Ken Anderson (wrestler)

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Ken Anderson Flag of United States
Statistics
Ring name(s) Ken Anderson
Kamikaze Ken
Mr. Anderson
Mr. Kennedy
Ken Kennedy
Billed height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Billed weight 242 lb (110 kg)
Born March 6, 1976
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Billed from Green Bay, Wisconsin
Trained by Eric Hammers
Mike Mercury
Ken Patera
OVW staff
Debut 1999

Kenneth Anderson (born March 6, 1976), is an American professional wrestler better known as Mr. Kennedy currently performing for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on its SmackDown! brand.

Contents

[edit] Career

After serving in the United States Army [1], Anderson was trained by All-Star Championship Wrestling owners Eric Hammers & Mike Krause. He continued his training under wrestling legend, Ken Patera. He was invited to appear on WWE Jakked, WWE Velocity and WWE Sunday Night Heat in a try-out basis as an independent jobber several times until February 2005, when Anderson signed a developmental contract with WWE. Prior to signing with WWE, Anderson also made some appearances on TNA Xplosion.

[edit] IWA-MS(Mid South)

[edit] 2002

Competed in the first ever Ted Petty aka Rocco Rock, Flyboy Invitational, which was at one time named the Sweet Sixteen Competition. He had appeared in the first match of the night of Nov 1 2002 against Colt Cabana under the name of "Kamikaze" Ken Anderson and lost.

[edit] World Wrestling Entertainment

[edit] 2005

Upon signing with WWE, Anderson was sent to the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) farm league. After six months he was called up to work on Velocity. Before his first SmackDown! match, a victory over Funaki, he showed himself to be a cocky and arrogant wrestler with not only his mannerisms but by taking a microphone and performing his own ring announcement. He referred to himself as "Mr. Anderson" for this match. To avoid comparisons with the more famous Anderson family, he changed his name to "Mr. Kennedy". As Kennedy himself mentioned on the WrestleCast podcast, 'Kennedy' was chosen as his name because it is Vince McMahon's middle name. This idea was initially suggested by Paul Heyman.

Kennedy made his SmackDown! debut on August 25, 2005, once again defeating Funaki. He introduced himself before the match, which he would do week after week. While working on Velocity and SmackDown! he was also still working in OVW.

Kennedy made his pay-per-view debut at SmackDown!'s 2005 No Mercy, defeating Hardcore Holly, injuring Holly's ribs during the match.

On the November 11, 2005 edition of SmackDown!, Kennedy faced Eddie Guerrero for a spot on SmackDown's Survivor Series team. He lost the match when Guerrero tossed him a steel chair and played possum, a move which Guerrero had made famous. The groggy referee turned around and saw Guerrero on the ground with Kennedy holding the chair, and consequently disqualified Kennedy, awarding the place on Team SmackDown! to Guerrero. This was Kennedy's first loss. In retaliation, Kennedy struck Guerrero over the head with the chair after the match. This ended up being Guerrero's final televised match, as he died on November 13, 2005 in his hotel room in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where a SuperShow taping of both RAW and SmackDown! was to be held. In interviews about the incident, Kennedy has stated that he considers this an "unfortunate honor".

In December 2005 Kennedy participated in WWE's "overseas" tour. On the second day in Italy Kennedy suffered a serious latissimus dorsi tear. He attempted to work through the injury, but was said to have been hurting so bad that he couldn’t even put his hand in his pocket to get his wallet at a restaurant. Seeing a doctor he was informed that he'd suffered a complete tear, compared to Batista's partial tear from earlier in the year, and that he would not be able to work through it, even with a somewhat lighter schedule, instead he would need surgery. The December 6, 2005 surgery was a success but Kennedy was still forced out of the ring for nearly six months while he rehabbed the injury.

[edit] 2006

Though he couldn't wrestle, Kennedy still returned to SmackDown! on January 6, 2006. This time, it was as a color commentator for a Cruiserweight Title match. He continued to make appearances on SmackDown! and Velocity throughout January and February, making his ring announcement and commentating specific matches as a representative of The Network. He even made an appearance on the January 11, 2006 edition of Byte This! with Todd Grisham to maintain visibility.[2].

At the OVW tapings on May 10, 2006, Kennedy returned to in-ring action facing the OVW Heavyweight Champion, CM Punk in a title match that Kennedy was unable to win. Kennedy would make his return to SmackDown! on June 9, 2006 with a victory over Scotty 2 Hotty after using the Kenton Bomb.

Since returning he has continued his ongoing "mini-feud" with SmackDown! ring announcer, Tony Chimel, which began prior to his injury in 2005. The feud is based on Kennedy believing Chimel's announcing is not well enough or done with the right amount of respect and thus Kennedy must either perform his own introductions or force Chimel to announce him again.

Kennedy lost by pinfall, ending his streak of never being defeated by pin or submission, on the July 14, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, when he was rolled up by Matt Hardy.

On the July 21, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, Batista put out an open challenge to replace his opponent Mark Henry, who had been injured, at The Great American Bash on July 23, 2006 for the Number 1 Contender spot. Kennedy accepted the challenge and went on to win the match by disqualification. However, he suffered a severe injury during the match after being thrown headfirst into the steel steps, resulting in an exposed cranium laceration which required 20 stitches to close. He then entered into a short feud with Batista, defeating him by count out in their second match, but losing via pinfall in the third.

