Paul Heyman may have never officially worked for TNA, but the man now known as Roman Reigns’ “Wise Man” played a significant behind-the-scenes role in Ken Anderson’s TNA journey. After his WWE release in 2009, the former Mr. Kennedy debuted in TNA under his real name in January 2010.
Speaking on the Rewind, Recap, Relive podcast, Anderson reflected on his time working with Heyman in WWE, crediting the Hall of Famer for coming up with the “Mr. Kennedy” name. Anderson also revealed that Heyman continued to assist him with promos during his TNA tenure, despite not being affiliated with the company.
“I would oftentimes call Paul Heyman and say, ‘Hey, here’s what they have for me. Can you help me make sense of this?’ And he would fire me off an email and rewrite what they had written for me. So he, in a sense, was writing for TNA at one time.”
Although Heyman never officially joined TNA, his influence extended beyond WWE, helping talents like Anderson refine their craft. Heyman eventually returned to WWE in 2012 after a six-year hiatus, while Anderson remained with TNA, where he became a two-time World Champion before his 2016 departure following a failed on-the-spot drug test.
Today, fans can catch Heyman regularly on WWE television following his return after an attack by The Bloodline earlier this year. Stay tuned to SEScoops for updates on Paul Heyman, whose impact continues to resonate across the wrestling industry.
Former WWE and IMPACT Wrestling star Ken Anderson was recently a guest on WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast, The Steve Austin Show, to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Anderson discussed if politics were involved in his WWE release, what The Undertaker warned him about before he switched brands in WWE, and opened up about his Vicodin dependency in the past. You can check out the highlights here:
If politics was behind his WWE release:
“There was [a little bit of politics going on with his WWE departure], but anytime I sit and try to figure out… I want the students [at The Academy: School of Professional Wrestling] to learn from my mistakes as well as my successes and anytime I get a chance to open up and share stuff that I look [at] as missteps in the [pro wrestling] business, I try to share it with them,” Anderson said. “The big thing is that I was getting a really good push and I always tried to maintain that humility, try to be as humble as I possibly could, I know it all could be taken away from me tomorrow, but at the same time, you start to believe your own bulls–t a little bit.
“Chris Benoit, when Chris Benoit did what he did, for some reason, I felt like the entire world needed to know what Ken Anderson felt about that and I went on some news talkshows and things like that. And then, the whole steroids thing, which I felt was a huge misconception. People knew part of the story, but not the entire story and if you tell your side of the story, then you’re being defensive. But if you say nothing at all, you allow those people to fill in the spots.
“That’s what happens. It was that kind of stuff. When I went over to RAW, I sort of for some reason felt like, ‘oh, I’ve already earned that respect. That respect will just carry over with me [from SmackDown]’ and I didn’t take the time to humble myself again and start off as the new guy.”
The Undertaker’s warning to him backstage before flipping brands:
“And my style, I always tried to play it as a real fight as much as possible. If you watch UFC, nobody ever takes a crisp flatback bump. Guys fall into the ropes sometimes. You get punched [and] you land on your ass. You pop back up. I would also cover up a lot. Some of the guys striking me, I wouldn’t just give them the old school, clean punch. And they punch you and you put your head right back in the same spot or if someone chops you, I wouldn’t do that.
“And I remember Taker pulling me aside one day and he was like, ‘keep doing that stuff because it’s unique and it sets you apart,’ but he said, ‘I’m telling you now that you’re going to get over to RAW and there are people that you’re going to come into contact with that aren’t going to appreciate that. They’re going to think that you’re being difficult to work with,’ and instead of taking his advice, I just kept doing what Ken Kennedy was doing over on SmackDown and tried to open myself up. And I think that people, certain people, thought that I was difficult to work with, covering up and things like that.”
His Vicodin dependency issues in the past:
“Yeah, I would say when I was in WWE, I got into the pills a little too much. Yeah. I was really good at keeping it on the DL. Only a certain handful of people knew about it and I was able to keep that really quiet. It wasn’t public knowledge that Ken Anderson was a partier. But, yeah, I did. I regret it. Pain pills. All of it. Mostly the pain pill, Vicodin, was my vice just because I was able to function. You take a couple of ‘vikes’, especially when you’re running that hard that long, on the road five days a week. When it started becoming a problem, my ex-wife came to me with a piece of paper and she said, ‘you’ve spent $35,000 this year on Vicodin.’ No, I’m not kidding you. I’m not kidding you.
“I would order 1,000 ‘vikes’ at a time and I’d go through them in a couple of weeks. I was also giving them out to my friends. I was good at sharing. $35,000. How stupid is that? Do you know what? Interestingly enough, the WWE at one point, I remember I had surgery on my shoulder, I believe, and I was actually, when I came out of that surgery, I was in a lot of people. I could have done with some pain pills and Doc Andrews, he was very conservative.
