| Minnesota Wrecking Crew | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tag team | |
| Members | Gene Anderson[1] Lars Anderson[1] Ole Anderson[1] Arn Anderson[1] |
| Name(s) | Andersons Minnesota Wrecking Crew |
| Billed heights | Gene: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Lars: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Ole: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Arn: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Billed from | Minnesota |
| Debut | 1966 |
| Disbanded | 1990 |
| Years active | 1966-1990 |
TheMinnesota Wrecking Crew, also known simply as theAndersons, was originally aprofessional wrestling tag team who was formed byGene andLars Anderson, but since then has comprised a number of wrestlers. All members wrestled were presented as members of theAnderson family despite not being blood related.
Gene Anderson formed the originalMinnesota Wrecking Crew with hiskayfabe brotherLars Anderson in 1966. They wrestled throughout the country in the late 60s until Lars left to live in Hawaii. In 1969 Gene then brought in Alan Rogowski, and renamed himOle Anderson. They dominated tag team wrestling in the 1970s, winning theNWA World Tag Team Titles 8 times. Over those years,Lars Anderson was on occasion brought back in as part of this team.[1]
A youngRic Flair was promoted in the mid 1970s as being the cousin of the Andersons who fell out with them resulting in a family feud over theNWA World Tag Team Championship - with Flair enlistingGreg Valentine as his partner - throughout the late 1970s.[2]
When Gene stopped wrestling in 1981 to manage, the team was disbanded.[1]
In 1985, Ole reformed the Crew withArn Anderson (hiskayfabe nephew) as his partner.[3] They won the NWA National Tag Team Titles and were members of the originalFour Horsemen as the Wrecking Crew, reuniting with their kayfabe cousin Flair. They disbanded in 1987 when Ole was kicked out of the Horsemen.[3]
Arn and Ole revived the Wrecking Crew in 1990, yet again in alliance with Flair as Horsemen, but it lasted for only a few months before Ole retired.[4]
Also in 1990, Ole managed theMinnesota Wrecking Crew 2 in NWA while Arn was out injured.[4] This team consisted ofMike Enos andWayne Bloom. Both members were fromMinnesota and wore masks. The two men were the then-currentAWA World Tag Team Champions, but were beaten by NWA World Tag Team ChampionsRick andScott Steiner in the NWA.[4]
In 2001 inOhio Valley Wrestling,Brock Lesnar andShelton Benjamin (once teammates on theUniversity of Minnesota wrestling team) formed theMinnesota Stretching Crew in honor of the Wrecking Crew.More recently, independent women wrestlersLacey andRain have used the nameMinnesota Home Wrecking Crew in homage to the Andersons' classic tag team.
The Canadiansketch comedy troupeThe Minnesota Wrecking Crew are also named in honor of the original MWC tag team.
| Storyline brothers | |
|---|---|
| Storyline cousins | |
| Other storyline relatives | |
| Related articles | |
