There has been a tremendous amount of buzz surrounding Bill Simmons since he left ESPN for HBO and it has been revealed that his first project will have to do with a "sport" that his former company recently started embracing -- professional wrestling.
After 14 years at the "Worldwide Leader," Simmons' first project at HBO will be a documentary on Andre the Giant, according to the New York Post. The huge wrestler grew up on a farm in France and grew to 7-foot-4 and 500 pounds to become one of professional wrestling's greatest attractions.
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Now Simmons, who rose to prominence as a sports writer and on-air commentator, will be teaming up with another ESPN defector, Jonathan Hock, to tell the tale of wrestling's greatest giant. Hock has been in charge of several documentaries throughout the years, including a film on the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" hockey team.
Andre the Giant, whose real name was André René Roussimoff, is one of the biggest wrestling names of all time and helped put Vince McMahon's company on the map when he challenged Hulk Hogan for the then-WWF Championship at WrestleMania III in 1987.
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The spectacle was one of the most successful events in WWE history, WrestleMania on the map and ushering in a new era for professional wrestling in front of an alleged crowd of 93,173 fans at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan.
The hulking superstar was also known for his lavish personal life, which included drinking up to 100 beers in a row and getting it on with several women at a time. ESPN recently began airing a segment on wrestling every Tuesday night on "SportsCenter."
Simmons rose to fame after joining ESPN in 2001 and founded the site Grantland, which was recently debunked by his former company. The sharp-tongued sports commentator got in trouble with ESPN for calling NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a "liar" during the Deflategate fiasco.
ESPN has lucrative deals with the NFL, but Simmons wouldn't harm his integrity by backing down on his claims, and the two sides split in May. Now, Simmons is part of HBO, which is looking to bring meaningful sports documentaries into the light at a greater emphasis than ESPN.
"ESPN is contracting, and concentrating on live sports and highlights," one insider told the Post. "HBO is going to have the serious, hard-hitting sports documentaries."
With Simmons and his friends in the fold, things are about to get interesting for HBO.
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