Arn Anderson Comments On His WWE Release, Upcoming Starrcast Appearance

Arn Anderson's recent release from WWE shocked many in the wrestling world, but from the sounds of it, animosity between the two sides had been brewing for quite some time.

Anderson had been John Cena's personal backstage agent for many years, which certainly kept him in a prime position. However, with Cena's move away from the company in recent years, Anderson wasn't as closely tied to a top star and made his eventual release all the more possible.

It all came to a head at a live event in February when Anderson reportedly allowed Alicia Fox to wrestle a match despite being intoxicated. This caused anger from several stars backstage, though at the same time, nobody expected he would be released from the company in the aftermath.

Anderson recently spoke with Sports Illustrated about his exit from the company he had worked for since 2001.

"I was fortunate enough to work with WWE for 18 years," said Anderson. "Certainly that provided my family and myself with a nice living, and I have no regrets. A lot of my best friends still work there. Everything has a shelf life, and I guess mine ran out."

Anderson is not entirely done with the wrestling business. He will be appearing at Starrcast II during All Elite Wrestling's Double or Nothing weekend over the Memorial Day holiday in Las Vegas. He will join such names as his former Four Horsemen stable mate Ric Flair, as well as Bret Hart (who will be interviewed by former WWE announcer Sean Mooney), The Undertaker, and many others.

In regards to his appearance at Starrcast, Anderson said, "It used to be a dangerous setting when they handed me a live mic. So we'll see if it will be again."

Conrad Thompson, who has organized both Starrcast events, said of Anderson's upcoming appearance, "We're proud to have Arn Anderson on stage as one of our marquee events. We can't wait for Arn to have a live mic in his hand, and stay tuned for more details."