Arn Anderson On Why Ole Anderson Leaving WCW Was A Shoot That Turned Into A Work
Arn Anderson recently took part in a "Ask Arn Anything" session on his YouTube channel and revealed that Ole Anderson leaving the Four Horsemen was initially a shoot that turned into a work. Arn said Ole had done well with his money, and despite things going extremely well for the group, he was ready to step away and be more present for his family, including watching his son's collegiate wrestling matches.
"He wanted to go home and watch his son wrestle, and things were red-hot with the company [WCW] and business had popped," Arn said. "The Horsemen thing was over and he wanted to go watch his kid wrestle in college, and I couldn't fully understand that then because I thought, 'I mean, d–n, we're doing good. This thing ain't broke; it doesn't need to be fixed.' But Ole had plenty of money. He had his own destiny in his own hands, and when he said, 'Hey, this is non-negotiable. I'm going to go watch every match he has.' So, that turned into an angle to actually kick him out and make a change, so when it did start out, it was a shoot all the way until when we turned it into an angle."
Arn then gave his opinion about Ric Flair ultimately taking the Big Gold Belt to the then-WWF. Arn said while some people were really bothered by it, others weren't, and he doesn't blame Flair for making that decision.
"Yeah, you know it meant something to some people," Arn said. "Other people, it really didn't mean anything. Ric would have never given it a thought that he was screwing the guys by taking it, but after what Jim Herd did to Ric and did to me and countless other guys, he deserved whatever he got. He had it coming. He was the problem – not the guys, not the talent. He screwed a lot of guys around and had no history or working knowledge of our business at all... He shouldn't even been allowed to but a ticket to one of our shows and to be in a position he was in. That was Ric's way of fighting back, and he was probably the one that had the most, at the time, impact on his entrance to the other place [WWF], and I don't fault him for that."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please give a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Mehdy Labriny contributed to this article.