Arn Anderson Reveals What Will Allow Him To Leave AEW And Pro Wrestling
On the latest episode of the ARN Podcast, Arn Anderson spoke about his son Brock's journey to becoming a professional wrestler. Brock is currently signed to AEW on a developmental deal where he's wrestled twice on Dynamite, debuting in June, and had several matches on AEW Dark. The former leader of the Four Horsemen spoke about the pressure his son will have to live up to his dad's name.
"His whole life has been about becoming a wrestler," Arn Anderson said. "Which I didn't know, I didn't know he was really into it but apparently since he was in high school it's all he's thought about, it's all he's wanted to do and there are expectations that are put on him just like every second generation wrestler. Especially when you're affiliated with something that strong, if you're Dusty Rhodes' kid that's really really strong, if your dad was one of the original Four Horsemen, that's a huge deal.
"All he can do is go out and give his best performance and do everything possible to stay in the gym, develop your body to the best of your ability, you go through that curtain and give the audience everything you can and be judged on who you are. A lot of the audience is always going to say hey, you're not as good as your dad and all of that, Brock is his own person. All Brock needs to worry about is being the best Brock he can be. If he does that and he's respectful to the audience, he's respectful to his opponents and his company and the business in general, that's all he can really do."
Having been in the wrestling business since the early 80s, Arn Anderson spoke about when he'll eventually call it a career. The Four Horsemen member said he wants his son to get positioned perfectly with AEW and then once that happens, he'll leaving the wrestling business for good.
"If Brock were not coming along and if Tony Khan, and I'll have to throw Cody Rhodes in there because he's been very influential in getting Brock in a position to first of all work for the company thanks to Tony for hiring him and having faith in him," Anderson said. "My goal is to get Brock settled into the crew to where okay, he's going to be a part of the crew from now on. He's earned his way, he has value and he's going to add something to the company, they're going to be glad that they hired him. Once I get him in a position like that [I'll leave]. I've had a full career, I've done everything you can possibly do in this business. All I'm really trying to do now is guide him and teach him about locker room edict, travel, all the things that you need to know, double checking your travel and making sure they got it right. There's a lot of things in this business, planning your trips ahead, when do you need a rent-a-car, when do you have to fly. All that stuff that goes into the business, I want to get him comfortable with.
"Any young guy that comes up and asks me something at TV, I am more than happy to go sit over here and help them anyway I can. But let me state, it's not my job. The only coach I am with that company is Cody Rhodes', no one else. But if Lee, who is with the Nightmare Family, Lee Johnson, if he asks me something, I've got all day long to try to help him. Any young guy that comes up to me, doesn't matter. MJF, Ricky Starks, I got all day for them but I never want to get in a position again where that's my job full time. 19 years with WWE, being responsible for god knows how many segments on RAW and SmackDown and pay per views and if something goes wrong it falls on my head? Don't' want that pressure anymore. Been there, done that. I've had a full career, I could stay right here in this seat for the next five years, god willing and I will be just fine but I do want to help Brock get settled in. There's going to be a day, we all have shelf life, everybody in any business has a shelf life and mines going to run out and when it does I'm prepared for that."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit ARN with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.