Ole Anderson (The Big Turn of 1980)

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

I've felt for a long time now that Ole doesn't get the respect he's due. Far too many people just write him off as a bitter old man who never amounted to anything as a performer beyond being a footnote as an original Horseman and was a failure as a booker. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This was a huge angle in Georgia (and remember, Georgia was a big time territory) and I think goes a long way to show that Ole was great heel that is sadly overlooked these days.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCIgLQGruvs

[Jimmy]

I definitely think Ole deserves props as a worker and talker, and it's a shame that people try to deny him that, but I just can't find any praise for him as a booker.

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

...I'm pretty sure he booked what you just saw if you watched that video. He booked Georgia and Mid-Atlantic at the same time while both did great business.

Everyone only thinks of 1990 when they think of Ole booking.

["Nature Boy" Ric Moranis]

I'm only 30, so i started watching at the tail end of his career. Since then, watched a TON of him on YouTube.

He is one of the better promo guys of all-time, IMO. Completely different than what would become "modern" style like promos like Flair, Hogan, Rock, etc. But very effective and convincing.

He was legit. Involved in three of the best heel turns I have ever seen. That one from 1980, the one on Thunderbolt Patterson in 1985, and kicking Sting out of the Horsemen in 1990. (So I can easily forgive him for voicing Black Scorpion & Shockmaster).

[Kash Flagg]

He was booking two of the hottest territories AT THE SAME TIME. Did he not change with the times in 1990? Yes. But I can't deny what a hell of a booker he was in the late 70's early 80's.

The big turn is one of my all time favorite angles. Just brilliantly done.

[HMARK Center]

I really do love watching a lot of the territory footage, especially of guys who'd later rise to prominence in the national companies. The aesthetic differences in these products set them apart, and it's too bad that a lot of what they did is now lost to time, as there really are things current companies could stand to learn from.

In particular, the realism in more promos from the time really set them apart. Guys didn't necessarily have to scream to get a point across (though it's tough to top Dusty losing his mind upon being betrayed), catchphrases were a bit more secondary, guys who probably would've been called poor talkers in WWF and WCW got a chance to get a few words in and look decent doing so...a lot of capitalizing on guy's strengths and hiding their weaknesses.

As for Ole, I've only recently started watching some more of his work, and the guy's promo work just blows me away. All time great delivery.

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

Another thing to remember about Ole's booking tenure in 1990: Jim Herd was in charge of the company, and had made things clear that he wanted the company to be more like the WWF with big stories and characters. That wasn't the style that WCW fans liked or wanted, and it wasn't the style that Ole had ever booked.

On top of that, Herd actively interfered in the booking. Everyone so closely associates Ole with the Black Scorpion. They probably don't know that Ole wrote it on a booking sheet as a joke, and Herd went nuts over it and told him to run with it. Ole told him it was a joke. Herd said it didn't matter, it was good, and to book something for it. Ole told him there was no Black Scorpion, it was just a name he made up for a joke. Herd basically told him he could find somebody.

It was sort of like signing Ozzy Osbourne, then telling him he had to record a country album, and when he started, the guy from Twilight starts telling him what to do and how to do it.

Jim Herd had no knowledge of or history in the wrestling business. And he interfered in every way with a guy who had successfully booked 2 large territories at the same time.