Arn Anderson Didn’t Speak To Tully Blanchard For Over A Decade After Blanchard Failed A WWE Drug Test

Arn Anderson mentioned The Brainbusters departing the WWF in 1989 on the most recent episode of the “ARN” podcast.

In 1989, Anderson and fellow Brainbuster Tully Blanchard gave WWE their notice that they would be returning to WCW. When WCW learned Blanchard had tested positive for drugs, they decided to rescind their offer. Arn mentioned that he wouldn’t speak to Blanchard for the following decade.

“Once we figured out what had happened and they weren’t going to hire him, I mean, that was probably the last conversation that we had for maybe 10 years. I didn’t blame Tully.

I blamed Jim Herd. For him to look at me and say we weren’t worth as much as singles as we were as a team, and since Tully was not going to be hireable because of what had happened, he was going to cut me 150 grand. My focus with Herd went off of Tully because Jim Herd wouldn’t have been smart enough to come up with that. Somebody told him that and who knows who it was. Maybe somebody was fulfilling a grudge from times past? I don’t know. But when I went home and discussed it with Erin (Arn’s wife), she was the voice of reason.

She said you’ve made the move. It’s still a lot of money over a three year period. We can plan our lives. She said all the right things. It’ll be fine. The main thing that I had in my back pocket was I was going from 24 days on the road to about 8, and even though the contract got screwed a little bit on what it was supposed to be, that was still my chance to be home when I’d never been home. I’ve been on the road with Crockett, been on the road with WWE, I mean every day, and this gave me an opportunity to spend some time with my family and that just was the most important thing for me.”

Arn Anderson

The two wouldn’t speak for a decade following Blanchard’s failed drug test. Fast-forward to 2019 when the two were signed by AEW, Blanchard joined AEW as Shawn Spear’s “executive advisor.” The two would interact on AEW TV shortly after.

H/T to Ringside News

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