Two of the best workers in the history of pro wrestling, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, are the guest this week on Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast.
Tully and Arn discussed their days as part of The Four Horsemen, their time in the World Wrestling Federation as The Brain Busters, Jim Crockett Promotions, what caused them to split up, Bobby Heenan, Bret Hart, Dusty Rhodes, Andre The Giant and much more.
Here are some highlights from the podcast:
Chris Jericho asked Tully Blanchard if he sees the holes in wrestling matches today: “I think I’ve been gone for a longer period than either one of you guys. So, I come back and look at stuff and I recognize holes that I would probably adjust if me and Arn were transformed back into this period and go, ok, this is what we got to do. But, you also have to realize that it’s never going back. Our country is never going back and the world is never going back. You can’t go back to the wristlock and have riots.”
Tully talked about his time in the ring: “It was fun to go to work. Working with this guy (Arn) every night was fun in the ring. You knew that 16,000 people or however many were there, got their money’s worth watching us. That was satisfying. That was what we were paid to do, entertain people and bring them back the next time. It was that period, from 1985-1989 that was like a flash, but it was the best time I’ve ever had in my life. To be able to come back and hopefully give a bunch of knowledge that can still be applied, maybe tweaked a little bit, but applied is very exciting to me because you guys worked and worked and are in flow. But, to be away for 30 years and come back, this is a different atmosphere for me and a lot still feels the same, but still, there is new stuff going on. It’s exciting to be part of the AEW family.”
Arn’s thoughts on Dusty Rhodes: “I thought just being in the ring with Dusty Rhodes was great. If he walked in this room right now, I would be as starstruck as the first time I met him. I think, did he have a lot of great ideas? I think the biggest thing if you tell the truth, besides having some of the ideas he brought up from Florida from Eddie Graham, is he had the best crew ever assembled in the history of the business.”
Tully talking about Dusty: “You (Arn) weren’t quite there yet when Dusty took over the book. You came in March of ‘85. I was there and had a short meeting with Dusty. He said, what do you think we have to do to get this thing going as you were a booker. I said you have to put the best against the best. That’s the best rule. He said Wahoo (McDaniel) is wanting to work with me because Wahoo went heel with me and we had the first sellouts since I had been back there in ‘84 was me and Wahoo against Flair and Mulligan in an Indian rope match. I told Dusty, and this was the only time I’ve ever done anything career self-motivating, I said, well Dusty, I’d put Wahoo against Flair and let them beat the sh*t out of each other and I would put me against you because I will make you look great. That is what happened. That started my relationship with Dusty which was a very good one. When Arn came in to be part of the Andersons and Ole came in, and then the whole thing at the end of ‘85 when the Horseman thing happened, I was the odd man out because I wasn’t part of the Anderson family. But I was working with Dusty in those 8 man tag matches, and hallelujah, I’m in it.”
Arn was asked why they were not given a gimmick when they went to the WWF: “He (Vince McMahon) asked if we can come up with anything. We couldn’t come up with anything. He said we are going to put you with Bobby Heenan. I think Bobby said, hell, let’s call them the Brain Busters which gave us immediate credibility. Immediate credibility. Our costuming was just normal red and white boots, white tights, nothing special and he didn’t mess with that. He gave us a different logo on the back of the jackets. He said about six months into it one day when we were talking to him, he said you guys give credibility to my company and my business. He said you lend credibility to my business. Looking back on it, that’s why he didn’t dress us up.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Talk Is Jericho with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription
