Bruce Prichard says there was regret from Vince McMahon over the way his friendship with Andre The Giant ended

Bruce Prichard was asked if Vince McMahon already had the idea to start the Hall of Fame before Andre passed away and if Andre lived longer, would he still have been the first-ever inductee. Prichard said,“At that time, we had been talking about doing a Hall of Fame. It was unfortunate, Andre’s passing, but I think that kind of sped it up because if there was ever anybody that was worthy of being the first inductee into the Hall of Fame, it was Andre The Giant.”

Who came up with the name Colossal Connection for Andre and Haku and why was Haku chosen to be Andre’s partner? Prichard said, “They liked each other first of all. Andre and Haku really liked each other personally. They were both part of the Bobby Heenan Family. I think it was Howard Finkel that came up with Colossal Connection.”

How did Vince McMahon take the news of Andre the Giant’s passing? Prichard said, “Vince took it hard. Vince and Andre were the same age and had birthdays that were fairly close together. Vince considered Andre one of his best friends and really hated the falling out that they had. I think there was a little bit of regret that hadn’t been completely rectified and he didn’t have the opportunity to say goodbye to his friend.”

Vince McMahon was asked about Andre’s passing during the filming of the Andre The Giant documentary for HBO. As you can see in the video below, McMahon got emotional when talking about Andre’s passing and he appeared to have regret over the way their friendship ended. The story is that their friendship ended when Andre showed up on TBS for a 20th anniversary special.

If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard with a h/t to PWrestling.com for the transcription.