Ole Anderson Dies at Age 81; Wrestling Icon Was Original Member of Four Horsemen

Wrestling legend Ole Anderson, who was an original member of the Four Horsemen stable, has died.

He was 81. WWE shared the news Monday:

Ric Flair, the leader of the Four Horsemen, mourned Ole's death on X:

Anderson spent most of his wrestling career working for Jim Crockett Promotions. He was a member of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew, a fictional family that dominated the tag team division throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, Ole formed a partnership with Arn Anderson. While the two looked strikingly similar, Ole and Arn Anderson were unrelated.

The Four Horsemen debuted in 1985, with Flair, Ole and Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard as stablemates. They quickly became the most dominant faction in professional wrestling, but Ole Anderson was kicked out in 1987, and he retired for the first time quickly thereafter.

Ole's first retirement did not last long, as he was back in the ring by 1988, but he worked a much more limited schedule. He rejoined the Four Horsemen in 1989 before ultimately retiring in 1990 to take on a backstage role as WCW's lead booker.

Eric Bischoff fired Anderson in 1994, and he largely stayed out of the professional wrestling business over the last three decades of his life.