Arn Anderson

Arn Anderson
Born	September 20, 1958 Rome, Georgia
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Super Olympia Arn Anderson
Billed height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Billed weight	255 lb (115 kg)
Billed from	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Trained by	Ted Allen
Debut	January 1982
Retired	August 25 1997

Martin "Marty" Lunde, better known by his ring name of Arn Anderson (born September 20, 1958 in Rome, Georgia), is an American professional wrestler, regarded by some professional wrestling experts as the greatest professional wrestler never to have won a world title. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the elite wrestling stable, "The Four Horsemen". He currently serves as the senior Producer for WWE's RAW brand.

Career

Known as "Double-A" or "The Enforcer," Anderson is considered to be one of the greatest tag team wrestlers in professional wrestling. He held the NWA Tag Team Championship belts twice with different members of Ron Fuller's Stud Stable in Southeast Championship Wrestling in 1983 & 1984. He would become a founding member of the Four Horsemen with Tully Blanchard, Ole Anderson, James J. Dillon and Ric Flair in the NWA and was in each of the group's incarnations over the years. He was also a member of the Dangerous Alliance in WCW, which boasted some of the biggest talent in the future of professional wrestling. He was a member of the Old Age Outlaws in WCW in 2000 that battled the nWo. He also formed the Enforcers with Larry Zbyszko in WCW.

Along with a DDT for a finishing maneuver, Anderson utilized a familiar array of holds and throws during his career, highlighted by his powerful left-handed punch and a spinebuster. He was renowned for his ability to do interviews to further the storylines he participated in. His ability to improvise in interviews allowed him to coin the "Four Horsemen" moniker for the eventual stable, as he likened their coming to wrestle at an event and the aftermath of their wrath as being akin to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the name stuck.

During a tour in the United Kingdom, Sid Justice, reportedly drunk, had an argument in a hotel bar with Arn Anderson after Anderson overheard Sid insulting his friend Ric Flair. Sid later went up to Anderson's hotel room to settle the argument and (allegedly) hit Anderson over the head with a hotel chair when he answered the door. Sid then brawled with Anderson inside the room and ended up stabbing Anderson over 20 times with a pair of safety scissors. Anderson was rushed to the hospital and survived the incident, while Sid lost his World Title shot (which was then awarded to Ric Flair). WCW President Eric Bischoff fired Sid after several wrestlers threatened to walk out if he was not terminated. Sid has since apologized to Anderson for the incident and the pair are on good terms today.

Anderson retired from wrestling in 1997 due to extensive neck and upper back injuries and is currently working as a Road Agent for WWE. He does show up from time to time on WWE television trying to, with the help of other WWE management, pull apart brawls. Soon after the WCW/ECW Invasion storyline happened, Anderson did color commentary for a WCW Heavyweight Championship match between Booker T and Buff Bagwell, which would be his only appearance as a commentator in the WWE. During WrestleMania X8, he made a brief in-ring appearance during a match between Ric Flair and The Undertaker, delivering his signature spinebuster to the Undertaker. Several months later he attempted to help Flair gain sole ownership of the WWE during a match with Vince McMahon, but backed down from a confrontation with Brock Lesnar, who entered the ring to assist McMahon. Right now, he is currently helping WWE RAW Diva Candice Michelle improve on her wrestling skills.

Anderson made a special appearance at the October 2006 RAW Family Reunion special, in which he was in Ric Flair's corner for his match against Mitch of the Spirit Squad.

Arn was in the corner of Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter, Dusty Rhodes, and Ron Simmons at Survivor Series 2006, where the four faced The Spirit Squad. He was ejected from the arena during the match.

Wrestling facts

• Finishing and signature moves

• Spinebuster
• Gourdbuster (Inverted suplex slam)
• (Left hand punch
• DDT
• Figure four leglock

