Brock Anderson remains dedicated to professional wrestling and continuing the legacy his dad Arn made within the industry. He has gained valuable experience teaming with veteran CW Anderson as the duo already found success as the AML World Tag Team Champions. They look to add more gold working for MLW.

The old school meets new school duo faces Bomaye Fight Club at Fightland on September 14. Anderson has only heard good things about MLW. 

“A couple of guys came through and managed to turn it around for themselves,” he said of the platform the promotion provides. “Parlay that into something pretty good for themselves…I think I fell into a perfect scenario. I’m tagging with someone who has been in the business for 30 years. 

“He can tell me things that my old man can’t because you can be a father or a coach. Sometimes he tips around some areas. I usually know when there is something he wants to say because of that father-son bond. CW is one who can tell me this sucked, that was good, do this, do that. That experience I’m experiencing through osmosis, I’m glad it panned out the way it did. I told him, ‘You know you’re the Ole in this. You’ve turned into Ole Anderson.’  I think he has embraced it, to be honest with you.”  

Anderson gained valuable experience in AEW. However, he reached a crossroads. 

“After I left AEW I didn’t know where my path was going to be,” he said.”…AEW was great. I have nothing but great things to say about the people who worked there. Tony [Khan] was great to a whole industry when nobody else was working. He kept people working. It was a trying time in the business and around the world. I appreciated the experience. 

“I just didn’t think I could get better there because I didn’t know if they had plans for me. There weren’t enough reps. It came down to getting reps. So, they sent something, which was a similar deal I was on.  I just said, ‘I think I’ll take my chances.’ When I go out and travel, I know I’m going to wrestle and get better. That was kind of my approach to the thing. Every time I leave the house, I know I’m going to have a match.” 

The 27-year-old decided to bet on himself. A difficult decision, but one that fuels his motivation. Anderson is excited to cross another legendary venue off the bucket list in Center Stage thanks to MLW. Anderson’s dad Arn retired when he was six months old. By 1997, those Center Stage days for WCW were largely in the rearview. Though the next generation talent has since caught up on Arn’s body of work and went to WWE shows while he was a producer. 

“I popped in these grainy VHS tapes and there is your dad 20 years younger wrestling,” he said. “It was kind of a trip. I started to watch more of those and realized he was pretty good at this. Then I saw how the boys in the back treated him. Things started to click.” 

Anderson can trace when he knew he wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps. A milestone showdown between two Hall of Famers in Houston. 

“It was WrestleMania 25,” Anderson recalled. “WWE would always have their employees have their families. It was like a vacation treat for the year. We’re in the box. It was when the cards got to about six or seven hours. There was a lot of preshow and all that. It was a long night and I was already tired. 

“Then all of a sudden you see the smoke come, all this white light and a guy descends from teh ceiling, white robe, white hat. You can’t see his face and all of a sudden HBK’s music hits. He was wrestling Undertaker. It was HBK and Undertaker 1. They went 40 minutes. Two legends going at it. They had the crowd in the palm of their hands with what they did. There was no wasted movement. Everything clicked. I thought, ‘This is what I want to do.’”

When Anderson told Arn about his career aspirations, the response wasn’t a flat no. Just an, “Ask your mom.” Then it was a hard no at the time. The parents wanted him to go to college and have a backup plan. He graduated on December 19, 2019, and started on the pro wrestling journey in January 2020. Then came the AEW opportunity. 

“I want to be where is best for me,” Anderson answered when asked if his ultimate goal was a WWE run. “Personally, professionally, all that. I don’t have to pigeonhole it to one company. Wherever I feel is best for me.” 

And right now that place is venturing through the independent scene and seeing what happens with MLW. The question is will we see Arn walk that aisle with his son, possibly at Fightland? 

“He could show up at any time. But always keep it in the back of your head he might wonder into the building somehow or sneak down,” he said. “There is always that possibility. We always have that card up our sleeve.” 

Watch MLW Fightland at 9 p.m. ET on September 14 on YouTube. 

Brock Anderson believes that AEW’s ‘just TV’ nature has resulted in no ‘setup’ for young talent signed to the promotion to learn the basics. On the Under the Ring podcast, Brock spoke about his time with AEW and his belief that he needed more time to learn away from televised wrestling.

“Looking back now, I wasn’t ready for that because it — for young guys, there is no setup to really learn and grasp the business. It’s just basically just TV.”

Anderson signed a contract with AEW in 2021 and news of this was broken in March of that year on his father Arn’s podcast. Brock’s legendary father helped with his training, as did Q.T. Marshall, Glacier, and Lodi. Brock wrestled 38 times for AEW and shared the ring with notable names including Cody Rhodes, The Acclaimed, and the Blackpool Combat Club. Anderson racked up an impressive 22-16 win/loss record before parting the promotion in late 2023.

AEW and Developing New Talent

Since launching in 2019, AEW has been almost exclusively a broadcast promotion, with only a handful of live events, dubbed ‘House Rules’ shows to its name. Unlike its competitors at WWE, AEW does not have an official in-company developmental system.

The closest Tony Khan’s first promotion got to this was its Dark and Dark: Elevation shows, though these were still broadcast and neither exists today. In 2022, Khan acknowledged that Dark shows were supposed to be “somewhat of a developmental show” before the COVID-19 pandemic changed things.

Khan’s reasoning, as he told the Pro Wrestling Torch podcast, was that the pandemic left plenty of already-trained independent talent itching for a chance to work on a show that was still being broadcast, such as Dark. With a bounty of developed talent ready to work, Khan made use of these already-trained wrestlers, shifting away from the ‘developmental’ intentions of the show.

One second generation star could be a free agent soon, as his contract with All Elite Wrestling is set to expire in May.

AEW is getting into an interesting position where they must decide if they will re-sign talent. The company has had many wrestlers compete for them in their four years of operation. As we enter the fourth year of AEW, some multi-year talent contracts are up for renewal.

Spoiler Warning Ahead!

The company has several wrestler contracts set to expire soon. FTR’s Dax Harwood said on his podcast that his and his partner Cash Wheeler’s contracts are set to expire in April. They have yet to decide if they will try to re-sign with AEW. Fightful Select reported on Jan. 24 that Brian Cage’s contract would expire in a few weeks. AEW may look to re-sign him, but the report also shared that WWE could be interested in signing Cage.

However, they will have to decide if they will keep Brock Anderson, son of Arn Anderson, whose contract expires in May. Arn broke the news in an interview with Wrestlingnews.co Steve Falls on their Patreon. He also shared that his contract expires next year and is unsure if AEW will keep either him or his son after their deal ends.

“Well, Brock’s got about, I think in May his is up, and then I have another year passed that. I’m having a great time. I’m enjoying working for the company and I’m going to certainly get that last year now. What they have for Brock and I together going forward, I don’t know. I look at things and always have going all the way back to WCW when contracts came out. When you get a guaranteed contract, your wife has the luxury of planning your life because they do it anyway. To know much time and it’s not something that’s not going to change and all that, you can map your life out. That gives me another year and a half almost to help Brock every which way I can,” said Arn(h/t Angel Aramboles).

Will AEW Re-sign Brock Anderson?

It’s unclear what the future holds for Brock. He is featured only sometimes on AEW Dynamite or Rampage. AEW mostly has him compete on AEW Dark. In his AEW career, Brock’s win/loss record stands at 16-13.

Although Brock is featured a little in AEW, he is still young in his career. At age 25, AEW could look to do more with him if he re-signs. However, the company may have to review its roster and decide whether it can renew Brock’s contract. Another possibility is WWE could look to sign the young talent if he becomes a free agent.