Glass Hand Dissolving: Arn & Ole Anderson

 

vs Rock n Roll Express (JCP 8/2/1986)

The Andersons are a great foil for the Rock n Rolls. They can convincingly get heat, they can sell in a way that keeps their credibility, but doesn't hurt their opponent. In a short tv match, they can get that kind of thing across; that doesn't make the match great, but it does say something about the team, their position, and their abilities. 

vs Kansas Jayhawks (JCP 9/6/1986)

This is interesting because the Jayhawks work a heat segment on Arn Anderson for the bulk of it. It's somewhat novel to see the Andersons working from behind; it creates a scenario where Ole makes almost a hot tag, where his offense isn't really any different, but because of the context, the crowd responds in a different way. It doesn't make the match good; it is mostly fine, and ends in a DQ that makes Ole and Arn look bad, but it is another wrinkle. 

vs The Galaxian & Pat Rose (WCW 12/16/1989)

In what may be the craziest bit of foreshadowing I've encountered. Pat Rose attacks Arn Anderson with what JR calls pliers, but look an awful lot like scissors to me. It doesn't make much of a dent, as Arn and Ole clear the ring fairly quickly. The Galaxian gets beat up first, and then it is Pat Rose's turn. The Andersons go to work on his arm to the point where he taps out to Ole's wristlock. It is textbook working a limb, but over a pretty short period, against an opponent that is entirely outmatched. One of the drawbacks of a lot of teams of this era is that the bulk of their resume on tape is these short TV matches, and really only so much can be gleaned from them or said about them.

vs The Fabulous Freebirds (WCW 12/17/1989)

The Andersons are faces here, which is certainly not their forte, but they do it pretty well here. Ole, maybe because he can convincingly play off being old, works pretty well as a face in peril; he carries pretty much the entire match in that role. Arn makes a pretty quick hot tag, and the match is over. Another okay TV match. 

vs State Patrol (WCW 12/23/1989)

This is the most brutalizing performance of the bunch. They really go after the State Patrol here, and I think this is really a strong performance, insofar as a contrast to the other stuff from 1989 we've watched. They work as faces in the Freebirds match, and their offense is limited; they worked from behind against Rose and the Galaxian. Here they go on the offense from the start; they look good, and they win. 

Verdict

We didn't watch the big Rock n Roll match; I've already seen it and didn't like it. I think they were better in the short TV match we watched. Outside of that, they are limited in the kinds of matches they have on tape. I think this was probably a very good team; I just don't know how good you could reasonably say they were based on footage.