TNA Region, Nashville Subregion, First Round: (16) Arn Anderson vs. (17) Christian

[klunderbunker]

I know the whole 'if you're in the bigger company you're a bigger deal' argument is valid. But at the same time being at the top (regardless of how big the promotion) is still the top. Again I know being at the top of WWE is a bigger deal than being at the top of TNA but Anderson was never top of anything. And as I pointed out before Christian did carry a WWE brand. The third one admittedly but it was still an entire tv program.

Not universally it isn't. AJ Styles is of course a bigger deal than say, Drew McIntyre.

I'm not sure I'd say Anderson wasn't at the top. He was an integral part of the Horsemen and they certainly were on top. The Horsemen vs. the Super Powers and the Road Warriors in 1987/1988 is as big a feud as the NWA had in those days and Anderson was a huge part of it. While he wasn't the undisputed top guy in the company, those matches were far bigger than Christian going after the distant second World Title or the ECW Title.

Christian had some great tag runs as well (admittedly with Edge) but tag team accomplishments are pretty much moot in this tournament

Why? It's part of their careers.

One more note I forgot to mention: Anderson and Blanchard kept the Tag Team Titles against the Road Warriors in Chicago in 1988. That almost trumps TLC 2.

 

[Big Sexy]

I agree that TNA title runs aren't as big as some people see them because it is a distant second when it comes to caliber of company in comparison to the WWE. However, TNA around the time Christian was champion isn't very different from how WCW was in 1991 and 1992. In the early 90s WCW was losing money hand over fist and they had lost their top talent in Ric Flair. It was a prime time for a guy like Arn Anderson to finally step into the main event scene and show what he could do. I mean Ron fucking Simmons even got a 150 day run with the title during that period.

Arn Anderson even without Flair and nothing holding him back, still remained basically a tag team guy. He lost the TV title to Bobby Eaton and then teamed with various guys throughout the next couple years. You can't use the second fiddle to Flair excuse when he still did jack shit as a singles wrestler when Flair was gone and the company lacked a lot of star power. Ron Simmons held the WCW title, Barry Windham (fellow Horsemen) fought for the title, even Steve Williams and the Barbarian got title shots during this time yet Anderson stayed as a tag team and stable guy. AA had his niche and was very good at what he did but he wouldn't win here.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

The impression that I get from the posts of some people in this thread is that Christian does not even belong in the same league as Arn Anderson, which is just not true. I guess they are on almost the same level as far as credibility goes. Christian is just as decorated a tag team wrestler and midcard wrestler as Arn. Christian has also won a world title in the WWE, which some might say even Arn could have won in similar circumstances, but I would not agree to that. Like Big Sexy just pointed out Arn did not get the title even when the likes of Flair were not around. In fact, he was ignored in favor of guys like Ron Simmons and Rick Rude, who were midcarders at best. Furthermore, the guy has lost to quite a lot of nondescript wrestlers like Tom Zenk, Renegade, etc.

Christian has had a similar career but one must remember that this is the TNA region, a place which was always pretty high on Christian. If they were booking this match, they would give him the win. He has defeated similar powerhouses like Rhino, Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode in TNA and the likes of Swagger and Ezekiel Jackson in WWE. So it's not like he cannot handle someone of Arn's size and strength.

 

[Thriller Ant]

More times than not, I go with legacy and achievements to decide how I will vote in these things. In this case, however, neither guy's accomplishments really overwhelm the other's, so I'm voting based on who would win a one on one match between the two: Arn Anderson.

Christian's offense has always bugged me. It's a bunch of convoluted, low impact stuff. Anderson, on the other hand, beats the crap out of anyone in the ring with him. Christian isn't the biggest guy, and when you add in the fact that he is injury-prone, he is someone that Arn can do a number on.

Christian has had a similar career but one must remember that this is the TNA region, a place which was always pretty high on Christian. If they were booking this match, they would give him the win. He has defeated similar powerhouses like Rhino, Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode in TNA and the likes of Swagger and Ezekiel Jackson in WWE. So it's not like he cannot handle someone of Arn's size and strength.

If you think Bobby Roode is a powerhouse, I really question your ability to judge wrestling.

If there's anything that TNA loves more than Christian, it's former WCW talent. Hey, didn't Arn wrestle there for a while?

 

[Big Sexy]

Christian's offense has always bugged me. It's a bunch of convoluted, low impact stuff.

His offense bugs you so he would lose? If he could beat guys like Big Show, Sheamus, and Kurt Angle with his offense then he could certainly beat AA with it.

Anderson, on the other hand, beats the crap out of anyone in the ring with him.

Beating the crap out of your opponent and actually beating your opponent are two completely different things. Hardcore Holly beat the crap out of his opponents and most of the time it meant jack shit.

