Cody Rhodes will introduce Arn Anderson as his manager in AEW - Sports Illustrated (original) (raw)

Ricky Havlik (left), James Musselwhite (right)

Cody Rhodes is set to introduce Arn Anderson as his new on-screen personal advisor this Wednesday on Dynamite, Sports Illustrated has learned.

The AEW storyline between Rhodes and Anderson began this past August during the All Out pay-per-view when Anderson came to Rhodes’s aid in a match against Shawn Spears. Rhodes was dealing with outside interference from Spears’s manager, Tully Blanchard, when Anderson arrived and delivered his trademark spinebuster on Spears.

Anderson and Blanchard are longtime tag partners, renowned for their time together in the Four Horsemen. They first became a force as a team in 1987, going on to feud with the likes of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express and the Road Warriors. Anderson and Blanchard also had a brief but memorable run together in the WWE as The Brain Busters where they were managed by Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, and made magic in the ring with Demolition, The Rockers and the Hart Foundation.

There is plenty of potential for Anderson in his new role with Rhodes, who had a massively successful year in 2019. Rhodes delivered main-event caliber storylines with Dustin Rhodes and Chris Jericho, as well as outstanding matches with emerging talent in Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara. His current program is with MJF, who turned on Rhodes at November’s Full Gear pay-per-view, costing him his only chance to win the AEW world title. Rhodes and MJF are building toward a match at February’s Revolution pay-per-view, and having Anderson in his corner will help balance out MJF’s cornerman, Wardlow.

Rhodes is constantly tinkering to ensure his character is as compelling as possible, and adding a babyface Anderson to his corner adds another reason to watch every time he appears on camera. Anderson is also a master on the microphone, and seeing him spar verbally with MJF will lead to some very entertaining moments in AEW.

The possibility also exists that Anderson will eventually turn on Rhodes, given the contentious storyline history between Anderson and the Rhodes family that dates back to the NWA. The Rhodes-Anderson pairing presents AEW with another interesting element, steeped in wrestling history, as part of their content that will not exist anywhere else in the business.

Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.