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Ole Anderson, a professional wrestler who played an original member of the Four Horsemen team in the 1980s and later criticized the sport’s corporate greed, died Monday. He was 81 years old.
He Carter Funeral Home in Winder, Georgia, said that Mr. Anderson had died at his home in Monroe, Georgia, and had “passed away peacefully.” The funeral home did not share the cause of death.
World Wrestling Entertainment, known as the World Wrestling Federation when Mr. Anderson wrestled, said in a statement Monday that he was known for his “tough style and brusque demeanor.”
Anderson wrestled professionally from the late 1960s to the 1980s, after training with WWE Hall of Famer Verne Gagne.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, he was a member of the crew known as the Minnesota Wrecking Crew, which over the years included Gene, Lars, and Arn Anderson, who called themselves brothers and were popular in the Midwest. . They were part of regional circuits such as Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and Georgia Championship Wrestling, which were united under the National Wrestling Alliance, which regularly crowned them tag team champions.
In the 1980s, Anderson teamed with Arn Anderson, Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard to become the Four Horsemen, who dominated the NWA and later World Championship Wrestling, which competed with the WWF.
“The group set a standard of style, attitude and success that has inspired every group that followed,” WWE said in its statement, calling it “one of the greatest in the history of sports entertainment.”
After retiring from wrestling, Anderson booked matches for WCW in the 1990s, when its popularity rivaled that of the WWF, which later purchased WCW.
As professional wrestling became more popular and commercialized, Anderson increasingly disparaged it. In a 2003 book, “Inside Out: How Corporate America Destroyed Professional Wrestling,” written with Scott Teal, Anderson wrote about his disdain for the sport’s corporate transformation and his clashes with executives, including Vince McMahon, the former head of wwe
Anderson continued to criticize WWE for years. In an interview in 2021He said that McMahon had made professional wrestling more of an entertainment than a sport.
“It is very difficult for me to see the things that are on television today,” he said.
Mr. Anderson was left out when other members of the Four Horsemen were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, but he is a member of the NWE and WCW halls of fame.
Mr. Anderson was born Alan Robert Rogowski on September 22, 1942 in St. Paul, Minnesota, the son of Robert Joseph Rogowski and Georgiana Bryant. He became interested in professional wrestling as a career after serving in the US Army. Growing up in Minnesota, Anderson said in 2021 that he had been exposed to professional wrestling by watching Gagne, who also grew up in the state.
According an excerpt from his book, Anderson said that he had tried out as a wrestler against Gagne, who was impressed with Anderson’s physical ability. After performing several exercises, Anderson said, Gagne asked him if he was tired. Anderson said he refused to show any signs of fatigue.
“I was smart enough to know that you never admit there’s anything wrong,” Anderson wrote. “Even if there was, you don’t admit it. I learned that lesson as an amateur wrestler. You never let anyone know you were tired. Just keep going until you drop.”
According to Carter Funeral Home, Mr. Anderson is survived by his children: Bryant Rogowski, Christian Rogowski, Fortune Evans, Aaron Rogowski, Ethan Rogowski, Galen Rogowski and Dana Armstrong. He is also survived by Marsha Cain, his lifelong partner.