Christian isn't the biggest guy, and when you add in the fact that he is injury-prone, he is someone that Arn can do a number on.

Lol this is my favorite part. Arn Anderson had so many problems with his back and neck that he was forced to retire at the age of 38. I don't think you want to use the injury argument.

 

[Thriller Ant]

His offense bugs you so he would lose? If he could beat guys like Big Show, Sheamus, and Kurt Angle with his offense then he could certainly beat AA with it.

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Start the first one around 5:30 and the second one around 21:00.

Look at how Christian's offense and totally not illegal tactics won him those matches. That's his only singles win against Big Show, and he's like 2-124 against Angle, the other win being in a cage that I didn't bother looking up the ending for.

Beating the crap out of your opponent and actually beating your opponent are two completely different things. Hardcore Holly beat the crap out of his opponents and most of the time it meant jack shit.

Hardcore Holly =/= Arn Anderson and you know it.

Lol this is my favorite part. Arn Anderson had so many problems with his back and neck that he was forced to retire at the age of 38. I don't think you want to use the injury argument.

Christian has never shown a real ability to work on injuries his opponents have, instead, relying on his same crappy offense every match. Arn, like most of the Horsemen, can single out a body part and destroy it like few others can and if worse comes to worse, he'll just break Christian in half with the spinebuster.

 

[Big Sexy]

Look at how Christian's offense and totally not illegal tactics won him those matches. That's his only singles win against Big Show, and he's like 2-124 against Angle, the other win being in a cage that I didn't bother looking up the ending for.

OMG A HEEL CHEATED AND USED A WEAPON BEHIND THE REFS BACK. AA was a heel almost his entire career and almost all of his big wins came due to interference and/or use of inanimate objects. It's what heels do.

Hardcore Holly =/= Arn Anderson and you know it.

When did I say they were equal? I said beating someone up isn't the same as beating them and used Hardcore Holly as an example of that.

Christian has never shown a real ability to work on injuries his opponents have, instead, relying on his same crappy offense every match. Arn, like most of the Horsemen, can single out a body part and destroy it like few others can and if worse comes to worse,

Lol. Both guys were very good in ring wrestlers for a long time and wrestling 101 is targeting a body part and working on it in a match. Any half decent wrestler has done it many times.

he'll just break Christian in half with the spinebuster.

No he'd lose to Christian like he lost to Tom Zenk and Johnny B Badd.

 

[GI Cake]

Let's just take in a few simple facts, this is a one on one match. Everyone who has made an argument for AA based on what he contributed to wrestling as part of the Four Horsemen. Christian has also made an impact as a Tag Team Wrestler, and help founded the TLC match. If you put them in singles matches, at the peak of their careers what do you have? You have a multi-time world champion who was trusted to be the top guy in TNA, and the other is Arn Anderson.

 

[Thriller Ant]

OMG A HEEL CHEATED AND USED A WEAPON BEHIND THE REFS BACK. AA was a heel almost his entire career and almost all of his big wins came due to interference and/or use of inanimate objects. It's what heels do.

You're the one who brought up those matches, not me

His offense bugs you so he would lose? If he could beat guys like Big Show, Sheamus, and Kurt Angle with his offense then he could certainly beat AA with it.

When did I say they were equal? I said beating someone up isn't the same as beating them and used Hardcore Holly as an example of that.

That's because Hardcore Holly was shit. Anderson was far from that.

Lol. Both guys were very good in ring wrestlers for a long time and wrestling 101 is targeting a body part and working on it in a match. Any half decent wrestler has done it many times.

Christian might do some token work on whatever body part before going to his usually offense. Anderson has shown proficiency in wearing down opponents with submission holds.

No he'd lose to Christian like he lost to Tom Zenk and Johnny B Badd.

Well Christian has lost to Ezekiel Jackson and Drew McIntyre, if we're just naming people that the other guy has lost to.

 

[jmt225]

Arn Anderson is one of the most overrated wrestlers of all time. Oh, whoop-de-fucking-do... he can work a body part! HOW BRILLIANT!!!!

Give me a break.

Arn's been apart of zero classic matches outside of War Games, and he never won a "big" match in his career, especially as a singles wrestler.

Meanwhile, Christian was apart of one of the greatest tag teams ever, and had some of the greatest tag matches in history during that stint. As a singles wrestler, he's been World Champion in multiple organizations, and has had multiple Match of the Year Candidates. On the mic he crushes Arn, charisma wise he crushes Arn, and all around accomplishments he crushes Arn. Why is Arn winning this? Makes zero sense.

Kayfabe wise, Christian has been in and won WAY more big match situations than Arn Anderson. That's a fact. So again, there is no logical reason for anyone to vote for Arn here, unless you hate Christian or you're just being an old-school snob.

