Arn Anderson has admitted on the latest episode of ARN that the recent A&E Biography Legends episode on the Four Horsemen marks the first time in his career he has felt seen as a top guy, after decades of being publicly framed as a complementary piece.
The admission came near the end of the show, after Bromwell asked Arn whether anything from the documentary had hit him harder than he expected.
“My family’s my life. Over the years, I probably haven’t stressed it adequately to let everybody know just how important they are to me and what they have meant to my life. I am thankful to all of them, like you said, the Stephen A’s, the LTs, the wrestlers, Shawn Michaels, all those guys that were kind enough to say it was an honor and a privilege to be in the ring with us.”
He then made the deeper admission.
“Let’s just face it, I was told when I first started the business, you know, you’re not really a marketable guy. Stuff like this just doesn’t, isn’t done for me. And I want to thank them, especially, because I feel like I’ve always been looked at as a middle guy, which is a badge of honor for me. It’s not something that I’m ashamed of. But I’ve never been looked at as a top guy until this came out. It just feels like I’m looked at, at least by the A&E people, hopefully everybody else, finally a top guy.”
Earlier in the episode, Arn told Bromwell that when A&E first pitched him the project, he had assumed he was going to get a small share of screen time the way he had on previous Horsemen documentaries that ended up being Ric Flair pieces.
“They did one years ago, when I was with WWE, F. Rick Flair and the Four Horsemen, which was just basically featuring Rick, and I just had a little piece, one or two. And I thought that’s what this was going to be, because they were going to feature everybody. I had no idea we’d get the exposure and the amount of time that they put into just me and that they trusted it would be received well.”
He was asked specifically what surprised him most about how peers and celebrities spoke about the Horsemen on the documentary.
“That’s not something you talk about, because, you know, Sean had such a career following that as a single, it’s almost like, oh yeah, that’s right, they did have tag matches all around with those guys. And you go back and watch them, and you go, damn, was, was Sean tore it up.”
When Bromwell pointed out that the A&E app uses Arn’s face as the thumbnail image for the episode rather than Ric Flair’s, Arn was caught off guard.
“Sound a good thing? Well, I hope they were right.”
Throughout the conversation, Arn was visibly moved by the reception. Stephen A. Smith’s contribution to the documentary, in particular, stuck with him.
“Stephen A. One shocker, man. I didn’t even know you knew who I was.”
Arn was also taken aback that Post Malone, George Kittle, Snoop Dogg, and Hulk Hogan all contributed.
“I had no idea they asked all those guys. I sat there blown away. And these guys know who I am. I know they all know who Rick is.”
He said the peer commentary specifically meant more than the celebrity cameos.
“When you have your peers speaking as kindly as our peers did on this documentary, it really means a lot. Because they were there. They lived it, they’re telling you the truth the way they see it, and that’s something that you don’t hear while you’re in the business. It’s something you hear later. And I was very taken aback by just how kind all the superstars were as far as talking about what it was like to be in the ring with us.”
Arn was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012 as part of the Four Horsemen group induction alongside Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, and JJ Dillon. He has not been inducted as a singles entrant. Bromwell told him during the episode that he still believed WWE should rectify that.