“He gave me 20 or 30 10s and I went through those in a couple of days. And then, I called him back for a refill. Then he gave me like 10 more. I went through those right away. I went back. I was like, ‘I’ll get one more refill out of him’ and that ‘one more refill’ turned into Johnny Ace calling me. He said, ‘Kenny, they think you’ve got a pain pill problem and they’re sending you to rehab.'”
You can listen to Anderson and Austin’s full conversation on The Steve Austin Show by clicking here.
Former WWE United States Champion Mr. Kennedy (a.k.a. Mr. Anderson) had a promising career with the company, as he won the Money In The Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania 23 and looked to cash the briefcase in the next year at WrestleMania 24. Per Kennedy, he was set to cash-in on The Undertaker and take the World Heavyweight Championship off “The Deadman,” however, an unfortunate injury put a halt to those plans and Kennedy was forced to drop the briefcase to Edge.
“The Rated-R Superstar” would then cash-in and take the World Title, before going on to headline WrestleMania 24 against Taker for the strap:
“We decided that I was going to cash it in next year at WrestleMania,” said Anderson. “I announced that I think the next night on RAW. Or maybe it was SmackDown that, ‘Hey I’m already setting a date, I’m going to cash in at WrestleMania next year.'”
“Taker got injured and he had the world title at the time. They were trying to figure out a way to get it off him,” Anderson recalled. “You know, they called me in the office and said, ‘Hey I know we were going to have you cash it in at WrestleMania next year but we need to get the title off of Taker so we’re going to have you come out next week at SmackDown and you’re going challenge him after he has the cage match with Mark Henry and blah, blah, blah, you’re going to win the title.'”
“Three or four days later I was in a wrestling match with Batista and a bunch of other guys, like an eight-man tag, and Batista — it wasn’t Batista’s fault or anything — he gave me a clothesline and I felt something pop in my tricep,” Anderson recalled. “And I ended up, my arm swelled up so bad I couldn’t even bend my elbow.”
“I ended up going to see a doctor, take an MRI in Erie, Pennsylvania, the next day Stephanie called me and said, ‘Ken you tore your triceps off the bone, you’re going to have to have surgery and you’re going to be out for seven to eight months. But unfortunately we still have to get that title off of Taker so we’re going to fly to Penn State, Edge is going to challenge you for the briefcase and he’s going to go on to do what you were going to do.'”
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.”
The following are highlights of a new Wrestle-1 interview with Tajiri:
On TNA using former WWE stars: “Very surprising. Al Snow, Tommy Dreamer, Dudleys, Hardy Boys, Mr. Kennedy. TNA has lots of dominant former WWE stars. Very surprising to see them in TNA.”
On TNA’s six-sided ring: “Yes, the hexagon. It’s very different. It ‘s very awkward. You have a different sense of direction in it. I hesitated for a moment when i decided which direction to take.”
On finally working for TNA and comparison to WWE: “I really didn’t know much about the organization. I’ve been offered to come to TNA in the past but would turn it down because of my promised association with the WWE. The organization is great.”
“The backstage atmosphere is not the same as WWE. The scale of the venues is also different, the staff is tightly condensed but the level of wrestling has not changed from the WWE.”
— Sunsports‘ WrestleCast has won another two prestigious Wrestling Radio Awards as their “highly-controversial” chat with former WWE star Mr. Kennedy was voted Male Interview Of The Year while its in-depth Bret Hart podcast picked up a prize for being AudioWrestling.com Editor’s Choice Male Interview Of The Year.
In an interesting note, WrestleCast host Simon ‘LilsBoy’ Rothstein reveals that WWE demanded they edit its chat with Kennedy regarding his controversial remarks on the use of steroids last March.
“We stood firm, pointing out that everything said was clearly Ken’s own opinion and he was more than happy to have his views air – even though most would disagree with them,” Rothstein said. “It actually cost us pre-arranged interviews at WrestleMania, which WWE pulled as a result, but this Award says standing up to them was worth it.”
On the subject of steroids, Kennedy explained why he fell foul of the WWE’s Wellness Policy shortly after saying he didn’t take them in his last chat with WrestleCast in August 2007. He explained how “vigorous” the company is over testing for banned substances, including having an independent official watching their wrestlers give urine samples on an almost weekly basis. But he also adds that, while he knows they’re for the good of his health, he feels the tests are “a little much” and expresses his own personal view that: “If you’re not hurting anybody – then what’s the big deal?”
— WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James released her first country music single, Are You With Me?!, today ahead of her first album release on Mar. 23. She’s appearing on local radio stations today promoting the new single, the album, and her venture into the world of country music.
Those of you in the Arizona area can catch her today on KRDE 94.1 FM at 4:30 p.m.
— WWE Monday Night Raw on June 14th, 2010 will be held at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tickets go on sale April 9th, 2010 at 10 AM. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)