"It was refreshing" - WWE legend would have likely stayed retired if not for Cody Rhodes and AEW
Cody Rhodes might be flying high in WWE at the time of writing thanks to his recent Royal Rumble win, but he will always be synonymous with AEW. However, one wrestling legend has stated that if it wasn't for Rhodes, he wouldn't be working right now.
The legend in question is Arn Anderson, who has been a part of the AEW roster since 2019. He made his debut at the All Out Pay-Per-View during Cody's bout with Shawn Spears, where he was able to help the "American Nightmare" pick up the victory.
Since his debut, Arn was featured regularly as Cody's personal advisor and coach. But he has been a coach for the rest of the roster backstage since his arrival, setting an example of how veterans of the business would be used in All Elite Wrestling.
Remember at All Out 2019 when Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson, and the Great Muta were judges for Cody vs Jericho for the #AEW world title just in case it went to a time limit draw? #AEWDyanmite https://t.co/iTO5TRn1pg
But how did Arn find out about All Elite Wrestling? Speaking on the "AEW Unrestricted" podcast, Anderson credited Cody Rhodes for bringing him into the company and that he would probably be retired had he not accepted the offer.
"[I had] some appearances but other than that I was retired, I was going to have to take another route with Brock [Anderson].I get a call from low and behold, Cody Rhodes and he said ‘Dubs...’ he always called me Dubs, don’t ask me. He said ‘we’ve got something special going on here and we’ve got some young guys that you’ve never seen or don’t know who they are probably but they’re some real gung-ho people. We’ve got a hell of a crew assembled.’” [11:51-12:36]
Anderson elaborated by saying that the backstage atmosphere in AEW was refreshing for him and that it was reminiscent of the territory days which he remembers fondly.
“Everything just had a different feel to it, and he said ‘I want you to come up and just kind of be backstage at this first show and see what you think.’ I said ‘I can do that’ and I think for the first time in a very very long time I was in a wrestling environment that it was okay to be pro wrestler number one. Number two it was okay to smile again and walk around bulls**tting with some of the guys that you knew. It went back to the territory days almost, and it was a bunch of young guys, I saw these guys bending over backwards and jumping through hoops for the audience. I just kind of got a feeling that this is a different deal totally, it was refreshing.” [12:41-13:27]
Arn Anderson currently manages his son and a fellow second-generation star in AEW
Since Cody Rhodes left AEW in 2022, many people wondered what's next for the WWE Hall of Famer in terms of an on-screen role. Luckily for Arn, he had someone who he could coach better than anyone: his own son.
Brock Anderson made his All Elite Wrestling debut in 2021 and has since made sporadic appearances on shows like Dynamite and Rampage competing against the likes of The Undisputed Elite, FTR, and Malakai Black.
Brian Pillman Jr and Brock Anderson are here representing The Four Horsemen.
#RicFlairsLastMatch https://t.co/LuK65UPl1j
Brock has recently been teaming up with Brian Pillman Jr., who too has been coached by Arn in recent months following a disappointing end to his run as part of the Varsity Blondes.
The two men picked up their first win of 2023 on the January 31st edition of Dark when they defeated Dean Alexander and Rosario Grillo, with their next match set to air on a future episode of Dark in the coming weeks.
Are you a fan of Arn and Brock Anderson? Let us know in the comments section down below!
Please credit "AEW Unrestricted" and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.