It has been almost a quarter century since WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson retired from in-ring competition. The Enforcer has not competed in a wrestling match since then.
Recently, while speaking on his ARN Show podcast, Arn Anderson opened up about his retirement and then went on to share the reason why his retirement worked. The WWE Hall of Famer revealed that his doctor would not clear him to wrestle again. He had an incident in the gym that day, and he knew he wouldn’t push himself and risk further damage.
“Because it was legitimate. You know, I knew — my doctor already told me, ‘I will never clear you to wrestle again.’ Then I had the incident in the gym where the guy came up, smacked me on the back. I dropped the water bottle and, like an electric shock went through me which, if I didn’t believe my doctor, I did then. I knew, the first thing that went in my mind was, ‘If that little bitty smack on the back had that kind of impact on me, how am I gonna get bounced around by these beasts?’ And it just said, ‘You’re done.’ There’s a little voice in my head that said, ‘Hey, you’re done.’
“And so it was legitimate. That all happened that day, and this was a spontaneous thing. When I got to TV, I explained to Eric (Bischoff) what had happened and the conversation I had with my doctor. And I thought I could rehab, but he just, ‘It’s not gonna happen.’ I said, ‘Could I have some time just to go out and retire tonight?’” [H/T 411Mania]
Arn Anderson originally stopped competing in 1997. He ended up returning for two more matches in 2000; a singles match against David Flair on May 9, and a tag team match with Ric Flair against David Flair and Crowbar on May 16.
Arn Anderson’s AEW contract expired on May 31st.
Do you think Anderson would ever make a return to WWE?
