WWE Hall of famer is ‘terrified’ by the style of modern-day wrestling
Recently speaking to Denise Salcedo, WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson opened up about his thoughts on the modern-day style of wrestling and why it ‘terrifies’ him.
“I’m terrified. I respect the girls and guys of today’s wrestling industry, but scared to death too, because I see things in the ring that you can’t protect yourself on,” Anderson continued. “Anything going backwards, German Suplex, you can’t protect yourself because you can’t see where you’re going. Stuff off the top, going through tables, things that are dangerous.”
While old-school wrestling was more traditional, modern-day wrestling has seen the influence of more high-flying style into it. Reflecting on his own experience, Anderson stated,
“You look at me, I’m beat up, and I didn’t do any of that stuff, so I’m just worried that in five years we’re gonna have a casualty list, and I hate it for the young guys and girls, because they feel like they need to go to that level to get the audience’s approval.”
“Do you need them to do that to enjoy their matches? If they dialled it down would you not follow them? I’m not saying take everything away from them, take all the excitement away, but take some of the stuff that talent are time after time getting hurt on and just dial it down, that’s all I’m asking.”
Arn Anderson says injuries are more prevalent in wrestling now
In the same interview, Anderson also opened up about how injuries are more frequent in the current era of wrestling.
“I’ll never get my wish. I don’t have any control over the business at all, other than my opinion, but I hear almost on a weekly basis who is dropping out due to injury. It was not that way when I was wrestling, and granted, we weren’t doing the stuff they are doing, and that was by design.”
Taking the example of Charlotte Flair, he said,
“I’ll give an example; Ric’s daughter, Ashley Flair, Charlotte. She’s famous for dropping her opponent on the floor, going to the top rope and doing a Moonsault to the floor. If you go back and slow the tape down, there’s no way to catch somebody off top, and she’s landing on her feet. What’s the odds of her blowing her knee out or tearing her hamstring? You tell me if she doesn’t do that move, I’ll be disappointed. I don’t think so.”
Flair, earlier this year, returned from a year-long injury at Royal Rumble 2025 and won the match, before challenging Tiffany Stratton at WrestleMania 41.
