Arn Anderson Reveals His Mentorship Of Cody Is A Kept Promise

Written by Inside The Ropes • Published 10th January 2021
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‘The Enforcer’ Arn Anderson has opened up about his role as mentor and coach to Cody Rhodes, revealing that his part is a kept promise to the late Dusty Rhodes.

As part of the legendary Four Horsemen, Arn Anderson was a constant thorn in the side of ‘The American Dream’ during the pair’s time in Jim Crockett Promotions and the National Wrestling Alliance. While Rhodes was eyeing Ric Flair and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, Arn, Tully Blanchard and Ole Anderson were cooking up various ways to keep him out of Flair’s business.

One of those plans was a parking lot ambush of the son of a plumber, where the stylish faction broke the star’s ankle with a vicious attack only for him to return and target Anderson as well as his NWA World Television Championship.

However, since August 2019, Arn Anderson has been by the side of the son of one of his greatest rivals as mentor and served as a fountain of knowledge to both the former AEW TNT Champion and the entire Nightmare Family.

Standing by his ward, ‘Double A’ has taken beatings in defence of the star – most recently at the hands of Team Taz at AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming – and helped to rescue him from certain peril during rivalries with The Dark Order and MJF.

Now, Anderson has sat down with WrestleZone to discuss his role as Cody’s mentor and why what he does in the present is a promise he’s keeping to ‘The American Dream’, Dusty Rhodes:

“Well it’s a very real thing sometimes with Cody. With all of the experience he has and is polished and is smart and the wrestling IQ that he has now, and the business IQ that he has, he gets caught up in the excitement of the match a lot of times and will do something that is not necessarily good for the way he’s perceived, but the way the match goes soon after that. I’ve never been someone who thought when you had a guy down you should take your foot off the pedal. Cody will sometimes take his foot off the pedal to do three ridiculous push-ups. I can’t even do three push-ups still so that doesn’t impress me and it’s a pause that I have to call him on because a long, long time ago when he first started with WWE, I was talking to Dusty and I made him a promise. ‘I’ll keep an eye on Dustin,’ who-Dustin was fine, he was already a veteran. I said, ‘But I’ll keep an eye on Cody and I’ll make sure that I’ll look after him and I will guide him when I can,’ and I have kept that promise. I think he still needs it. I think it’s comforting to Cody to sometimes be able to take him out of the game plan and get a different idea that he likes and goes, ‘Yeah, if this comes up, we’ll try that.’

Arn then moved on to talk at length about the knowledge he’s accumulated over the years and how Cody takes in everything he’s told:

“We all need help in this business. If you ever think that you stopped learning because you ‘got it’ you know it all, you better go take your boots, throw ’em in a fireplace and set them on fire because you’re done. You never quit learning in this business and that’s for sure and I think he takes, not all, but some of my suggestions and he’s always been very respectful as we come back to the curtain for chewing his backside out ever occasionally, but I didn’t sign on to be a ‘yes’ man, I didn’t sign on to be a promoter of Cody Rhodes, I signed on to help the product, and help them grow and help Cody where I could and just give a presence. I’ve been around a long time. At 38 years you run through different phases of the industry. I’ve been around for all of it and I can offer an insight that very few people can. Not blowing smoke, just been there, seen that, done that and I can lend that to Cody and the company itself.”

In 2019, Arn Anderson was released from WWE following an incident where he allowed an intoxicated Alicia Fox to perform on a live event. On August 31, 2019, the legend made a surprise appearance at AEW All Out to assist Cody and soon after it was announced that he would serve as Producer and on-screen talent.
Credit for the interview and transcription: WrestleZone