| Ole Anderson | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Black Scorpion The Rock Rock Rogowski Ole Anderson |
| Billed height | 6' 1" |
| Billed weight | 256 |
| Born | September 22 1942 Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Trained by | Verne Gagne |
| Debut | 1967 |
| Retired | 1993 |
Alan Robert Rogowski (born September 22 1942 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) better known by his ring name Ole Anderson, is a retired professional wrestling performer and a promoter. He held numerous NWA World Tag Team Championships with Gene Anderson, who was portrayed as his brother.
Contents |
Career
American Wrestling Association
Anderson started wrestling in 1967 in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) as Rock Rogowski, where he held the AWA Midwest Heavyweight and the AWA Midwest Tag Team Titles.
National Wrestling Alliance
He went on to work for National Wrestling Alliance-sanctioned promotions such as Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP, out of Charlotte, North Carolina) and Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), where he adopted the ring name Ole Anderson, and became a member of the legendary tag team called the Minnesota Wrecking Crew with his "brother" Gene Anderson after Lars Anderson left the team in the late 1960s. The team of Ole & Gene became synonymous with tag team wrestling in JCP and GCW for many years running. The Andersons feuded with such stars as Mr. Wrestling & Mr. Wrestling II, Wahoo McDaniel, Jack Brisco, Jerry Brisco, Tommy Rich, Johnny Weaver, Dino Bravo, Paul Jones, Ric Flair, Greg Valentine, Ricky Steamboat, Rufus R. Jones, The Mongols, and Thunderbolt Patterson throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. Behind the scenes, Anderson was also the primary booker for GCW and also had a stint booking JCP in 1981-82. For a time he even booked both companies simultaneously, often combining both rosters for supercards which were noted for offering some of the best action in the business at that time. He later left JCP to book and wrestle for GCW full-time. When owners Jack and Jerry Brisco sold that promotion to Vince McMahon, Anderson resisted the change, and joined forces with longtime NWA-sanctioned promoters Fred Ward and Ralph Freed to start a new company called Championship Wrestling from Georgia.
Teaming with Arn Anderson
In April 1985, Jim Crockett Promotions and Championship Wrestling from Georgia essentially merged. Anderson was teaming with Thunderbolt Patterson in GCW just as Marty Lunde was debuting in JCP as Arn Anderson. It seemed like a natural fit to put the two "Andersons" together. Anderson soon turned on Thunderbolt and teamed with Arn as the Minnesota Wrecking Crew.
The Four Horsemen
In 1986, Anderson became part of the original Four Horsemen, a heel stable, with Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and manager James J. Dillon. During his time in the Horsemen, Anderson feuded with Magnum T.A., Dusty Rhodes, The Rock 'N Roll Express and the Road Warriors. Anderson was later kicked out of the group in favor of Lex Luger in early 1987. Anderson retired in 1988, when his son, Brian, was starting his own amateur wrestling career. Brian later joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Bryant Anderson.
World Championship Wrestling
Anderson returned to wrestling with WCW in 1989 to reform the Four Horsemen with Flair, Arn and Sting. They quickly kicked Sting out of the group, and Anderson retired again to manage the Horsemen, who by then also included Barry Windham and Sid Vicious. By 1990, Anderson had been chosen to head the booking committee for WCW, which was at that time beginning to phase out the use of the NWA name on its television programming. Appearing in the credits for WCW pay-per-views (PPVs) under his real name, Anderson was responsible for some of the more infamous creative ideas tried by WCW. Among his creations were The Black Scorpion, which was intended to be a nemesis from Sting's past. After several miscues, the Scorpion's identity was eventually revealed as Ric Flair, in a ploy to confuse Sting and force him to lose the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
Dismissal
When Eric Bischoff took over control of WCW in 1993, both Anderson and his son became a casualty of his "house cleaning" when Bischoff fired Bryan while he was training at the WCW Power Plant. This prompted Anderson to call Smoky Mountain Wrestling head Jim Cornette to try to get his son a job. Anderson's judgment to deal with Cornette, someone Bischoff was on bad terms with, on WCW property, was the factor that led to his firing. Infamously, Bischoff fired Anderson over the phone, even though he spoke to Anderson face-to-face the day before. The chain of events was covered in a "shoot" interview by Cornette.
Retirement
Since that time, he has stayed away from the business, but wrote a book on it entitled Inside Out. He has also hinted at having heat with former partner and friend Ric Flair by criticizing that Flair has wrestled the same match for years[1]. In July 2007, Gerweck.net reported that Anderson has been suffering from multiple sclerosis. In a recent interview, he stated that he would be very happy if he was dead.
Wrestling facts
Managers
Factions
Wrestlers managed
- Arn Anderson
- Bryant Anderson
- Wayne Bloom
- Paul Ellering
- Mike Enos
- Ric Flair
- Michael Hayes
- Samoan Afa
- Samoan Sika
- Sid Vicious
- Barry Windham
Championships and accomplishments
- AWA Midwest Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- AWA Midwest Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Ox Baker (1) and The Claw (1)
- NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (17 times) - with Gene Anderson (7), Ivan Koloff (5), Lars Anderson (2), Rene Goulet (1), Ernie Ladd (1), and Jerry Brisco (1)
- NWA National Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Arn Anderson (1) and Thunderbolt Patterson (1)
- NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Gene Anderson
- NWA Eastern States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Gene Anderson
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (8 times) - with Gene Anderson (7) and Stan Hansen (1)
- PWI Tag Team of the Year award in 1975 - with Gene Anderson
- PWI Tag Team of the Year award in 1977 - with Gene Anderson
- PWI ranked him #74 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- PWI ranked him #66 with Stan Hansen of the best 100 tag teams during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- PWI ranked him #79 with Arn Anderson of the best 100 tag teams during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- Tag Team of the Year award in 1982 - with Stan Hansen
Books
- Anderson, Ole; Scott Teal [2003]. Inside Out : how corporate America destroyed professional wrestling (in English). Hendersonville, TN: Crowbar Press. ISBN 0974554502. OCLC 54615885.
References