 

[Awesome_Miz]

Just want to say this to the many who have voted or thinking of voting for Arny Arn: WCW=/=TNA. Two completely different regions.

Now, that we got that out of the way lets look at the benefits of being in this region for one particular guy. He established himself in TNA and won the World Title in TNA. See, that this ain't WCW or WWE. Which means Christian can, would, and should win in the TNA region.

Oh, and for you people who like to add accomplishments in here I caught a good one for you. Christian not Arn has won gold in WWE. Not just some lousy IC Title, but the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE. Which not even the "GREAT" Arn Anderson has ever and will ever win/won.

So, vote for the Peep of the Peeps.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Oh, and for you people who like to add accomplishments in here I caught a good one for you. Christian not Arn has won gold in WWE. Not just some lousy IC Title, but the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE. Which not even the "GREAT" Arn Anderson has ever and will ever win/won

I surmise it is quite easier to win gold in a company that you were in for a decade as opposed to 15 months.

And don't forget the fact that he and Tully ended Demolition's title reign, so your little factoid about Arn not winning gold is erroneous.

 

[Awesome_Miz]

I surmise it is quite easier to win gold in a company that you were in for a decade as opposed to 15 months.

You wanna talk about the possibility for a wrestler to win some gold in a promotion they have been with a decade than 15 yrs.? That's interesting you say that. Why don't we go talk about this same thing to JTG and ADR.

And don't forget the fact that he and Tully ended Demolition's title reign, so your little factoid about Arn not winning gold is erroneous.

Fine I'll admit I forgot that fact about Arn. So, let me put this more accurate for you. Arn hasn't won a singles title that mattered during that era.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

You wanna talk about the possibility for a wrestler to win some gold in a promotion they have been with a decade than 15 yrs.? That's interesting you say that. Why don't we go talk about this same thing to JTG and ADR.

I sure would love to sit and have a beer with Alberto Del Rio and talk about how he's a 4-time world champion.

Fine I'll admit I forgot that fact about Arn. So, let me put this more accurate for you. Arn hasn't won a singles title that mattered during that era.

Might as well put R-Truth ahead of Arn as well. That would be even more ridiculous.

 

[Awesome_Miz]

I sure would love to sit and have a beer with Alberto Del Rio and talk about how he's a 4-time world champion.

That's good. I will never take anything away from ADR ever. However, as you said a wrestler has an easier way to win a title(read that right title meaning any title) in a decade with a specific promotion than a wrestler who only lasts 15 months as you said. Now, look at both JTG and ADR and their accomplishments in the main roster.

ADR: 4 time World Heavyweight Champion

JTG: Being alongside with Cena destroying JBL's limo. Yup that's it.

However, now look in how such a short time ADR won his first title which happened to be the major title in WWE. Less than 1 year. While JTG has been with the WWE for over 6 yrs. + 1 year if you want to include before him and Gaspard got released for a short period.

Now, why do I use those two in this? For the exact reason you said earlier. It's easier for a wrestler to win a title in a decade in a promotion than a guy who has been there for 15 months. Yet, look at ADR and JTG and you could easily compare them two to the guys we have here in this debate Christian and Anderson. Cause Arn is as good as a wrestler as ADR. And Christian is more less like JTG to a lesser extend. Now, if Arn is as good as ADR why didn't WWE give him the title, since Arn had already established his name?

Like Batista once said, exactly.

Might as well put R-Truth ahead of Arn as well. That would be even more ridiculous.

I wouldn't actually mind that, since R-Truth has won the TNA World Title, in what promotion? Oh that's right, TNA this region were Christian is a king.

 

[Thriller Ant]

I wouldn't actually mind that, since R-Truth has won the TNA World Title, in what promotion? Oh that's right, TNA this region were Christian is a king.

Neither Christian nor R-Truth were ever TNA World Champion. That title didn't exist when they were in TNA.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Arn Anderson is one of the most overrated wrestlers of all time. Oh, whoop-de-fucking-do... he can work a body part! HOW BRILLIANT!!!!

Give me a break.

Arn's been apart of zero classic matches outside of War Games, and he never won a "big" match in his career, especially as a singles wrestler.

Define "big" match. So I guess you don't consider his wins against Flair as "big" or where he won titles as "big?"

Meanwhile, Christian was apart of one of the greatest tag teams ever, and had some of the greatest tag matches in history during that stint. As a singles wrestler, he's been World Champion in multiple organizations, and has had multiple Match of the Year Candidates. On the mic he crushes Arn, charisma wise he crushes Arn, and all around accomplishments he crushes Arn. Why is Arn winning this? Makes zero sense.

Tag matches are irrelevant in this situation. There's another discussion for another time about the length of a majority of those title reigns Christian has had.

