If you’ve been following the dissolution of the last remaining part of ESPN with a soul, you know that Sports Guy and former Editor-in-Chief of Grantland Bill Simmons is headed to HBO. He’ll be hosting his own talk show in 2016, consulting for HBO Sports and working with the head of HBO Sports in the “development of shows and documentary films for the network.” If your 30 for 30 sense tingled when you read that, you’re not alone, and you’re on the money.
Per Richard Johnson at Page Six, one of Simmons’ first projects with the premium cable provider will be a documentary from Jonathan Hock profiling the life and career of WWE Hall of Famer André the Giant.
You probably don’t need to know this if you’re clicking posts on a wrestling vertical, but André is one of pro wrestling’s biggest legends, figuratively and literally, and, thanks to appearances in everything from The Princess Bride to that one Honeycomb cereal commercial, a true pop culture icon. He was also a legitimately fascinating human being whose existence transcended the WrestleMania III bodyslam that defined a genre for decades.
With this happening so close to the Ric Flair 30 for 30, are we entering a new “Monday Night War” via prestigious documentaries? I just hope André’s doc features re-enactments so we can get Jason Segel to play him and film everyone else like the Hobbits in Lord of the Rings.