• Managers

Ole Anderson Nancy Daus James J. Dillon Paul Ellering

Robert Fuller Ron Fuller Jimmy Hart Michael Hayes

Bobby Heenan Paul Heyman

• Factions

Alliance To End Hulkamania Brain Busters Dangerous Alliance Enforcers

Four Horsemen The Heenan Family Legion of Doom Minnesota Wrecking Crew

Old Age Outlaws Stud Stable

• Quotes

• "Only once has so much damage been caused by so few, and to find that source you need to go all the way back to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."
• "Adversity introduces a man to himself."
• "From the time I was a boy, I wanted to be a wrestling champion. You probably said " I wanna be a fireman!"
• "Just walk away. Find something else to do. Because the life you save may be your own!"
• "I don't want to toot my own horn but...toot, toot."
• "You don't jump a dog in his own backyard and you don't mess with family."
• "People don't ask how you won, they ask if you won."
• "...For all of you people out there that have ever bought a ticket to see Arn Anderson wrestle, whether ya' love me or you hated me, you know that when that bell rang you got all I had that night."
• "...Don't think you can stick four fingers in MY face and call yourself a Horseman!"
• "I'm not going to be responsible for what hits next. Because, we don't wear white hats. We are not nice guys. And I can tell you this -- heads are going to roll! So, I've said it. Be careful for what you wish for, because now, you have it. .."
• "See, we are the original gang and we're the most vicious in all of professional wrestling history. They send one of yours to the hospital, you send two of theirs to the morgue."

Championships and accomplishments

• National Wrestling Alliance
• World

• NWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Tully Blanchard (2) and Paul Roma (1)

• National

• NWA National Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ole Anderson

• Regional

• NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Jerry Stubbs (3) and Pat Rose (1)
• NWA World Television Championship (3 times)

• World Championship Wrestling

• WCW World Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Larry Zbyszko (1), Bobby Eaton (1), and Paul Roma (1)
• WCW World Television Championship (2 times)

• World Wrestling Federation

• WWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tully Blanchard

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• 1990 Best Interviews

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• Arn was in the PWI Feud of the Year in 1987. The feud was the Four Horsemen vs. The Super Powers & The Road Warriors. PWI also gave him the 1997 Editor's Award. He won the PWI Tag Team of the Year Award twice. In 1989 with Tully Blanchard and in 1991 with Larry Zbysko.
• PWI named him # 62 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003. He was also a member of three of PWI's best tag teams of the "PWI Years" in 2003. He was # 15 with Tully Blanchard, # 72 with Bobby Eaton and # 79 with Ole Anderson.

Personal life

Although he was billed as such at various times, Arn is not related to Gene Anderson, Lars Anderson, Ole Anderson, C.W. Anderson, Ken Anderson (Mr. Kennedy) or Ric Flair. He was given the Anderson name and billed as Ole's cousin because of his resemblance to Ole in appearance and wrestling style. Flair is a longtime friend of Arn Anderson.

Arn is married to Erin (maiden name not available), with whom he has two sons Barrett and Brock. A "daughter" named "Susan Lunde" was a work (a.k.a. an angle) involving Independent Wrestler Trent Wylde in North Carolina. This "daughter" is a fictional person and completely non-existent. [1]

As stated in his biography, in a match in 1994, Arn was thrown into the ring ropes. The top rope broke from the turnbuckle, but he was able to land on his feet. Six months later, the same events happened again, but this time he landed full-force onto concrete and hit his neck and upper back. He never took time off to heal. As time passed, with no down time, the injuries got worse and worse. In his biography, Arn states that the first sign of problems was, during a match, his left arm suddenly went numb and unresponsive. Later on, they found a rib, possibly torn away from the spine during the accident, was popping in and out of joint, causing shoulder discomfort and weakness. But, upon seeing his Chiropractor in Charlotte, North Carolina, and consulting medical experts in Atlanta, Georgia, the damage was found to be much more severe and surgery was deemed the only option to keep his left arm functioning at all. Surgery occurred in Atlanta in late 1996 (resulting in a left posterior laminectomy of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th cervical bones and a fusion of the 7th cervical and 1st thoracic bones) and was successful in repairing most of the damage, but there does remain some muscle weakness, loss of fine motor control, and loss of muscle mass in his left arm. He spent many weeks in the hospital during that time, crediting his recovery to his wife, his physical therapist, and the fact he did not want his children to be orphans. However, he would be readmitted in March 1997 with symptoms akin to cardiac arrest and pulmonary failure, but was released soon afterwards. In July 1997, while working out, a friend saw him at a gym and gave him a hearty slap on the back (he recounts this in his retirement speech). He dropped the water bottle he was carrying and could not regain use of his left arm for several hours. He realized that to step back in the ring and take another injury to the neck could leave him paralyzed or worse. Hence, his retirement and subsequent speech on WCW programming.

Books

Autobiography: Arn Anderson 4 Ever 1998

External links

• Arn Anderson Tribute Site