Mr. Kennedy | |
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Ring name(s) | Two Rivers Jack[1] Ken Anderson Mr. Anderson Kamikaze Ken Ken Kennedy Mr. Kennedy[2] |
Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2] |
Billed weight | 243 lb. (109 kg)[2] |
Born | March 6, 1976 [3] Minneapolis, Minnesota[4] |
Resides | Minneapolis, Minnesota Two Rivers, Wisconsin |
Billed from | Green Bay, Wisconsin[2] |
Trained by | Eric Hammers[3][5] Mike Mercury[3][5] OVW staff |
Debut | September 1999 |
Kenneth C. Anderson (born March 6, 1976 in Minneapolis, Minnesota[4]), is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Mr. Kennedy. He currently wrestles for the SmackDown brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)[2].
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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.[6]
Anderson is a graduate of Washington High School in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. During his time there, Anderson excelled at swimming and track & field.[4] He also announced school basketball games and did a radio assignment in his Mass Media class.[7] When doing this, a friend suggested to Anderson to repeat the surnames again to make it funnier.[7] That element was eventually used again in his wrestling character when encouraged by Paul Heyman.[7][8][9]
Before starting a wrestling career, Anderson worked at a nuclear plant as a security officer and as a personal trainer.[4][9] He also served in the United States Army.[10]
Anderson was trained by All-Star Championship Wrestling owners Eric Hammers and Mike Krause. He was invited to appear on WWF Jakked, WWE Velocity, and WWE Sunday Night Heat in a try-out basis as an independent jobber several times from 2001 to 2004. Anderson also made some appearances on TNA Xplosion and was initially approached for a contract at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling by Jeff Jarrett but communications broke down.[5] Anderson also competed in the 2002 and 2003 Ted Petty Invitational tournaments (the first one then known as the Sweet Science Sixteen tournament) but did not advance past the first round in either of them.[4] After wrestling for over six years,[7] in February 2005, Anderson signed a developmental contract with WWE.[5]
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. A few weeks later, to avoid comparisons with the more famous Anderson family (as well as former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson), he changed his name to "Ken Kennedy", or "Mr. Kennedy".[5] This idea was initially suggested by Paul Heyman and was chosen as his name because it is Vince McMahon's middle name.[8]
Kennedy defeated Funaki once again in his SmackDown! debut on August 25, 2005.[11] Kennedy also created an ongoing mini-feud with SmackDown! ring announcer Tony Chimel, based on Kennedy believing that Chimel's announcing was not done well enough or with sufficient respect, and therefore performing his own introductions or forcing Chimel to introduce him again. Kennedy's self-ring introductions before the match became one of his trademarks.[9] While working on Velocity and SmackDown!, he was also still working in OVW. Kennedy made his pay-per-view debut at SmackDown!'s No Mercy, defeating Hardcore Holly and injuring Holly's ribs during the match.[12]
On the November 11 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.[13] This was Guerrero's final televised match,[14] as he died on November 13 in his hotel room in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In interviews about the incident, Kennedy has stated that he considers this an "unfortunate honor".[8]
In December 2005, Kennedy participated in WWE's "overseas" tour. On the second day in Italy, Kennedy suffered a serious latissimus dorsi tear.[14] Even after surgery in December, Kennedy was still forced out of the ring for nearly six months while he rehabilitated the injury.[15] 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 edition of WWE Byte This! with Todd Grisham to maintain visibility.[16]
At the OVW tapings on May 10, Kennedy returned to in-ring action facing the OVW Heavyweight Champion, CM Punk, in a title match that Kennedy was unable to win.[12] Kennedy made his return to SmackDown! on June 9 with a victory over Scotty 2 Hotty after using the Kenton Bomb.[17] Matt Hardy rolled up Kennedy for the victory on the July 14 edition of SmackDown!, ending his streak of never being defeated by pin or submission.[18] On the July 21 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 for the Number 1 Contender spot.[19] Kennedy accepted the challenge and won the match by disqualification. He, however, suffered a severe injury during the match after being thrown headfirst into the steel steps, resulting in an exposed cranium laceration which required twenty stitches to close.[20] 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.[12] Kennedy also helped The McMahons (Vince and Shane) in their feud with D-Generation X (DX) (Triple H and Shawn Michaels), appearing at both SummerSlam and the August 28 edition of Raw, along with Finlay and William Regal from the SmackDown! roster, to attack DX.[21][22]
