RIP: Ole Anderson

The world of professional wrestling lost a legendary, albeit cantankerous figure in Ole Anderson, who passed away at 81.

Born Alan Rogowski, Anderson made his professional debut in the late 60s, and it did not take long for him to make his way to the Carolinas, where he adopted the Ole Anderson name as the kayfabe brother of Lars and Gene Anderson, the latter of whom he had a regular tag team with. They won multiple tag team titles, and Ole also established himself as a singles star. As Anderson gained knowledge, he took over as the booker in both Jim Crockett Promotions and Georgia Championship Wrestling. When Jack and Jerry Brisco sold their interest in GCW to Vince McMahon, Anderson created the Championship Wrestling from Georgia.

Ole's promotion would merge with JCP, and Anderson remained a fixture. He gained a new tag team partner (and kayfabe brother) in Arn Anderson, and they would later form the Four Horseman with Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard. Ole entered semi-retirement in 1987 when he was kicked out of the group.

He returned to reform the group with Flair, Arn, Barry Windham, and Sid Vicious, but was used as the mouthpiece for the group for a short time before he went backstage as a booker. He would leave the promotion for good in 1994.

Anderson was as intelligent as he was curmudgeonly and was one of the few who legitimately did not care whether you liked him. He was one of the better bookers of his era, and though not all of his ideas worked (Black Scorpion), he was undoubtedly creative.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the fans, friends, and family of Ole Anderson.