"It's ridiculous" - WWE Hall of Famer blasts Vince McMahon's reported new rule
Arn Anderson believes Vince McMahon is making a mistake if a report about WWE’s age limit for new signings is accurate.
According to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, WWE wants to limit new developmental recruits to people under 30. The company will only make exceptions if someone has a lot of potential or is already well known.
Speaking on his ARN podcast, Anderson criticized the “ridiculous” age limit. He said performers around the age of 30 are only just hitting the best years of their careers.
“It’s ridiculous, it’s ridiculous. Age is a number. Every instance where you have a blanket statement like that, aren’t you ruling out a lot of guys that are in the prime of their athletic career?”
Anderson, who retired from in-ring competition in 1997, said he felt “indestructible” at the age of 30. One of his former WCW co-workers, WWE Hall of Famer DDP, did not even begin his wrestling career until the age of 35.
Arn Anderson’s warning for Vince McMahon
Arn Anderson now works for AEW after leaving his role as a WWE producer in 2019. He thinks Vince McMahon is going to lose out on future stars if he refuses to hire developmental talent over the age of 30.
“To cut that off, I think you’re gonna weed yourself off a lot of potential talent that might have picked it up in one or two years and been an asset, upper middle to a top guy in three years. If he [Vince McMahon] wants to paint himself into that corner, he’s gonna miss out on a lot of talent, I think. That’s still a young man or young lady, I think.”
The age of the WWE roster has caused a lot of debate in recent months. The 2021 Men’s Royal Rumble was won by Edge, 47, while the average age of the match participants was 39.
Please credit ARN and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.