Arn Anderson opens up on leaving WWE
Arn Anderson is a wrestling legend in the truest sense of the word, and ever since he retired from active competition in the world of wrestling, he took up another role backstage in WWE. During his prime, Arn Anderson was part of the Four Horsemen in NWA and later, in WCW. In between his run in these two companies, he also had a short run in WWE with Tully Blanchard as part of a tag team. However, this run would be short, and Anderson left WWE comparatively fast.
During a recent episode of his ARN podcast, Arn Anderson opened up on his decision to leave WWE and why it is sometimes important to put your foot down in the wrestling business.
Arn Anderson opens up on his decision to leave WWE
Arn Anderson confessed that he had been asked by a lot of people about giving it a longer try in WWE during his run there. He said that he was also asked about his decision to leave NWA while in the middle of an angle with Midnight Express. Anderson admitted that while those people might have a point, he felt that in this business, whether working with WWE, NWA, or any other wrestling promotion, there was a time that a wrestler had to put their foot down.
Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard had to leave WWE because they considered themselves to be underpaid, although they were making a lot of money for the company. When it came to WWE, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard had a successful run, where they would end Demolition's record-making 478-days as the Tag Team Champions.
"A lot of people feel like, 'Hey should you have stayed in the WWF and given it more of a chance and been there longer?' A lot of people question whether we should have left Crockett in the middle of the Midnight Express angle. They would have a point on both of those issues, but in this business, all you really have is your body of work and your word and the way you conduct your business to hang your hat on. There comes a time in everybody's career, or most people's career, where you have to say, 'I have done everything you asked gladly, and I've been thankful to be a part of your crew and a part of your company. But there's a time to say no.' You have to know when that time is, because if you don't and test the waters to see who you are and what you have left in the tank, whether that's in your mind or in the vision of whoever you are working for, if you don't say know at the proper time, you'll wish that you had."
Arn Anderson would later return to WWE to work backstage, but now, he is working in AEW as Cody Rhodes' player-coach.