Few WWE Superstars were ever as larger than life in every sense of the phrase as Andre the Giant. Born as André René Roussimoff, his charisma was as huge as his stature and his presence defined the word aura, as they say nowadays. When Andre walked into a room, the world stopped to take notice of him.

By proxy, when he ed away at age 46 on January 28, 1993, the world stopped to mourn the Eighth Wonder of the World. In his death, the native Frenchman left behind a legacy of iconic moments and matches, all of which are deserving of a spotlight. In his memory, this list hopes to balance out his five best matches worth talking about and his five best moments, both those in WWE and outside of the company.

10 Becoming the WWE Champion

Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan on The Main Event, February 5, 1988

Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan for the World Title at WrestleMania III is a staple of WWE history, but few people the televised rematch just under a year later. Fans were glued to their television screens for The Main Event, a spin-off of Saturday Night's Main Event. However, no one was prepared for the shocking ending.

A sudden fast count from referee Dave Hebner (which turned out to be his debuting twin brother, Earl, paid off by the Million Dollar Corporation) in spite of Hogan kicking out earns Andre his only WWE Championship win. Granted, within two minutes, he was paid off to surrender it to Ted Dibiase, making it the shortest reign in the title’s history, but the accolade is nonetheless worth praising.

9 Andre the Giant vs. King Kong Bundy

WWF at MSG 1985

The match with King Kong Bundy would be higher had it not had the asterisk of a non-finish (spoiler alert: Andre wins by DQ), but it’s everything around and prior to the finish that makes this special. This happens on the road to WrestleMania II, where Bundy was set to face Hogan for the WWE Title inside a steel cage. To make him look strong, he’s booked to face the Eighth Wonder of the World, and you can’t get much stronger than that.

This is Andre in his babyface prime, completely engulfed in the adulation of the crowd, already enamored by the spectacle of big meaty men slapping meat, but they are truly on fire for Andre. His heel work against Hogan is what everyone re, but this is a great representation of just how beloved Andre was in his heyday as he is ready to put over the next big thing.

8 Andre the Giant Is WWE's First-Ever Sole Survivor

WWE Survivor Series 1987

Survivor Series 1987 marked the inaugural event for the Thanksgiving season PPV, with the main event being among the first traditional five-on-five elimination-style tag team matches to take place. It was Team Andre vs Team Hogan. Andre’s team consisted of Butch Reed, King Kong Bundy, One Man Gang, and Ravishing Rick Rude. Hogan, meanwhile, was able to recruit Bam Bam Bigelow, Don Muraco, Ken Patera, and Paul Orndoff.

The match boiled down to Andre last eliminating Bam Bam to become the first lone survivor in Survivor Series history. This would become an accolade shared with the likes of future superstars like Roman Reigns, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, and Randy Orton, who would have some of his best matches at Survivor Series. That being said, there could only be one first-ever, and Andre holds that accolade.

7 Andre the Giant vs. Antonio Inoki

New Japan Pro Wrestling, June 17, 1986

A list of Andre's best matches and moments is incomplete without including something with his best opponent, NJPW founder Antonio Inoki. Some would argue the distinction of Andre's best opponent should go to Hulk Hogan, but there was no one who Andre wrestled as frequently - and on such a consistent level of quality - as Antonio Inoki. Between 1974 and 1986, the pairing wrestled 21 times in singles action, and even more if readers were to count tag team bouts.

These two have never had a bad match against each other, so theoretically, any of their matches deserves this spot. Their June 17, 1986 bout, though, is one that arguably stands out the most because it's a rare submission loss for Andre the Giant, someone who tapped out as infrequently as The Undertaker in his matches.

6 Andre Wins Big John Studd's $15,000 Body Slam Challenge

WrestleMania I

Andre the Giant holds the distinction of not only being the first Sole Survivor but of holding one of the first WrestleMania moments. There are plenty of matches that hold a special place in the hearts of those lucky enough to witness WrestleMania, but it’s moments like this one that leave an everlasting impression.

Andre has such a moment at the first WrestleMania, where he did the unthinkable, body slamming Big John Studd in his body slam challenge, winning $15,000 of Bobby Heenan’s money. To the delight of the crowd, he throws it to the audience in a feel-good moment. A WrestleMania moment is something that every wrestler wants and every fan loves to see from their favorite stars. This being among the first set the tone for what makes a WrestleMania moment special.

