Former WWE United States Champion Mr. Kennedy (a.k.a. Mr. Anderson) had all the makings to be a top star in the company, but unfortunately it just didn’t quite work out. The former Mr. Money In The Bank was let go by the WWE in 2009 after a falling out with former WWE Champions Randy Orton and John Cena.
Since his departure, Kennedy has done work for promotions such as Impact Wrestling, Ring Of Honor (ROH), as well as various other companies on the independent circuit. He recently joined the Wrestling Inc. podcast to talk about his time in the company and told the story of an awful gimmick he turned down to Vince McMahon:
“That actually reminds me of when I had my meeting with Vince and Stephanie and Kevin Dunn and Johnny Ace. To figure out what my new name was going to be and how we were going to move forward. You know, I started out as Mr. Anderson in the WWE and then like three weeks later Vince talked me into changing my name.
“So we’re all sitting around, discussing this and he goes, ‘Do you have any catchphrases?’ And I said yeah, ‘Nice guys finish last and thank God I’m an a**hole.’ And Johnny Ace goes, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. Uh well let’s say your name was like Adam Hole. Nice guys finish last, thank God I’m an A-Hole.’
“And Vince looked over me and he goes, ‘What do you think?’ And I said you know, it’s interesting, but I feel like that’s sort of a flash in the pan type gimmick that’s only going to stick around for a few months at most. It’ll be really gimmicky and I want to be around for a really long time. And he goes, ‘Yeah. It’s a f****ing terrible idea.”
