Arn Anderson has opened up about how deeply personal the recent episode of A&E Biography: Legends focused on the Four Horsemen was for him, admitting it marked the first time in his wrestling career that he truly felt recognized as a top level star rather than simply a supporting figure.

Speaking on the latest edition of ARN, Anderson reflected emotionally on the documentary and the praise he received throughout the special from fellow wrestlers, celebrities, and sports personalities.

When asked by host Paul Bromwell whether anything from the documentary affected him more than expected, Arn immediately pointed to the importance of his family and the overwhelming support shown by those who appeared in the special.

“My family’s my life. Over the years, I probably haven’t stressed it adequately to let everybody know just how important they are to me and what they have meant to my life. I am thankful to all of them, like you said, the Stephen A’s, the LTs, the wrestlers, Shawn Michaels, all those guys that were kind enough to say it was an honor and a privilege to be in the ring with us.”

Anderson then admitted the documentary changed how he feels he has been viewed throughout his career.

“Let’s just face it, I was told when I first started the business, you know, you’re not really a marketable guy. Stuff like this just doesn’t, isn’t done for me. And I want to thank them, especially, because I feel like I’ve always been looked at as a middle guy, which is a badge of honor for me. It’s not something that I’m ashamed of. But I’ve never been looked at as a top guy until this came out. It just feels like I’m looked at, at least by the A&E people, hopefully everybody else, finally a top guy.”

Earlier in the interview, Arn explained he initially assumed the project would largely revolve around Ric Flair, much like previous Horsemen documentaries he had been involved in during his time with WWE.

“They did one years ago, when I was with WWE, F. Rick Flair and the Four Horsemen, which was just basically featuring Rick, and I just had a little piece, one or two. And I thought that’s what this was going to be, because they were going to feature everybody. I had no idea we’d get the exposure and the amount of time that they put into just me and that they trusted it would be received well.”

Anderson also spoke about being surprised by the praise from peers, especially comments regarding the Horsemen’s legendary tag matches against Shawn Michaels and others.

“That’s not something you talk about, because, you know, Sean had such a career following that as a single, it’s almost like, oh yeah, that’s right, they did have tag matches all around with those guys. And you go back and watch them, and you go, damn, was, was Sean tore it up.”

One moment that genuinely caught Arn off guard was learning A&E had used his image as the featured thumbnail for the episode instead of Ric Flair.

“Sound a good thing? Well, I hope they were right.”

The veteran wrestler also revealed he was stunned by the list of celebrity names featured in the documentary, including Stephen A. Smith, Post Malone, George Kittle, Snoop Dogg, and Hulk Hogan.

“Stephen A. One shocker, man. I didn’t even know you knew who I was.”

“I had no idea they asked all those guys. I sat there blown away. And these guys know who I am. I know they all know who Rick is.”

Despite the celebrity involvement, Anderson said the praise from fellow wrestlers carried the most meaning to him because they experienced that era firsthand.

“When you have your peers speaking as kindly as our peers did on this documentary, it really means a lot. Because they were there. They lived it, they’re telling you the truth the way they see it, and that’s something that you don’t hear while you’re in the business. It’s something you hear later. And I was very taken aback by just how kind all the superstars were as far as talking about what it was like to be in the ring with us.”