If you are a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Andre the Giant, or regularly follow the world of bodybuilding and WWE, you must have seen photos of the 7-time Mr. Olympia and the WWE giant together, flexing their friendship. However, do you know how the Austrian oak and the French wrestler became friends? Let's discuss.

The two legends became friends while filming the movie Conan the Barbarian in 1984. In that movie, Andre played a Dagoth, and Schwarzenegger played the lead.

Their friendship grew strong in Mexico City through shared dinners and mutual respect for their respective fame and physical power.

One famous instance that shows how their friendship grew over time comes from a restaurant situation.

During the filming of the movie, Andre, Schwarzenegger and Wilt Chamberlain, an American basketball player who played the role of Bombata, often went to restaurants for dinner. While having their dinner, there were times when Andre and Chamberlain would joke about who could make the bodybuilding legend look smaller.

Apart from that, the WWE star is also very generous and often wants to pay the dinner bill. However, one day, Schwarzenegger planned to pay the bill. So he asked the restaurant staff to take his card and ignore his friends if they wanted to pay.

So, when the WWE giant saw that Schwarzenegger was paying the bill, he decided to lift the 7-time Mr. Olympia. Within a second, Andre, along with the basketball star, picked Schwarzenegger up like a child and carried him out of the restaurant, and then paid the bill.

Later, in the Andre the Giant documentary, Schwarzenegger opened up about the situation with pure joy and embarrassment because that day he felt “like a doll.”

Their friendship was not limited to Conan or restaurants; they also share a WWE HoF position.

Andre The Giant and Arnold Schwarzenegger are in the WWE HoF

Apart from the bill-paying instance, Schwarzenegger and Andre also share a place in the WWE HoF.

It is important to note that in 1993, the HoF was created in WWE to honor the giant Frenchman.

Vince McMahon, a former WWE legend, created the division after Andre's death and stated it was to honor the legends.

Although the bodybuilding legend appeared very few times in wrestling promotions, in 2015, he was given respect in the celebrity division.

One of Schwarzenegger's memorable appearances in the wrestling world occurred in 1999, when he defeated Triple H.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil