In a recent episode of his podcast, “The ARN Show”, Arn Anderson shared some fascinating insights on the wrestling world. He talked about the peculiar support that heel characters received from Philadelphia wrestling fanatics during the older days, as well as the relevance of the Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 list for wrestling professionals.
Check out the highlights from Anderson’s podcast below:
Reflecting on the unique behavior of Philadelphia wrestling fans during the earlier days, Anderson noted: “Frankly, it was impossible to convert them. You simply had to go with the flow. Philadelphia was predominantly a heel town, and your job was to step out and perform. Let things go as they may. If they cheered for, good. If they booed, so be it. I believe it’s quite a brutal city. Philadelphians love their athletes and prefer them tough. I doubt anything else other than completely altering your style would work, but they would have seen through that and destroyed it. You simply stepped into the ring and gave them a fantastic fight, worth their money. And that was it.”
Addressing the question of whether wrestlers kept tabs on publications like PWI, Anderson said, “Of course, they did. This was a time before social media. To keep up with everything, we kind of relied on these publications. PWI, for instance, when they ranked tag teams or singles, it was almost accurate. Although it was a wrestling magazine, it had content that required thought. They also covered how wrestlers were being utilized in each territory. So, if you had a territory, they had a section where it featured the top 10, which was fairly close.”
Discussing how appearing on the PWI list benefited wrestlers, Anderson said, “Promoters would look at the list and think, These guys must be pretty good. I haven’t heard of them. Let’s consider bringing them in. The rankings turned real for us.”
Check out the full podcast episode below: