Arn Anderson Wanted Curt Hennig To Replace Him In Four Horsemen

On the latest episode of ARN, Arn Anderson revisited February 1997, when reports of his injury signaled an expanded Four Horsemen role for Jeff Jarrett. Anderson was forced to retire due to a neck injury. He explained that he had no idea at the time that his in-ring career was finished. You can check out his comments below:

On Who He Wanted to Replace Him:

“Well, I wasn’t so naive that I thought the Horsemen would fold up without me. I think I was a pretty good cornerstone to keep it in place, and I already had an eye on Curt Hennig. He would have been the perfect match to take my spot.”

On Going Into Surgery Expecting To Come Back:

“Well, I didn’t know what the word surgery meant until I had it. I’m thinking, okay, I’ll get this fixed, I’ll have the surgery, and I’ll be back in six months, and life goes on. Surgery was something entirely different. Spent eight days in the hospital. Pain was excruciating — absolutely excruciating. In those days I had a big thick neck, and they had to cut through all that muscle in the back. I don’t know how many stitches, 100 probably. I was in the hospital eight days, and the fact is, I stayed kind of stuck in the bed, stagnant, and I was borderline having pneumonia. Which I was going to be a mess, because if you can’t get up and walk and get some stuff going, pneumonia will jump on you just like that. You’re not sick, go to the hospital, and you’ll get sick.”

On Not Realizing It Was the End:

“Well, I had two episodes of stuff shutting down on me prior to this, so I just thought this is going to be another six-month rehab. Never occurred to me that it was over.”

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.