Arn Anderson Reveals Why He Never Wanted To Be World Champion

Arn Anderson Reveals Why He Never Wanted To Be World Champion

Arn Anderson recently reflected on his legendary wrestling career during the latest episode of The ARN Show, sharing insight into his time as “The Enforcer” for Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen. Anderson spoke candidly about the intense travel schedule that came with being a world champion in the 1980s, the pride he took in protecting Flair’s title reign, and how the NWA Television Championship became his own personal benchmark of success.

Speaking on the exhausting lifestyle of the champions of that era, Anderson explained how demanding it was to carry the world title.

“I get asked that quite a bit. It’s usually in the version of, ‘Do you feel like you got shortchanged by not getting to be the world champion?’ No. Being the world champion in those days, met a travel schedule like you wouldn’t believe. When I first went to Charlotte for the Crocketts in ’85, Ric was still doing the world tour. He was truly the world champion, because he was traveling to however many countries and defending the title against the top guy in all those different places. So that travel schedule alone, there was only probably two or three people, whether it be Harley Race or Terry Funk or Ric Flair or whoever it would have been at the time, that could fulfill a schedule like that.”

Anderson also discussed his role as “The Enforcer” , a title he carried with pride throughout his career.

“Number two, I was always Ric’s second in command, his enforcer. The guy that kept the title on him. Which over time, if you’re effective at that? If I would have failed miserably, and Flair was constantly getting beat, and I wasn’t doing anything to change that outcome, it would have been different. But I got a feeling that I was very responsible to him hanging on to that title for as many times and as long as he had. And I take a lot of pride in that.”

Despite never holding the world title himself, Anderson viewed the NWA Television Championship as his own crowning achievement.

“That world television title to me was going out there at 9:30 in the morning, wrestling a top guy for 10 to 20 minutes and having to go get it every single television show. So that became my world title. That’s what I sunk my teeth into, and very proud of my runs with that, particularly well.”

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