Arn Anderson Martin Anthony Lunde ( September 20 , 1958 ) better known by his ring name Arn Anderson , is a retired American professional wrestler . His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable , The Four Horsemen , in the NWA / WCW . He currently serves as the senior producer for the WWE . Career . Early Days . Lunde began his career in early 1982 , spending much of the year wrestling in various independent wrestling companies across the United States . By the middle of 1983 , he made his way to Southeastern Championship Wrestling , an NWA 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 Buddy Rose throughout 1984 . By the end of the year , however , Lunde left the company and joined Mid South Wrestling based out of Shreveport . Lunde ' s time in Mid South was coming to an end and during a TV taping the Junk Yard Dogs mentioned to Bill Watts the owner of Mid South Wrestling that Lunde looked like an Anderson , Watts called Jim Crockett and got him to agree to take Lunde , the rest as they say is history . Becoming an Anderson . 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 with the goal of re - forming the Minnesota Wrecking Crew with Lunde replacing Gene Anderson and taking on the name of Arn Anderson . At this time Ole and Thunderbolt Patterson were the babyface National Tag Team Champions , so during a match between Arn who was a heel and Manny Fernandez Ole came to ring side and coached Arn during this match . When Arn dumped Manny at Ole ' s feet Ole went to assist Manny back into the ring causing Manny to attack Ole . Ole and Arn proceeded to double team Manny at ringside which brought Ole ' s babyface partner Tbolt to the scene . After attacking Tbolt together Arn threw Tbolt into the ring and proceed to stomp Tbolt . When Tbolt fought back Ole joined in Arn ' s attack of Tbolt . Manny came to Tbolt ' s rescue which then led to the split of the National Tag Champions leading to a National Tag Team Championship match between Ole and Arn vs Tbolt and Fernandez for the National Tag Title which Ole and Arn then won 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 on Thanksgiving night . The Crew successfully defended the titles against Wahoo McDaniel and Billy Jack Haynes . The Four Horsemen . 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 foursome frequently teamed together in six 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 . 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 duo champion elevated his status within the territory . It was also during this time that the Andersons , Blanchard , and Flair began calling themselves Four Horsemen with James 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 . Out with Ole . The first real setback with the Horsemen occurred at Starrcade ' 86 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 . Teaming with Tully . As a member of the Horsemen , Arn continued to be involved in high profile angles within the company . By mid 1987 , Arn 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 on Thanksgiving night . Arn 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 . Changing Fortunes . By December 1987 , Luger had defected from the Horsemen and began a heated feud with the group , with Ric Flair especially . ( Lex as U . S . Champ won a no . 1 contenders match and Flair was incensed that Luger refused to not wrestle Flair for the World Title at the next pay - per - view so Luger was expelled from the Horsemen ) In early 1988 , Luger formed a tag team with Barry Windham and began challenging Arn and Tully 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 Arn and Tully regained the titles less than a month later after Barry Windham turned on Luger during their match and joined the Horsemen . Though Arn and Tully 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 . ( For their World Tag Title defense at a Starcade 88 event they were paid $ 1 , 500 . 00 each for their 40min match . J . J . Dillon who stood outside the ring received $ 6 , 000 and actually rubbed it into their faces that he was paid so much more than them ) 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 . The Brain Busters . Anderson and Blanchard left Crockett ' s company to join Vince McMahon ' s World Wrestling Federation . Upon being named the Brain Busters , the team took Bobby " The Brain " Heenan as their manager and quickly began rising through the tag team ranks , eventually coming to challenge Demolition for the WWF Tag Team Championship . On July 18 , 1989 , the Brain Busters won the titles , ending Demolition ' s historic reign of 478 days ; the match would air on the July 29 edition of Saturday Night ' s Main Event . Although they would lose the titles back to Demolition just over three months later , the Brain Busters continued to be a force in the WWF ' s tag team division . WCW . In December 1989 , Anderson left the WWF and went back to his old stomping grounds . Crockett ' s company was now called World Championship Wrestling and was under the ownership of billionaire mogul Ted Turner . Anderson helped to reform the Horsemen and Anderson quickly saw success in the company , winning the NWA World Television Championship an January 2 , 1990 . Anderson remained the champion almost the entire year before dropping it to Tom Zenk . Zenk ' s reign would be short lived , however , as Anderson regained the title , having been renamed the WCW World Television Championship on January 14 , 1991 . His third reign with the title was also considered