Most Embarassing Loss: Losing TV Title against the Renegade
Currantly Living at: Charlotte, North Carolina
Wrestling Debute: January, 1982
First Opponent: Bob Armstrong (lost)
Announced Retirement: August 25th, 1997
Classical Arn Anderson Matches
Wahoo MacDaniel via. Gourdbuster
The Great Muta via. Spinebuster
Tully Blanchard def. Arn via. Slingshot Suplex
Tully Blanchard via. Gourdbuster
Dusty Rhodes def. Arn via. Bionic Elbow
Dusty Rhodes via. DDT
Tom Zenk via. Spinebuster Slam
Johnny B. Badd via. DDT
The Renegade def. Arn via. Backbreaker
Hulk Hogan via. Shoe to the Head
Larry Zbyszko via. DDT of DOOM
Larry Zbyszko def. Arn via. Checkmate
Johnny B. Badd via. Spinebuster
Arn Anderson. The Enforcer. Double A. The names bring an image to mind, the image of the true warrior, the professional's professional wrestler. When I decided to a tribute to this man, I wondered what would be fitting, as this man deserves as much, if not more, attention and praise than any other professional wrestler. Arn personifies a professional wrestler in my opinion. As he once said, "I just wear a pair of wrestling trunks and a pair of wrestling boots. Plain and simple. What you see is what you get. No Hollywood here...once you take off the costume, now you've gotta win the match. And there's winners and there's losers...my performance speaks for itself. My credibility is based on my performance nightly over a long period of time." Those words speak volumes. Unlike many of his present day cohorts, Arn has never needed a special gimmick or costume to get himself over. His actions in the ring an on the mike make Arn one of our generation's greatest pro grapplers. I only hope, that my words, and the contents of these pages, can come close to paying the tribute this man deserves.
Born September 20, 1958, Arn made is professional wrestling debut in January 1982. After some time spent earning his stripes, Arn began to make one of the greatest impacts on pro wrestling in the summer of 1985. It was then that his "cousin" Ole Anderson, who at the time was NWA National Tag Team Champions with Thunderbolt Patterson, informed Thunderbolt that Ole was going to bring in his cousin, Arn, to be his new partner. After disposing of Thunderbolt in the soon to be famous Horsemen way, Ole and Arn joined forces to be the new Minnesota Wrecking Crew. In due time, Ole and Arn joined forces with the Nature Boy Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard, who brought along his manager, James J Dillon to form the Four Horsemen, a name JJ coined. Their mid-80's battles with the likes of Magnum TA, Dusty Rhodes, Barry Windham, Jimmy & Ronnie Garvin, and a multitude of others firmly established the Horsemen as the most hated and despised stable in pro wrestling. Not always at the forefront, Arn began to slowly take control as the Enforcer of this group; always there to protect Ric Flair and his heavyweight gold whenever the moment called for it. This was his sacrifice, never out for personal glory; Arn always made sure that the belt remained where it belonged. As long as the Flair held the belt, then the Horsemen held it, and as a primary member, so did Arn.
Gold did find it's way around Arn's waist on more than one occasion. In January 1986, Arn defeated Dusty Rhodes to garner his first major title, the TV Championship Belt. Over the years, Arn would acquire this particular belt three more times; in January 1990 when he beat The Great Muta, in January 1991 where his victory over Tom Zenk made a three-peat and then lastly, in January 1995 with a win over Johhny B. Badd. But, and I find this apropos, Arn probably got a lot of notoriety as a member of the World Tag Team Champions. His first stint holding a belt of this nature occurred on September 29, 1986, when along with his partner, Tully Blanchard, and some unrequested assistance from the Midnight Express, they defeated the Rock 'n' Roll Express to win the belts. After losing the belts, Arn and Tully regained them in April of 1988 by defeating Barry Windham and Lex Luger. By December of that same year, Arn and Tully had joined the WWF, by far, the most popular of the wrestling organizations at the time, and called themselves the Brainbusters. During their stint there, Arn and Tully captured the WWF World Tag Team Belts with a victory over Demolition. Finally, in 1990, Arn returned home, back to what was now called World Championship Wrestling. In September 1991, Arn, along with new partner Larry Zbyszko, captured the tag straps by winning the tag team tournament with a defeat of Rick Steiner and Bill Kazmaier in the finals. Then, in January of 1992, Arn again won the tag belts, and again, with a new partner, Bobby Eaton. This time they beat Ricky Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes, now the infamous Goldust. Arn's latest reign as Tag Team Champ came in August 1993, when along with yet another new partner, Paul Roma, they defeated Steve Austin and Brian Pillman. It is fitting of this man, that he could and did win the tag straps so many times and with so many different partners. The one constant always remained the same, Arn Anderson was a part of the winning team.
