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Arn Anderson Reveals The 10 Wrestlers He’d Pick To Start A Universal Hall of Fame, Why Rey Mysterio Belongs In The Class

September 19, 2020 | Posted by Blake Lovell
Rey Mysterio Raw Image Credit: WWE

In a recent edition of ARN, Arn Anderson discussed the 10 wrestlers he’d pick to start a universal Hall of Fame, why Rey Mysterio belongs in the group, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Arn Anderson on his picks for a hypothetical universal Hall of Fame class: “I don’t think you can even begin a Hall of Fame unless you put Bruno Sammartino in there number one. I think you gotta have Flair and Hogan just for who they are and what they’ve contributed. Dusty Rhodes. Let’s see – I think you gotta put Ricky Steamboat in there just for as hot as he was and probably is, and I think the business has never been hotter than when he was at his best. You gotta put Steve Austin there. Gotta put Andre the Giant – there’s only one giant. Just for his commitment to excellence and his leadership role and the fact that the guy is just willing to put his body out there and do whatever he can to make the product better and the overall respect he has from everyone that’s ever been in the room with him – gotta put Undertaker in there.”

On why Rey Mysterio belongs in the group: “For the longest time, most people, myself included, had a vision in their mind of what a professional wrestler was supposed to look like and if he didn’t look like that, he couldn’t have been one of the top guys. I think the first guy to truly wake you up to the fact you didn’t have to be 6-5 and 270 to be successful and over in this business, you just had to be able to perform – I think Rey Mysterio was the first guy that you work you up to the fact that you know what, this guy doesn’t have a chance at the bell, the little guy is gonna get squashed, but through the psychology and the way he worked his matches – Rey never ran over anybody – he chopped everybody down a piece at a time. And at the end of the night, you bought it because of the way he did it. I think Rey set the standard and opened the door for smaller guys to have a very prominent place in the industry and be credible in everything they do. It wasn’t about size, it was about quality.”

On his pick for which city should host the physical Hall of Fame: “The one in my experience who has been faithful to us throughout history – to large companies, small companies, big events, small events, and the new guy in town no matter what – is probably Chicago. I would put your Hall Fame there because it is kind of in the Midwest and in the middle of the country and those damn fans have earned it. So they get the actual physical site.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit ARN with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.