successful as he held the title a little more than five months before dropping it to " Beautiful " Bobby Eaton on May 19 , 1991 . Afterwards , Anderson entered the tag team ranks of WCW . Return to the Tag Team Division . In the summer of 1991 , Anderson formed a tag team with Larry Zbyszko and they called themselves The Enforcers . After competing for several months and moving up in the tag team ranks , they successfully captured the WCW World Tag Team Championship on September 2 , 1991 . The reign would be short lived , however , as they lost the titles roughly two and a half months later to Ricky Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes . Anderson and Zbyszko went their separate ways shortly afterward . Anderson quickly rebounded from his split with Zbyszko and formed a tag team with Beautiful Bobby Eaton , a long time friend and best known for his time as one half of the The Midnight Express . At this point , they were members of Paul E . Dangerously ' s Dangerous Alliance . They quickly moved up the tag team division and were soon a threat to Steamboat and Rhodes . Anderson and Eaton quickly won the titles on January 16 , 1992 and defended the titles against all comers for the next four and a half months before losing the titles to The Steiner Brothers in May . Paul Roma . In May 1993 , Anderson joined the original Horsemen of Ole Anderson and Ric Flair in re - forming the Four Horsemen . Blanchard , who was originally scheduled to be part of the group , failed a drug test , however , and was released from the company . As a replacement , the Horsemen introduced Paul Roma as their newest member . Although athletic and a skilled in - ring competitor , Roma had spent much of his career as a jobber in the WWF . As part of an interview segment for the Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen DVD , Triple H stated that he thought the addition of Roma made the membership the weakest in the history of the group , and Arn himself referred to Roma as " a glorified gym rat " . Although Anderson and Roma won the WCW World Tag Team Championship in August , the group quickly split and was seen as a dismal failure by WCW . End of the Line . Anderson remained a regular , on screen performer in WCW over the next few years . He rejoined Col . Rob Parker ' s Stud Stable in 1994 with Terry Funk , Bunkhouse Buck , " Stunning " Steve Austin and Meng . The Stud Stable feuded heavily with Dusty and Dustin Rhodes until late 1994 when Terry left . In early 1995 , Meng left ( eventually to join the Dungeon of Doom ) . Anderson played the First Masked man to attack Hulk Hogan at The Clash of the Champions . Anderson went to rejoin Ric Flair . Anderson ' s last championship run began on January 8 , 1995 after winning the WCW World Television Championship . Anderson helped restore the prestige of the title , which he held for just over six months before dropping it to The Renegade . He briefly feuded with long time friend Flair , and was assisted by Brian Pillman in his efforts . However , it was a swerve to reunify the Horsemen with Flair , Anderson , Pillman , and a partner to be named later ( who ended up being Chris Benoit ) . By the end of 1996 , Anderson rarely competed in the ring as years of wear and tear on his body finally started to catch up with him . On the August 25 , 1997 episode of " WCW Monday Nitro " , Anderson formally announced his retirement from the ring . While standing in the ring , surrounded by Ric Flair and newest Horsemen members Steve McMichael and Benoit , Anderson declared that his last official act as the " Enforcer " for the Four Horsemen was to offer his " spot " in the group to Curt Hennig , as he was forced to retire due to extensive neck and upper back injuries . He would work one or two tag matches officially since then , including teaming with David Flair on an episode of " WCW Thunder " , but his physical involvement was extremely limited in those bouts . On the September 14 , 1998 edition of " Nitro " , alongside Steve McMichael , Dean Malenko , and Chris Benoit , Anderson ceremoniously reintroduced Ric Flair to WCW after his 12 - month hiatus . In doing so , they reformed the Horsemen who then feuded with WCW President Eric Bischoff . Flair would win the presidency of WCW from Bischoff at Uncensored ' 99 and turn heel in the process . Anderson remained Flair ' s right - hand man during this time as he attempted to keep Flair ' s delusional hunger for power at bay . In 2000 , Anderson was a member of the short - lived Old Age Outlaws . Led by Terry Funk , the group of veteran wrestlers battled the revived New World Order . WCW would be purchased by the World Wrestling Federation in 2001 , ending Anderson ' s tenure there . Post retirement . Not long after the closing of WCW , Anderson became a road agent for WWF , renamed World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) in May 2002 . He occasionally appears on WWE television trying to , with the help of other WWE management , pull apart backstage brawls . Soon after the WCW / ECW Invasion storyline , Anderson took up color commentary for a WCW World Heavyweight Championship match between Booker T and Buff Bagwell as well as a WCW Cruiserweight Championship match with Billy Kidman and Gregory Helms , which would be his only appearances as a commentator in WWE . He made an appearance on " Raw " in 2002 delivering a video to Triple H before he was supposed to renew his wedding vows to then - heel , Stephanie McMahon . Anderson was also assaulted