On the September 1 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.[23] On the September 8 edition of SmackDown!, Kennedy announced that he wanted to move over to Raw, as SmackDown did not 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 No Mercy. Kennedy won the match by disqualification.[24][25] On the October 13 edition of SmackDown!, Kennedy, now with a win over The Undertaker in the books, again stated his desire to move to the Raw brand. 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.[26]
Late in 2006, Kennedy joined forces with Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) in matches against the Brothers of Destruction (Undertaker and Kane) in various combinations. On the November 3 edition of SmackDown!, Kennedy and MVP lost to the Brothers of Destruction three times. After first getting counted out, Theodore Long restarted the match with no countouts. When they disqualified themselves following a low blow by Kennedy, Long restarted the match again with no countouts and no disqualifications.[27] Kennedy and MVP continued 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, leaving him busted open. After the match, the Undertaker viciously attacked Kennedy, forcing him to bleed.[28] The Undertaker finally got his revenge at Armageddon, when he defeated Kennedy in a Last Ride match.[29]
After a brief hiatus, Kennedy returned to SmackDown! on January 5 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.[30] After he prevented The Undertaker from beating his time, Kennedy's time of 5:07 ended up being the fastest.[31] At the Royal Rumble, he had Batista pinned for a three count while the referee was out of position but ended up losing the match anyway, as well as a subsequent rematch.[32][33] From there, Kennedy began a short feud with ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley, leading to a match at No Way Out which Kennedy won by disqualification, preventing him from becoming champion.[34] Kennedy challenged Lashley unsuccessfully on ECW and SmackDown! as well.[35][36]
Kennedy earned a spot in the 2007 Money in the Bank ladder match by defeating Sabu in an Extreme Rules match.[37] At WrestleMania 23, Kennedy won the Money in the Bank ladder match, giving him the right to challenge any World Champion in WWE at any date up until WrestleMania XXIV.[14][7] Kennedy announced on the April 30 edition of Raw that he would be cashing in his Money in the Bank championship opportunity at WrestleMania XXIV.[38] However, on the May 7 edition of Raw, Mr. Kennedy lost his Money in the Bank opportunity to Edge,[14] losing mere moments after a blow to the head from a monitor before the match began.[39] Mr. Kennedy never got the chance to win the briefcase back, however, as Edge cashed the briefcase in to win the World Heavyweight Championship from the Undertaker on SmackDown! the next day. Because of the injury Kennedy sustained at the hands of Edge, it was believed that his right triceps muscle tore off of the bone and he would be out for a minimum of five to seven months.[14] The injury, however, was not as serious as once predicted, as the triceps tendon did not tear off the bone but was, in fact, a massive hematoma.[14][40][41]
On the June 11 edition of Raw, Mr. Kennedy was drafted from SmackDown! to Raw as part of the WWE Draft. On the July 30 edition of Raw, Kennedy not only defeated Bobby Lashley, but seemingly injured him in the process. On August 20, Carlito hosted his interview segment, Carlito's Cabana, when Carlito challenged his special guest, Umaga for his Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam. Mr. Kennedy, however, came out and said he deserved a match with Umaga because he did what Umaga could not do, defeat Bobby Lashley and put him out of action. William Regal, Raw's General Manager, came out and booked Kennedy vs. Carlito for later in the night, in which the winner would face Umaga at SummerSlam. After the match ended in a draw, Regal ordered that there would be a Triple Threat match at SummerSlam between the three men for the Intercontinental Championship; at the event, Umaga retained the title.[42] On the September 10 edition of Raw, Mr. McMahon revealed that Kennedy had been kayfabe suspended for impersonating a McMahon. In actuality, Mr. Kennedy was one of the eleven Superstars implicated in the steroid scandal and therefore suspended for thirty days in accordance with WWE's Wellness Policy.