Kayfabe wise, Christian has been in and won WAY more big match situations than Arn Anderson. That's a fact. So again, there is no logical reason for anyone to vote for Arn here, unless you hate Christian or you're just being an old-school snob.

Nothing wrong with loving the old school.

 

[Awesome_Miz]

Neither Christian nor R-Truth were ever TNA World Champion. That title didn't exist when they were in TNA.

Fine you can say that. However, you go ask TNA that same question and you'll get that they, in their history books, are former World Champions in the company.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

I love me some Arn Anderson, I was a massive NWA/ WCW fan back in the day and I adored both the Horsemen and the Dangerous Alliance. However, I have to accept the fact that he never rose above WCW's third belt/ tag team specialist.

Christian has virtually done it all - Tag (9times), Light Heavyweight, Hardcore, European, IC (4times), ECW Champ twice and World Heavyweight Champ twice! Throw in this is the region were he held the top belt twice and I believe he has to be given the edge.

 

[Big Sexy]

You're the one who brought up those matches, not me

Of course I brought them up. They were matches where he beat a power guy and a power/technical guy. The matter in which he won was pointed out by you, which I then pointed out was irrelevant considering AA was also a heel and won his biggest matches via interference/heel tactics.

That's because Hardcore Holly was shit. Anderson was far from that.

It's about the point I'm making not the superstar I used as an example. I'll change the example to the Big Show to make you feel better. Show beats people up but he doesn't always beat them.

Christian might do some token work on whatever body part before going to his usually offense. Anderson has shown proficiency in wearing down opponents with submission holds.

No, he has shown that he does what most veterans of the squared circle do.

Well Christian has lost to Ezekiel Jackson and Drew McIntyre, if we're just naming people that the other guy has lost to.

No I was just showing that AA wasn't some dominant performer that most are trying to make him out to be. He is a career mid card/tag team guy who couldn't sniff a world title even in early 90's WCW (which is about on par with what TNA was in the mid to late 2000's when Christian was NWA Champion there).

 

[Thriller Ant]

Fine you can say that. However, you go ask TNA that same question and you'll get that they, in their history books, are former World Champions in the company.

You are too stupid for words.

Of course I brought them up. They were matches where he beat a power guy and a power/technical guy. The matter in which he won was pointed out by you, which I then pointed out was irrelevant considering AA was also a heel and won his biggest matches via interference/heel tactics.

You brought them up because I mentioned that Christian's offense is shit. Nothing in those matches disputes my claims.

It's about the point I'm making not the superstar I used as an example. I'll change the example to the Big Show to make you feel better. Show beats people up but he doesn't always beat them.

Yep, sometimes he gets hit with a Conchairto because his opponent's offense is too shitty to keep him down.

No I was just showing that AA wasn't some dominant performer that most are trying to make him out to be. He is a career mid card/tag team guy who couldn't sniff a world title even in early 90's WCW (which is about on par with what TNA was in the mid to late 2000's when Christian was NWA Champion there).

Early 90s WCW had Sting, Flair, Steamboat, Vader, Dr. Death, and Ron Simmons and that's not even mentioning the potential with the Steiners, Austin, and Foley. TNA's never had a roster anywhere close to that.

I don't think Anderson is that dominant. In all honesty, he'll probably lose next round. I just know that he loses to Christian in a one-on-one match.

 

[Big Sexy]

I'm not going to respond to everything because clearly the points I'm making are going over your head and/or you just refuse to accept logic. But I will respond to this:

Early 90s WCW had Sting, Flair, Steamboat, Vader, Dr. Death, and Ron Simmons and that's not even mentioning the potential with the Steiners, Austin, and Foley. TNA's never had a roster anywhere close to that.

Ric Flair was gone in 1991 and 1992 which, if you read my earlier posts, was the time period AA had a great chance to step up and instead didn't do shit. Ron Simmons is a career mid carder who got a cup of coffee as WCW Champion ONLY because early 90's WCW lacked stars. Steve Williams was great in Japan but accomplished absolutely nothing of note in the US. Steamboat had reverted back to a mid card guy in his return to WCW in 1991 but I'll give you he was a great talent. Really all WCW had during that time period without Flair was Sting and Vader as main event guys (potential means nothing until it's realized so I'm not including Austin and Foley).

TNA back when Christian was there also had Sting plus they had Kurt Angle. Older Sting/Angle is at the very least equal to Sting/Vader. TNA also had their homegrown stars in AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. If Ron Simmons could become WCW champion and guys like Steve Williams and the Barbarian could get title matches, then AA has zero excuses for not doing more during that time.

I don't think Anderson is that dominant. In all honesty, he'll probably lose next round. I just know that he loses to Christian in a one-on-one match.

Lol. Even you subliminally know Christian would win.