on " Raw " by the heel gimmick of The Undertaker leading up the Undertaker vs . then - babyface , Ric Flair match at WrestleMania X8 . During that bout , Anderson made a brief in - ring appearance , delivering his signature " spinebuster " to The Undertaker . He would later turn heel once again by helping the heel gimmick of Ric Flair in his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin , leading to Austin literally urinating on him . Several months later he became a face once again and attempted to help a then - babyface , Flair gain ( kayfabe ) sole ownership of WWE during a match with the heel gimmick of Vince McMahon , but backed down from a confrontation with Brock Lesnar , who entered the ring to assist McMahon . Anderson made a special appearance at the October 2006 " Raw " Family Reunion special , in which he was in Ric Flair ' s corner for his match against Mitch of the Spirit Squad . Anderson was in the corner of Flair , Sgt . Slaughter , Dusty Rhodes , and Ron Simmons at Survivor Series 2006 , where the four faced the Spirit Squad , but was ejected from the arena during the match . On the March 31 , 2008 " Raw " , Anderson came out to say his final goodbye to Ric Flair and thank him for his career . In October of that year , at the No Mercy event , he was backstage congratulating Triple H for retaining the WWE Championship in a match with Jeff Hardy . During a backstage segment between DX and Guest Host Dusty Rhodes on the August 31 , 2009 " Raw " , Anderson made a brief appearance as the man behind the voice of the skit of the Shockmaster , who was later revealed to actually be Santino Marella . Anderson ran off - camera when he realized he had been spotted by Triple H . On June 28 , 2010 edition of Raw , Anderson came out with Michael Hayes , Mike Rotunda , and Dean Malenko to congratulate Ricky Steamboat because a DVD highlighting his career was to be released the following day . However , the group , along with Jerry Lawler were attacked brutally by the Nexus faction . The next week on the July 5 , 2010 edition of RAW , Anderson spoke with WWE Champion Sheamus backstage . Sheamus refused to get involved in the fight with the Nexus or help any of the WWE locker room as he saw them all as threats to his title . He was quoted as saying ( referring to the Nexus invasion storyline ) : " If you don ' t get together with some of these guys in the locker room and stop the bleeding ; a month from now you may just be a great white shark patrolling around an empty mudhole . " Sheamus initially laughed off Anderson ' s advice , but looked to consider it after Anderson left . Anderson also appeared at the old school Raw , talking to John Morrison with Dean Malenko before the former was attacked by Sheamus . He reappeared two weeks later , congratulating Jerry Lawler for at last getting a shot at the WWE Championship , which he stated was long overdue . Personal life . Anderson and his wife Erin have two sons , Barrett Anthony ( born 1985 ) and Brock . Although he was billed as such at various times , Arn is not related to Gene Anderson , Lars Anderson , Ole Anderson , C . W . Anderson or Ric Flair . He was given the Anderson name and was originally billed as Ole ' s brother , and then later billed as Ole ' s nephew , because of his resemblance to Ole in appearance and wrestling style and billed as Ric Flair ' s cousin . Flair is not related to any of the Andersons , but he is a longtime friend of Arn . As stated in his biography , in a match in 1994 , Arn was thrown into the ring ropes . The top rope broke from the turnbuckle , but he was able to land on his feet . Six months later , the same event happened again , but this time he landed full - force on to the concrete and hit his head , neck , and upper back . He never took time off to heal . As time passed , with no down time , the injuries worsened . In his biography , Anderson states that the first sign of problems was , during a match , his left arm suddenly went numb and unresponsive . Later on , they found a rib , possibly torn away from the spine during the accident , was popping in and out of joint , causing shoulder discomfort and weakness . Upon seeing his chiropractor in Charlotte , North Carolina , and consulting medical experts in Atlanta , Georgia , the damage was found to be much more severe and surgery was deemed the only option to keep his left arm functioning at all . Surgery occurred in Atlanta in late 1996 ( resulting in a left posterior laminectomy of the 3rd , 4th , and 5th cervical bones and a fusion of the 7th cervical and 1st thoracic bones ) and was successful in repairing most of the damage , but there does remain some muscle weakness , loss of fine motor control , and loss of muscle mass in his left arm . He spent many weeks in the hospital during that time , crediting his recovery to his wife , his physical therapist , and the fact he did not want his children to be fatherless . However , he would be readmitted in March 1997 with symptoms akin to cardiac arrest and pulmonary failure , but was released soon afterwards . In July 1997 , while working out , a friend saw him at a gym and gave him a hearty slap on the back ( he recounts this in his retirement speech ) . He dropped the water bottle he was carrying and could not regain use of his left arm for several hours . He realized that to step back in the ring and take another injury to the neck could leave him paralyzed or worse . Hence , his retirement and subsequent speech on WCW programming .