[1998-08-31-WCW-Nitro] Arn Anderson and J.J. Dillon

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

JJ calls Arn Anderson out to show him an old clip of him cutting a promo beachside on Mid Atlantic TV. As you can imagine, I loved this. JJ tries to talk Arn into reforming the Horsemen, making a parallel between Arn being a young guy 15 years ago and getting direction from JJ and now with Benoit and Mongo asking for direction. They acknowledge that Arn can't get back in the ring and they don't say the words, but it is obvious this is building to a Horsemen reunion. There are LOUD "We Want Flair!" chants. This was a tremendous segment, and I think they had already worked out a deal to bring Flair back by this point. This was great in building to that.

[soup23]

As shitty as WCW has been around this time, they still can do these emotional, heart tugging angles that just hit me in a way WWF can't. This was one of them. They weren't scared of the past which can hinder them in the case of Warrior vs. Hogan but it adds so much emphasis here. JJ does the best job he has in forever building up to the "you're afraid" line that gets ohhhs from the crowd. I loved Arn checking his hands and realizing he can't turn back the clock. Man I loved this.

[PeteF3]

I dunno, I actually thought JJ was being an ass and was hoping Arn would verbally put him in his place like he did Deano. Still, this is definitely an angle that served as a point of difference with the WWF and the fact that Arn just walks away and says very little serves as a progression.