50 Best WCW Moments Ever
40. Arn Anderson Retires
Hold those waterworks if you can, Ric! The 'Nature Boy' was emotional on the 25 August 1997 Nitro when old buddy and Four Horsemen cohort Arn Anderson announced his formal retirement from full-time wrestling. Fans in attendance were caught up in all of this too. They realised that a bit of NWA style tradition was dying out before their very eyes.
Arn thanked everyone for their support, then offered his spot as 'Enforcer' in the Horsemen to Curt Hennig. It wouldn't be long before the one time Mr. Perfect betrayed his new buddies to join the nWo (no surprises there - pretty much everyone did during that era), but Anderson's segment on TV remained memorable.
This is something WCW did extremely well, even through the nWo days. They honoured the traditions of the territories and NWA-led pro wrestling occasionally, and it typically worked. Older fans who remembered the glory days of The Four Horsemen stable must've been sad to see Arn call time on his career.
He had a few part-time spinebusters left in him though. That one on The Undertaker at WrestleMania X8 was ace.