5 Andre the Giant vs. Strong Kobayashi

IWE the 4th IWA World Series - Tag 34, May 6, 1972

It’s a shame that most of Andre’s best matches and moments happen outside his prime. By the time that Andre would reach the accolades and achievements discussed in this list thus far, his ailing body was starting to fail him as he struggled to move the older he got. Modern fans who never watched Andre when he was younger tend to assume that was just his natural movement as a man of that gigantic stature, but no. In his prime, Andre was deceptively agile and shockingly quick.

That deceptive speed and agility are on full display in a rare gem of a match outside WWE, where he faced Strong Kobayashi in IWE. For almost 40 minutes, the action is as fast-paced as a cruiserweight bout, but it’s between two athletes who are literally larger than life.

4 Andre the Giant Turns Babyface Again

WrestleMania VI

Near the end of his career, Andre the Giant was afforded at least one last proper sendoff to ride into the sunset. The stage was WrestleMania VI, where Andre and Haku of Bobby Heenan’s Colossal Connection defended the WWE Tag Team Championship against Demolition. When they lost those titles, despite Haku being pinned, Heenan blames and slaps Andre at the end of the contest.

The moment that Andre grabs Bobby "The Brain" is met with an immediate roar from the crowd, who waited for years to find a reason to cheer Andre again. The Giant retaliating against Heenan and Haku to thunderous applause marked his first face turn in three years. He'd mostly work exclusively at house shows and in All Japan Wrestling after the fact, so this gave Andre one final TV moment to ride off into the sunset as the beloved face he came in as.

3 Andre the Giant vs. Stan Hansen

NJPW Bloody Fight Series 1981

A good argument can be made for this match with Stan Hansen being Andre’s best match of his entire career. In old-school wrestling circles, the match is praised to this very day as a classic. What gives it its stature is that both Andre and Hansen reached truly iconic status in Japan, and seeing them collide was a rare treat. Former WWE manager Jim Cornette even did an analysis and commentary about the match.

It’s easy to see why the match is praised so highly over 40 years after it first took place. It’s not often that old-school matches outside of WWE maintain such a lasting legacy in Western cultures, but that’s just a testament to how good Hansen vs. Andre is. It's just two guys beating the ever-loving tar out of each other, clobbering each other one blow after another.

2 Andre the Giant Turns Heel and s Bobby the Brain Heenan

The Iconic Set Up of Andre vs. Hogan at WrestleMania III

This is by far the most shocking moment of Andre the Giant’s WWE career. Sure, with modern eyes, it’s easy to see where Andre’s gripe was. Beyond jealousy, it’s certainly questionable for his 15-year undefeated streak to have little fanfare and a smaller trophy while his best friend’s three-year title reign receives a massive prize. Andre was the first man to congratulate Hogan when he won the WWE Championship in one of WWE's best promos, but now he was becoming visibly, uncharacteristically frustrated with the champ.

This is a match that Vince McMahon wanted to consolidate Hogan as the top star in his company, and who better to the torch than the company's first true "attraction"? There was a time when Andre was as ired by fans as Hogan was, if not more so. To see him form an alliance with the dastardly Bobby Heenan in hopes of vanquishing his so-called friend’s title run was an unthinkable sight for fans at the time. Hogan's tears may have not been real when Andre ripped his crucifix, but those of fans in attendance surely were.

1 Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan - WWE Championship

WrestleMania III

It would be very hard to justify not including as Andre's most iconic moment the biggest match possible on the biggest stage possible, which created a legacy as possibly the most important match in wrestling history. It's the Irresistible Force meeting the Immovable Object. Everything from the visuals, the atmosphere, commentary, storytelling, the electric crowd - all lives in wrestling history as the stuff of legends.

Hogan slamming Andre obviously has merit as an iconic moment, but it’s the match as a whole that made it special. The way the match built to the slam posed the question if Hogan was capable of lifting the Giant off his feet, let alone defeating him. For modern fans this may look like a boring old-school match, with Andre who could barely move at the time, but the atmosphere and the emotion of the crowd in that moment are probably still unmatched. The effective storytelling is what made this one of the best moments in WWE history and in Andre the Giant’s career.