Kennedy would also help Shane and Vince McMahon in their feud with DX, appearing at both SummerSlam and the August 28, 2006 edition of RAW along with others from the SmackDown! and RAW rosters, to attack DX.

On the September 1, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, Kennedy defeated Finlay and Bobby Lashley in a Triple Threat Match to win the WWE United States Championship, his first title reign in WWE.

On September 8, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, Kennedy announced that he wanted to move over to RAW, as SmackDown didn't interest him anymore because he had already defeated every top performer on the roster. This led to SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long making a match between Kennedy and The Undertaker (who Kennedy had never faced) to be held at WWE No Mercy 2006, which Kennedy would go on to win by disqualification.

On the October 13, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, Kennedy, now with a win over The Undertaker in the books, again stated his desire to move to RAW, and again Long put him against an opponent who he had never faced - this time Chris Benoit - with Kennedy's title on the line. Long said that, if Kennedy were to defeat Benoit, he would be given his release and be allowed to go to RAW. Kennedy lost the United States Championship to Benoit after a distraction from The Undertaker, who was standing in the entrance. Kennedy tapped out to the Crippler Crossface, marking his first submission loss.

Late in 2006, Kennedy and Montel Vontavious Porter took on the Brothers of Destruction (Kane and Undertaker) in various combinations. Kennedy was able to beat Kane with help from MVP in a No DQ Match. The next week, Kennedy and MVP lost to the Brothers Of Destruction. They first got counted out, and Theodore Long restarted the match with no countouts. Then they disqualified themselves with a low blow by Kennedy, and Long restarted the match again with no countouts and no disqualifications.

Kennedy and MVP would continue to feud with the brothers, with MVP feuding with Kane while Kennedy challenged The Undertaker to a match at Survivor Series, which was later announced as a First Blood match. Kennedy won that match after MVP turned on him and aimed for his head with a steel chair, but missed and hit The Undertaker instead, busting him open. After the match, the Undertaker viciously attacked Kennedy, forcing him to bleed. The Undertaker would finally get his revenge at Armageddon, when he defeated Kennedy in a Last Ride match.

[edit] 2007

After a brief hiatus, Kennedy returned to SmackDown! on January 5, 2007 and defeated Chris Benoit in a "Beat the Clock" match, with the overall prize being a shot at Batista's World Heavyweight Championship at the upcoming Royal Rumble. Kennedy's time of 5:07 ended up being the fastest, but he was unable to win the title from at the pay-per-view, though he did put Batista's shoulders on the mat for longer than three seconds when the referee was out of position. In a rematch on SmackDown! Batista defeated Kennedy again. From there Kennedy began a short feud with ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley, leading to a match at No Way Out which Kennedy won, but by disqualification, preventing him from becoming champion. Kennedy would challenge Lashley unsuccessfully on ECW on Sci-Fi and SmackDown! as well.

[edit] In wrestling

  • Finishing and signature moves
  • Nicknames
  • The Brash Cocky Loudmouth
  • The Future of Sports Entertainment
  • The Future of Professional Wrestling
  • The Man Who is Single-Handedly Changing Friday Nights
  • The Fastest Rising Superstar on Smackdown!
  • Signature taunts
  • Charismatically raises arm to receive microphone for speech
  • Turns arm away from fans who try to touch him on the way to the ring
  • Moving his hand to suggest an upcoming backhand slap

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

  • All-Star Championship Wrestling
  • ACW Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
  • ACW Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Mike Mercury
  • ACW Television Championship (1 time)
  • Mid American Wrestling
  • MAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Best Gimmick (Ring Announcer) (2005)
  • Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling
  • XICW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Dean Podesta
  • Other Titles
  • UPCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Big Daddy Loker

[edit] Personal life

He is a graduate of Washington High School in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Anderson is the son of James Alan Holmes and Sheryl Anderson and has one sister, Jennifer Holmes. His father died at home on April 13, 2006, after a two-year battle with cancer. In his time off, Anderson enjoys playing video games and watching the show 24.

He appeared in a feature film Fighting The Still Life, directed by Matt Burns, who wrestled under the name Sick Nick Mondo.

It was noted during an appearance in WWE Byte This! that Kennedy came up with his Green Bay Plunge finisher when Ian Rotten told him to do something other than the Kenton Bomb (High angle senton bomb), because someone else (Jeff Hardy) was using it on the same show. He was working against Austin Aries who agreed to let Kennedy try the move on him.

In the same show, he mentioned that his dream match would be to face "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, who was his inspiration to become re-interested in wrestling. His admiration for Austin extends to his wire-haired fox terrier, which he named Austin.

Anderson has two tattoos: one of a flame on his upper back, and a Joker tattoo on his upper left biceps. In WWE Magazine, he stated he hates the Joker tattoo, which he got when he was 19 years old.

Anderson traveled with Daivari while both men were wrestling on the indy circuit.[citation needed]. The two once teamed up in a match for TNA Xplosion.

Anderson has been traveling with his mother as noted on a Great American Bash diary.

[edit] Trivia

In the film, Let's Go To Prison the lead character played by Dax Shepard impersonated himself during a phone call as "Ken Kennedy".

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ken Anderson's Army Time
  2. ^ 11/01/06 edition of Byte This!


[edit] External links

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