passed away the next year due to congestive heart failure. Bruce Prichard, a long-time employee and a close associate of Vince McMahon revealed that his boss took the news pretty hard. Despite the differences, Vince McMahon considered Andre a friend and his death was a real blow to him. Prichard noted, that to this day, Vince McMahon is bothered by the fact that he could not mend his relationship with Andre, and that he was never able to say goodbye to his friend.

In the 2018 documentary titled Andre the Giant, Vince McMahon was interviewed, and for the first time on camera, the stoic and ruthless WWE boss was visibly emotional and even shed tears when he remembered Andre the Giant. He termed Andre as “special” and that says a lot.

The WWE Hall of Fame was opened up in the same year of 1993. Andre was the sole inductee of the inaugural class. Earlier this year, Vince sent out a tweet on Andre’s birthday, and he hailed his departed friend as a once-in-a-lifetime athlete. That he was.