Arn Anderson Recalls How PWI Lists Could Help Wrestlers’ Careers

On the latest episode of The ARN Show, Arn Anderson talked about Philadelphia fans cheering for heels back in the day, wrestlers benefiting from being ranked as part of the Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 list, and more. You can check out some highlights below:

On Philadelphia fans cheering for heels back in the day: “Well, I gave up on trying to turn them. I just went with it. It’s just that it was a heel town, and you just went out and you had a move set. And you went out, and you just did what you did and let the chips fall where they may. If they cheered for you, they did. If they booed you, they did. I know one thing: it’s a violent city. They like their athletes, and they like them tough in Philadelphia. And I don’t think other than just completely changing your style, which they would have seen through that and s**t all over it. You just went up there and gave them a hell of a fight, gave them their money’s worth. And that’s what it was.”

On whether wrestlers read the dirt sheets like PWI: “You bet. Because there was no social media. If you were going to keep up with — you know, and they would half-ass. Like Pro Wrestling Illustrated when they would rate tag teams or singles or something, it was kind of almost accurate. So even though it’s a wrestling magazine, it was — you know, a lot of the stuff they put in there took some thought. And by the way, guys were being used. If you had a territory, I think they had a section where it was each territory, and you had the top 10, and it would be pretty close. And it was just by how they were being used.”

On how wrestlers could benefit from being on the PWI list: “Well you know, and I think the promoters would look at that and go, Well, these guys must be pretty good. I hadn’t heard of them. Let’s maybe not be bringing them in. So the work turned into a shoot.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The ARN Show with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.