Jim Ross On Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard Jumping to WWF in 1988, How It Left a Hole in the Roster

– On the latest Grilling JR, Jim Ross talked about Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard’s departure from Jim Crockett Promotions to join WWF in 1988. Anderson and Blanchard were the NWA World Tag Team Champions at the time that they signed with WWF and thus a major part of the company’s roster. However, after a dispute about pay, Blanchard and Anderson gave their notice and signed with WWF, dropping the titles to the Midnight Express before doing so. JR recalled how it left a deep sense of concern in him that they had to fill the void left in the wake of their departure.

Highlights from the discussion, and the full podcast, are below:

On being concerned after Anderson and Blanchard left: “Hell, yeah. You lose two talents as good as, arguably the best tag team in the business at that time … and I just thought they were phenomenal. And yeah, losing star players like that is like Patriots losing Brady or something. It don’t look good. They were phenomenal, and yeah it hurt. They were great in the locker room, they were good leaders. Arn has a great sense of humor, and Tully was Tully. Both of them had a lot of street smarts, and wrestling savvy. They could help others if the others would come to them and ask.”

On the departures leaving a hole in the roster: “So yeah, it hurt. It was not good, it was very upsetting. And it made you think, ‘Oh, my god, could this be the beginning of the end! We’re losing two of our stars. We’re losing the middle of our lineup! And what are we gonna do about it?’ Well, you gotta make new stars, but here’s the thing folks. That’s easy to say. You just can’t replicate personality, charisma, reliability and athleticism by waving your magic wand. And we never replaced Arn and Tully in that world, down there in that time.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.