In an exclusive interview with Inside The Ropes, Arn Anderson has revealed how his WrestleMania X8 appearance during the Undertaker vs Ric Flair match produced the moment he counts as his favourite Spinebuster of all time.
“Well, people ask me – what is my favorite spinebuster of all time? I don’t think there’s one that’s in second place. That was it.”
As for why the moment was so special, Arn would say all the “pieces of the puzzle” made the moment believable.
“I think the key was I got down there without being seen. it was like I just magically appear, “Boof!” I was there And the setup was so good and all the pieces of the puzzle were so good, referee’s down, the spinebuster looked pretty convincing, I think. When I rolled out and hit the floor, everybody in that building thought, “Oh, God, they’re going to pull this off!”
“It was actually set up well enough that, “That’s it. That’s going to be it.” And when he kicked out, it was almost like a gasp, a sigh of relief, but that’s the thing that was so special about it, it was done in a way that the audience believes, ‘Oh, God, here it comes’.”
The Enforcer discussed it with Inside The Ropes’ Gary Cassidy, asking for his thoughts as a 12-year-old at the time, with the pair conversing about how the moment was so effective as young fans of The Undertaker really thought that was the moment the Streak would end, despite being in its relevant infancy. Anderson, however, remains adamant the Streak never should have ended, and spoke about how he got the blame when it did.
“Trust me, the night that it went down, I had already went up to where the talent viewing area was and the guys had their families and were having a few drinks, and that thing went down, when the streak was broken, and everybody looked at me like they wanted to kill me! This is the backstage inside story. Miz and Heath Slater and all these guys are looking at me and I’m like, “I didn’t do it! What are you mad at me about?” But they really was like… “What the hell was that all about?” And it didn’t matter who the opponent was, it shouldn’t have been anybody. I think a lot of talent feel that way.”
As for how many Spinebusters he has left in him, Arn Anderson believes he still has two left in him – but is adamant he won’t wrestle another match.
“I’ve got maybe…two more than I’m going to spread out. Time will tell. We’ll see.”
Thanks to Arn Anderson for taking the time to chat with Inside The Ropes. You can read the full interview here.
You can follow Arn Anderson on Twitter here, and check out The Arn Show via Patreon.com/AdFreeShows