[1990-07-28-NWA-World Championship Wrestling] Interview: Arn Anderson

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

There's a package for Ric Flair or the Horsemen with a picture of a guy named Dustin. Arn has no idea who he is. Is this a Dusty rib? Lots of people are going to be attacked and go to the hospital, and it won't be the Horsemen's fault. It will be Sting's fault.

[PeteF3]

I have no clue what the "Dustin" picture is supposed to be about. Was this a signing that fell through? Anyway, Arn announces that in addition to Flair, Sid Vicious will also be gunning for Sting's title, and asserts that anyone hospitalized in the future will not be the fault of the Horsemen, but Sting.

[soup23]

I didn't get the Dustin connection either but it gets blown off pretty quickly and we get a typical good arn promo.

[Kevin Ridge]

Dustin? Arn tells us that Sid is next in line to go after Sting to get the World Title back for the Horsemen.

[garretta]

Arn doesn't yell or scream, but rather calmly promises that all the damage that the Horsemen will do from now on will be Sting's fault and no one else's. I don't know about the Stinger, but I'm definitely shaking in my boots!

 

It seems like they're trying to push a Sting/Sid feud here, which would seem like a definite moneymaker to me. Oh, if Ole would have only kept his big mouth shut in front of Jim Herd.

 

I'm guessing that maybe Dustin Rhodes was supposed to come in, but decided to join his dad for a while first. Don't worry, Arn, you'll find out more than you ever wanted to about him soon enough.

 

Nice compliment that Arn paid JR in an era when heels very seldom complimented babyface announcers on camera (with the occasional exception of Gordon Solie).

[drew wardlaw]

Awesome heel tactic here, putting the blame on Sting for anyone who ends up in the hospital at the hands of the Horsemen. The "you made me do this" domestic abuser trick is a great tool for heels.

[GSR]

Jim Ross is with Arn Anderson, and Ross says that before he went on air today he received this letter which says to ‘Ric Flair or The Horsemen’. Ric Flair isn’t there today but Arn Anderson is, and he’s got a picture that he wants him to take a look at and wonders if the name ‘Dustin’ means anything to him? Arn says that it doesn’t and he doesn’t know who that is. Ross then says he knows who the World Heavyweight champion is, does he not? Real, real vividly he knows who it is, and he tells Sting that if Ric Flair doesn’t get that belt back, then ‘killer’ Sid Vicious will. He wonders if that coup Sting pulled off with all those ‘Dudes With Attitude’ is going to be worth all the anguish that is put on him, as his life will never be the same when Sid gets through with him. If anyone makes a trip to the hospital from now, no matter who it is, they’re not going to blame them, they are going to blame Sting, as it’s on his head for what he’s done to the Horsemen.

 

I was trying to work out Dustin Rhodes’ career timeline as ‘surely’ that’s the Dustin that they are referring to? A check on cagematch.net has him debuting in the WWF on 7/15 losing to Haku at a house show. Although this was a taped promo, this episode of WCW was taped on 7/16, so the promo would have been recorded sometime around then. I certainly get the impression that Dustin was scheduled to come in, but backed out to join his father in the WWF instead. Considering how young he was at the time, to be coming in to feud with the Horsemen sounds like he would have been in for a pretty big push. Ominous stuff from Arn and I like the way how he doesn’t shout or scream to get his point across. It comes over as much more deadly and menacing that way. After teasing it with the Ole promo, definitely looks like we are heading down the Sting vs Sid Vicious route.