Background and career
Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is an American retired professional wrestler, professional wrestling road agent, and author. Although he is widely regarded as one of the greatest tag team wrestlers in history, he also had a successful singles career and became a four-time NWA/WCW World Television Champion, which he often called his "world title". Anderson's career was highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable The Four Horsemen in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). After his retirement, he worked as a producer for WWE until 2019, when he joined All Elite Wrestling (AEW). On March 31, 2012, Anderson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the Four Horsemen. His son, Brock Anderson also pursued a career in professional wrestling.
Martin Anthony Lunde was born in Rome, Georgia, on September 20, 1958.
Lunde was trained by Ted Allen. He debuted on December 16, 1981, in Georgia Championship Wrestling. He briefly wrestled under the ring name "Jim Vertaroso" before changing to "Marty Lunde" in 1982. He spent much of the year wrestling in various independent wrestling companies across the United States, including a minor run in Mid South Wrestling based out of Shreveport for Bill Watts from 1982 to 1983. In April 1983, Lunde returned to Georgia Championship Wrestling, where he was given the ring name "Arn Anderson" due to his resemblance to veteran wrestler Ole Anderson, who was presented as being his uncle. He was put into a tag team, "Destruction Inc.", with Matt Borne, managed by Paul Ellering. The team were pushed strongly throughout mid-1983. In June 1983, Borne was abruptly fired from GCW due to legal issues, and the team immediately disbanded, with the newly-formed Road Warriors replacing them as the promotion's top team under Ellering. By the middle of 1983, Lunde made his way to Southeastern Championship Wrestling, a National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated promotion operating out of Tennessee and Alabama. Taking the name of "Super Olympia", Lunde soon became a member of Ron Fuller's Stud Stable before the year was out. Lunde saw success in the tag team ranks by winning the NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship three times with Mr. Olympia and once with Pat Rose throughout 1984. It was also here in this promotion that Lunde met and began what would become a lifelong friendship with Ric Flair. At the end of 1984, Lunde left Southeastern Championship Wrestling and re-joined Mid South Wrestling. Lunde's time in Mid South was coming to an end, and during a TV taping the Junkyard Dog mentioned to Bill Watts, the owner of Mid South Wrestling, that Lunde looked like an Anderson. Watts called Jim Crockett and convinced him to book Lunde.
In March 1985, Lunde made his way to Jim Crockett Jr.'s Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, based in the Virginias and the Carolinas. By this time, the company extended its range into Georgia after rival promoter Vince McMahon purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling. There was a strong physical resemblance between Lunde and Ole Anderson, who had achieved legendary status in the Georgia and Mid-Atlantic territories as a tag team wrestler. Ole noticed that Lunde's style was a no nonsense approach in the ring and specialized in working over a part of an opponent's body throughout the match, much like Ole himself. Anderson agreed to work with Lunde, helping to hone his capabilities, and re-formed the Minnesota Wrecking Crew with Lunde replacing Gene Anderson and being presented as Ole's kayfabe brother. The team quickly became a force in the territory by capturing the NWA National Tag Team Championship in March 1985. Arn and Ole defended the titles throughout the year, with their highest profile match being part of the card for Starrcade '85: The Gathering on Thanksgiving night. The Crew successfully defended the titles against Wahoo McDaniel and Billy Jack Haynes.
