Minnesota Wrecking Crew

For the sketch comedy troupe, see The Minnesota Wrecking Crew.

Minnesota Wrecking Crew
Tag team
Members	Gene Anderson Lars Anderson Ole Anderson Arn Anderson
Heights	Gene: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Lars: ?? Ole: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Arn: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Billed from	Minnesota
Debut	1966
Disbanded	1990
Promotions	NWA WCW Indies

The Minnesota Wrecking Crew was originally a professional wrestling tag team that was formed by Gene and Lars Anderson but since then has featured a number of wrestlers who wrestled under the Anderson family name despite not being blood related.

History

Gene Anderson formed the original Minnesota Wrecking Crew with Lars Anderson in 1966. They wrestled throughout the country in the late 60's until Lars left to live in Hawaii. In 1969 Gene then brought in Alan Rogowski, and renamed him Ole Anderson. They dominated tag team wrestling in the 1970s, winning the NWA World Tag Team Titles 8 times. Over those years, Lars Anderson was on occasion brought back in as part of this team.

When Gene stopped wrestling in 1981 to manage, the team was disbanded.

In 1985, Ole reformed the Crew with Arn Anderson (his kayfabe nephew) as his partner. They won the NWA National Tag Team Titles and were members of the original Four Horsemen as the Wrecking Crew. They disbanded in 1987 when Ole was kicked out of the Horsemen.

Arn and Ole revived the Wrecking Crew in 1990 but it lasted for only a few months before Ole retired.

Ole managed the Minnesota Wrecking Crew 2 in NWA in 1990 while Arn was out injured. It was two wrestlers from Minnesota in masks, Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom. They were former AWA World Tag Team Champions and they did get beat by NWA World Tag Team Champions Rick and Scott Steiner in the NWA.

Legacy

In 2001 in Ohio Valley Wrestling, Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin (once teammates on the University of Minnesota wrestling team) formed the Minnesota Stretching Crew in honor of the Wrecking Crew. More recently, independent women wrestlers Lacey and Rain have started using the name Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew in homage to the Andersons' classic tag team.

Championships and accomplishments

Lars and Ole

• Mid-South Sports

• NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (2 times)
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) (1 time)

Gene and Ole

• Georgia Championship Wrestling

• NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (7 times)
• NWA Macon Tag Team Championship (1 time)
• NWA Columbus Tag Team Championship (11 times)
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) (1 times)

• Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling

• NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship (3 times)
• NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (2 times)
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (7 times)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI Tag Team of the Year (1975)
• PWI Tag Team of the Year (1977)

Ole and Arn

• Jim Crockett Promotions

• NWA National Tag Team Championship (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked Ole and Arn Anderson # 79 of the best 100 tag teams during the "PWI Years" in 2003.

Further reading

The Minnesota Wrecking Crew’s history is covered in a chapter dedicated to the team in the book The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams

• Greg Oliver and Steve Johnson (2005). "Top 20: #6 The Minnesota Wrecking Crew". The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-5502-2683-6. 

See also

• Anderson family
• Brain Busters
• Enforcers
• Four Horsemen