Four Horsemen Member Ole Anderson Dies at 81

Ole Anderson, a name that was majorly influential throughout the 70s and 80s in the south, has passed away at 81 years old.

Ric Flair posted a tribute to Anderson on his social media, thanking Ole and Gene Anderson for bringing him into Jim Crockett Promotions. “I Am Forever Thankful To Ole And Gene For Bringing Me In To Crockett Promotions As A Cousin,” Flair wrote. “It Launched My Career. I Will Be Grateful Forever For You Giving Me The Opportunity To Become Who I Am Today. We Didn’t Always Agree With Each Other, But The Honest To God Truth Is You & Gene Started Me. Rest In Peace My Friend!”

Anderson got his start in professional wrestling in 1967 wrestling for Jim Crockett Promotions and the American Wrestling Alliance. It is through his time in JCP that he would begin wrestling in a tag team called the Minnesota Wrecking Crew alongside Gene Anderson. After he departed the promotion in the early 70s, Anderson would head to Florida to compete in Championship Wrestling from Florida where he held the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship with Ronnie Marvin and NWA Florida Television Championship. As his career picked up, he returned to JCP and began wrestling in Georgia for Georgia Championship Wrestling and wrestled primarily between those two promotions for 13 years.

During this time he would mix it up with Ric Flair but it wouldn’t be until 1986 that one of the most influential stables in wrestling, The Four Horsemen. Comprised of Ole, Arn Anderson, Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard (with manager J.J. Dillon), the heel stable took over the professional wrestling world and paved the way for many of the stars today. Ole would feud with some of the biggest babyfaces in wrestling at that time like Dusty Rhodes, The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton), and The Road Warriors. Anderson would later be kicked out of the group where he then began teaming with Lex Luger but then in 1990 he would reform the Four Horsemen with this new version carrying the icon Sting (who was kicked out rather quickly). 

After his career began winding down he would appear in more of a backstage capacity including as a head of the booking committee for WCW (World Championship Wrestling) where he created the infamous “Black Scorpion” who taunted the NWA World Heavyweight Champion Sting. He officially retired in 1996 after leaving WCW, and would go on to write a book titled Inside Out: How Corporate America Destroyed Professional Wrestling. Anderson is a decorated champion in the professional wrestling sphere, collecting gold across multiple companies. He is an eighteen-time NWA Georgia Tag Team Champion, eight-time NWA World Tag Team Champion, and a two-time NWA Georgia Television Champion, among many others.