RIP Ole Anderson
Feb 26, 2024 19:11:43 GMT -5
via mobile
JIMBOB, Ultimo Gallos, and 2 more like this
Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Feb 26, 2024 19:11:43 GMT -5
Per former NWA Legends Fanfest promoter Greg Price, who befriended Ole, Ole Anderson passed away earlier today. I believe he was 81.
Ole, by virtue of his pissing off both Vince McMahon and Dave Meltzer, is largely forgotten by the younger generations of wrestling fans, or is believed to have simply been a bitter old man or the “horrible booker” who gave us the Black Scorpion.
Reality is that Ole was easily one of the greatest heels of his era, and I would go so far as to say all time. His legacy, and the legacy of the Andersons in general in the Carolinas, was a big part of giving instant credibility to the Four Horsemen. While the best lineup in subjective, I have always felt that the original was the best and felt more vicious than sneaky.
Judging his booking by the Black Scorpion is an incredibly incomplete picture. Jim Herd was pushing him to book a product more like the WWF, which was never Ole’s style. The Black Scorpion was a joke that Ole wrote on a booking sheet and Herd told him to run with, even after being told that there was no Black Scorpion, it was a joke, and just a name on a booking sheet. Tony Schiavone has confirmed that Ole checked out and would tell Tony and Jim Ross, “I guess you guys better book TV this week, otherwise we aren’t going to have it.” When they would ask Ole, “Who is the Black Scorpion going to be?” Ole would reply, “I don’t know. And I don’t give a shit.”
Previously, Ole had successfully booked Georgia and the Carolinas at the same time while also working on top.
Meltzer’s critique of the Andersons was that they didn’t travel outside of Mid-Atlantic and Georgia, to which Ole replied, “We didn’t have to.”
While much of his career was before cable, to hear some of his great promo work and see some of the heat he brought, look up “Sting kicked out of the Horsemen,” and “the Big Turn of 1980.”
He was once slashed across the arm and chest, requiring over 70 stitches. He was back at TV a few days later.
I spent a good bit of time around Ole at the Fanfests, even having dinner with him in Atlanta in 2011. I was expecting a major asshole based everything I had heard. Instead I found that while he was blunt as hell, he liked it if someone gave it back to him instead of just dropping their eyes and walking away. He also spent every available moment in the hotel lobby, where any fan who wanted to could listen to his stories and ask questions. It was always a highlight of the weekend.
This one is right up there with Harley Race, Terry Funk, and Roddy Piper in how hard it hits me.
RIP, Rock.
Ole, by virtue of his pissing off both Vince McMahon and Dave Meltzer, is largely forgotten by the younger generations of wrestling fans, or is believed to have simply been a bitter old man or the “horrible booker” who gave us the Black Scorpion.
Reality is that Ole was easily one of the greatest heels of his era, and I would go so far as to say all time. His legacy, and the legacy of the Andersons in general in the Carolinas, was a big part of giving instant credibility to the Four Horsemen. While the best lineup in subjective, I have always felt that the original was the best and felt more vicious than sneaky.
Judging his booking by the Black Scorpion is an incredibly incomplete picture. Jim Herd was pushing him to book a product more like the WWF, which was never Ole’s style. The Black Scorpion was a joke that Ole wrote on a booking sheet and Herd told him to run with, even after being told that there was no Black Scorpion, it was a joke, and just a name on a booking sheet. Tony Schiavone has confirmed that Ole checked out and would tell Tony and Jim Ross, “I guess you guys better book TV this week, otherwise we aren’t going to have it.” When they would ask Ole, “Who is the Black Scorpion going to be?” Ole would reply, “I don’t know. And I don’t give a shit.”
Previously, Ole had successfully booked Georgia and the Carolinas at the same time while also working on top.
Meltzer’s critique of the Andersons was that they didn’t travel outside of Mid-Atlantic and Georgia, to which Ole replied, “We didn’t have to.”
While much of his career was before cable, to hear some of his great promo work and see some of the heat he brought, look up “Sting kicked out of the Horsemen,” and “the Big Turn of 1980.”
He was once slashed across the arm and chest, requiring over 70 stitches. He was back at TV a few days later.
I spent a good bit of time around Ole at the Fanfests, even having dinner with him in Atlanta in 2011. I was expecting a major asshole based everything I had heard. Instead I found that while he was blunt as hell, he liked it if someone gave it back to him instead of just dropping their eyes and walking away. He also spent every available moment in the hotel lobby, where any fan who wanted to could listen to his stories and ask questions. It was always a highlight of the weekend.
This one is right up there with Harley Race, Terry Funk, and Roddy Piper in how hard it hits me.
RIP, Rock.