On a recent edition of his “The ARN Show” podcast, WWE Hall Of Famer Arn Anderson discussed the vibe backstage at WWE SummerSlam 2024, his interaction with Paul “Triple H” Levesque, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the backstage vibe: “Totally different. Everybody you saw just had a little pep in their step, and they were skipping around. And, ‘Hey, how you doing? Nice to meet you. We’ve never met.’ But it was all in the course of doing their job. They were tickled to death, and they should have been. They were going to be appearing or participating in the second biggest show of the year. So why wouldn’t you be?.”
On his interaction with Triple H: “Being there and knowing the responsibilities that I had on PPV day, there’s no downtime. So I waited to go up to — Cody had already went to the ring and was in the final stages of his match before I ever even went up there. Because I didn’t want to be a distraction, and that’s what it would have been. So I just kind of stayed in catering, stayed out everybody’s way. And then when the match was over, I walked up, obviously hugged Cody’s neck. Hunter came around, hugged his neck. I didn’t take any time away from the job, because I can only imagine how dialed in he’s got to be. He’s sitting at the helm of a three and a half-hour show that’s just — God knows the content that he’s responsible for.
“But you know, that picture was pretty cool, and it’s — on a personal note, and I always had a really good relationship. And it was very rewarding to have that picture for me personally with Brock and Hunter and myself. It’s a personal thing with me. It’s not publicity, it’s a personal thing. And it goes all the way back. He was one of the kids that when he very first came to WCW, Ric [Flair] and I threw him in the back of the Cadillac and said, ‘You’re going with us.’ And you knew just right away, just talking to him for 10 minutes, he has had his head on right, hd all the right goals. Everything was in line.”
On being in a different place in his life compared to when he worked for WWE: “You know, the pressure when I was there, I mean — if you don’t work there, you can’t explain it to somebody where they would understand it. But yeah, I mean, everything was loose. Everybody was in a positive mood. It was just a whole different feeling, whole different vibe, period. Which means it’s being done right and done right by the right people.”
