Anderson was a childhood friend of
Arn Anderson. He quickly rose up the referee ranks and was the referee for several main event matches. In 1988, when
Ted Turner bought Crockett and renamed it
World Championship Wrestling, Anderson stayed on. Anderson was the referee in charge of the main event six-man tag match at
Bash at the Beach 1996 which saw the heel turn of
Hulk Hogan and the formation of the
New World Order (nWo). From 1996 to 1997, Anderson played a role in the "hostile takeover" of WCW by the nWo. He refused to work on the September 23, 1996, episode of
Monday Nitro after nWo members took control of the broadcast.
Eric Bischoff and the nWo bullied him around. At
Souled Out, nWo referee
Nick Patrick was
bumped and knocked out. Anderson came from the crowd to count the pinfall and award the tag team championship to the Steiner Brothers. Bischoff fired Anderson for interfering, but then decided to allow Anderson to wrestle Patrick to get his job back. Anderson defeated him by using a foreign object, from fellow WCW referee Jimmy Jett. Immediately following this match, Eric Bischoff reversed the decision and fired both Jett and Anderson. According to story line, Anderson was reinstated and officiated his first match after being fired on the March 10, 1997, episode of
Nitro. Anderson continued as a referee in WCW until his battle with cancer forced him to retire in 1999. ==Personal life==