"Not since the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have so few wreaked so much havoc on so many." - Arn Anderson, 1985 In the latter half of 1985, the Andersons formed a loose knit alliance with fellow heels Tully Blanchard and Ric Flair, as they began to have common enemies. The origin of the stable dates to a Jim Crockett Promotions taping which was held in The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia in September 1985. During the event, Ric Flair turned on Dusty Rhodes after Rhodes saved him from a beatdown at the hands of the Koloffs and Krusher Kruschev, with Arn and Ole Anderson then entering the ring and assisting Flair in breaking Rhodes' ankle and putting him out of action. As Rhodes was attempting to surrender his NWA Television Title, which was vacated on October 19, 1985, Arn, who desired the title, would recruit Tully Blanchard, with the two then kicking Dusty's crutches away, with Arn then stealing the title. On the October 26, 1985 episode of NWA Worldwide, Arn, who had possession of the stolen NWA Television Championship, called himself, Ole, Tully and Flair "The four horses, the four people that make things happen." The foursome frequently teamed together in six-man, and sometimes, eight-man tag matches or interfered in each other's matches to help score a victory or, at least, to prevent each other from losing their titles. The alliance quickly became a force within the territory, working in feuds against some of the biggest stars in the company like Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T. A., the Road Warriors and the Rock 'n' Roll Express. At Starrcade '85: The Gathering in November 1985, the Andersons successfully defended the NWA National Tag Team Championship against Billy Jack Haynes and Wahoo McDaniel. Anderson also saw success as a singles wrestler on January 4, 1986, by winning the vacant NWA Television Championship. Simultaneously, Anderson was still one half of the NWA National Tag Team Champions and, even though Crockett promotions abandoned the National Tag titles in March, Anderson's success as a dual champion elevated his status within the territory. It was also during this time (in 1986) that the Andersons, Blanchard, and Flair began calling themselves The Four Horsemen with J. J. Dillon serving as the group's manager. Anderson also had a tremendous ability to do interviews to further the storylines he participated in. His ability to improvise in interviews allowed him to coin the "Four Horsemen" moniker for the stable, as he likened their coming to wrestle at an event and the aftermath of their wrath as being akin to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the name stuck. Anderson continued his reign as NWA Television Champion for most of the year, holding the championship for just over 9 months before losing it to Dusty Rhodes on September 9, 1986. The first real setback with the Horsemen occurred at Starrcade '86: The Skywalkers in November 1986 after Anderson and Ole lost a steel cage match to the Rock 'n' Roll Express, with Ole getting pinned. The subsequent storyline positioned Ole as the weak link within the team, possibly attributed to his age. Ole's position with the group was only further weakened after he decided to take two months off after Starrcade. After Ole's return in February 1987, the other Horsemen turned on him and threw him out of the group, resulting in Ole incurring numerous attacks over the next several months. Afterwards, Ole was replaced with Lex Luger and the Horsemen resumed their dominance of the company.
As a member of the Horsemen, Anderson continued to be involved in high-profile angles within the company. By mid-1987, Anderson and fellow Horsemen Tully Blanchard began regularly competing as a tag team and rose quickly through the tag team ranks. The duo faced the Rock 'n' Roll Express for the NWA World Tag Team Championship on September 29, 1987, and were victorious. This win further solidified the group's dominance in the company as Lex Luger was the reigning NWA United States Heavyweight Champion and Ric Flair spent most of 1987 as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, losing it to Ron Garvin in September, only to regain it at Starrcade '87: Chi-Town Heat on Thanksgiving night. Anderson and Tully continued to feud throughout the rest of the year and first few months of 1988 with the Road Warriors, the Rock 'n' Roll Express and the Midnight Express being their most frequent rivals. By December 1987, Luger had defected from the Horsemen and began a heated feud with the group, with Ric Flair especially. In early 1988, Luger formed a tag team with Barry Windham and began challenging Anderson and Blanchard for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. The bigger, stronger team of Windham and Luger were eventually successful, winning the titles on March 27, 1988. The reign would be short lived, however, as Anderson and Blanchard regained the titles less than a month later after Barry Windham turned on Luger during their match and joined the Horsemen. Though Anderson and Blanchard were two of the biggest stars in Crockett's company, they were frequently in dispute with Crockett over their pay. Despite the fact that the two, along with the Horsemen, were helping to generate millions of dollars in revenue for the company, they considered themselves to be underpaid. Their last contracted match with the company took place on September 10, 1988, when they dropped the NWA World Tag Team Championship to the Midnight Express before leaving for the WWF.
