Asked on his ARN podcast whether Jim Crockett Promotions could have gone national the way Vince McMahon’s WWF did, Arn Anderson pointed to a different question entirely. In his view, the company’s decline traces to a specific moment, and he was part of it.
“You can say if on a lot of things. If you go back and look at the chronological time of what was going on in the business, when it all started to fold up, it’s when Blanchard and Anderson left,” Anderson said.
He said the business the Horsemen were drawing at that point was as strong as anything in wrestling.
“Because we were wrestling. Tully and I were wrestling the Midnight Express on house shows, and business was incredible,” Anderson said. “Flair and Luger on top, us against the Midnight Express, was doing huge business everywhere. And you can’t break up something as strong as what you know.”
Anderson and Tully Blanchard left Crockett in 1988 and surfaced in the WWF as the Brain Busters, going on to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. Crockett sold the promotion to Turner Broadcasting that November, and it eventually became WCW.
For anyone who needs a reminder of what the group was drawing at its peak, Anderson had a suggestion.
“You need a reminder, go and watch the Horsemen deal on A&E,” Anderson said. “It’ll remind you just how hot we were.”
Elsewhere on the show, Anderson made clear where he places that stretch in wrestling history. Responding to a listener who attended the Great American Bash in July 1986 as a 12-year-old, Anderson called it the best possible time to have been a fan.
“You were there for when it was the greatest time in the history of the business,” Anderson said. “Hope you realize that. That was the golden years, ’85 to ’89. Unparalleled.”
