On the July 28th Edition of 'Ask Arn', former WCW & NWA Star and Four Horsemen Member Arn Anderson was asked if he made the right decision, in regard to retiring early from pro wrestling before his body started to break down. He spoke candidly that it wasn't his call to make and he was told to leave the business or he'd regret it.
"It was taken out of my hands. The first two times that I cracked vertebrae in my neck. It was a single crack in a single vertebrae. And I had like my arm shut down for a period of time and then my rear delt on the other side the second time, and my tricep disappear. But I was able to reset those back. The third time. When, when the injury occurred. I don't even know exactly what was the tipping point but I've told the story of going Gold's Gym and my hand just died."
Anderson went on to explain the damage to his hand and how said damage was alleviated.
"When that occurred. and I have no use of my left hand. And I went in to have all those tests, and went to my chiropractor who was one of my best friends probably for 25 years. He said I can't help you this time. you got to have surgery, my chiropractor tells you that, considering different fields of endeavor and the kind of work against each other but I trusted them when I went had the battery of tests and the MRIs and all that stuff and the doctor said it's like this, you know, we got to go in there and get these nerves released to get some of that damaged bone out. If not, you lose that hand. What he said lose and I thought he's talking about amputation. They said well you're gonna lose, you know you're not gonna be able to use that hand. You know, we're not going to amputate it but it's you know it's gonna be very weak right now you have the use of a couple of fingers, you know, and I'm trying to save that for you so but you got to have the surgery."
Anderson explained that his back and neck were severely damaged and his doctors stressed that he wasn't going to be able to continue his wrestling career, and that if he continued to wrestle, he was going to end up in a wheelchair.
"If you don't have an option you don't have an option. So I just listened to all the you know the experts and he also, you know, hit me one of those lines, I'll ever, you know, forget he says you know if you go back here to try to wrestle. You're going to go too far right away. And once you've went too far, it's too late. I can't fix it. So the question I asked you is do you want to spend the rest of your life, you know, walking, or do you want to spend the rest of your life rolling in. Which meant a wheelchair is done. I'm done."
*If using Arn Anderson's Quotes, please credit Pro Wrestling Slam! for the transcription.
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