Arn Anderson

Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is an American professional wrestling road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

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).

Martin Anthony Lunde was born in Rome, Georgia, on September 20, 1958.

Lunde began his career on January 2, 1982 in Georgia Championship Wrestling going by the ring name Jim Vertaroso, having been trained by Ted Lipscomb (Allen).

He spent much of the year wrestling in various independent wrestling companies across the United States, including a minor run in Mid South Wrestling for Bill Watts from 1982 to 1983.

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 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.

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 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.

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 taking on the name of "Arn Anderson", 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 1985 on Thanksgiving night.

The Crew successfully defended the titles against Wahoo McDaniel and Billy Jack Haynes.

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-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., 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 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 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.

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.

After his retirement, he worked as a producer for WWE until 2019, when he joined All Elite Wrestling (AEW).