Kennedy returned on the October 1 edition of Raw after his suspension facing John Cena in the main event. Although Kennedy did not win, Cena was injured during the match as he suffered a complete tear of his right pectoral tendon. At No Mercy, Kennedy took part in a bonus six man tag team match alongside the World Tag Team Champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch defeating Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy and Paul London and Brian Kendrick.[43] For the next several weeks, Kennedy would be involved in a feud with Jeff Hardy that consisted of the two facing off in a singles match and numerous tag team matches, most of which Hardy won. At Cyber Sunday, Kennedy and Hardy were two of the eligible wrestlers that could earn a WWE Championship match for that evening pending on the fan's votes. Neither man won the opportunity as Shawn Michaels won the vote and earned a shot at the title. Although neither won the title shot, Kennedy defeated Hardy in a bonus match made by William Regal.[44]
Kennedy entered a program with Shawn Michaels on the night after Survivor Series. Kennedy claimed that it was time for Michaels to move on and let the younger, talented superstars climb the ladder to success.[45] At Armageddon, Michaels defeated Kennedy, after he was able to hit Kennedy with Sweet Chin Music.[46] On the December 31 edition of Raw, Kennedy and Michaels had a rematch where Kennedy pinned Michaels following his new finishing move, the "Mic Check".[47] In subsequent rematches, the duo traded wins over each other.[47][48] At the Royal Rumble, Kennedy eliminated Michaels from the Royal Rumble match, thus ending the rivalry between the two.[49]
After several months of minor feuds and short storylines, Kennedy was not seen for weeks after WrestleMania XXIV, because he was filming a role for the new movie Behind Enemy Lines 3: Colombia.[50][51] Kennedy returned to Raw on April 28, as he confronted and brawled with General Manager and newly crowned King of the Ring William Regal, turning face in the process. On a following edition of Raw, Kennedy defeated General Manager Regal in a "Loser Gets Fired Match" completing the face turn and opening up the General Manager spot on the Raw brand.[52][51]
On June 23, 2008, Kennedy was drafted from the Raw brand to the SmackDown brand, as a part of the 2008 WWE Draft.[53] On August 4, he dislocated his shoulder in a match against Shelton Benjamin at a house show.[54]
Kennedy made his return to the WWE on the November 24, 2008 episode of Raw, promoting his movie Behind Enemy Lines III: Colombia, and also made an appearance on SmackDown on the November 28 episode.
He appeared in a feature film Fighting The Still Life, directed by Matt Burns, who wrestled under the name Sick Nick Mondo.[3]
On July 24, 2007, Anderson appeared on Tom Green Live in character.[63] He also appeared on Slime Across the UK & Ireland in character on August 15. Later that year on November 5, he appeared on an episode of Family Feud with several other WWE superstars.[64]
In late March 2008, Anderson began shooting a role for an action movie in Puerto Rico.[51] The film, titled Behind Enemy Lines III: Colombia, will be a direct-to-DVD second sequel to the original 2001 movie.[51] Kennedy booked the role through WWE.[51][65] Kennedy, along with Mickie James and Josh Matthews, represented the WWE at the 2008 Republican National Convention in an effort to persuade fans to register to vote in the 2008 Presential election.[66]
On August 18, 2007, Anderson gave an interview where he admitted to using steroids when he was on the independent wrestling scene, saying he quit the steroids in November 2005 because of the WWE Wellness Policy and that his job in WWE was worth more than an extra ten pounds of muscle mass.[14][1] Twelve days later, on August 30, Anderson's statements were shown to be factually incorrect when he, along with nine other WWE superstars, were named in a Sports Illustrated article for being given illegal steroids not in compliance with the WWE Talent Wellness Program. Kennedy received anastrozole, somatropin, and testosterone between October 2006 and February 2007.[14] Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Brian Adams were also discovered to have been given steroids prior to their death during this investigation, as well as former superstar Sylvain Grenier.[67][68] Anderson later claimed that the steroids were for a legitimate medical reason, saying that they were from when he tore his lat muscle in 2005.[14]
Anderson married his girlfriend Shawn Trebnick on January 9, 2008.[69][70][71]
In his time off, Anderson enjoys playing video games and watching the show 24.[3] Anderson is also trained in Taekwondo and Eskrima.[4]
It was noted during an appearance on 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 was using it on the same show. He was working against Austin Aries who agreed to let Kennedy try the move on him.[16] 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.[3]
Anderson is also good friends with A.J. Styles.
He has a red and black designed signature tattoo on his upper back,[72] which he describes as "pretty painful" and took nearly eight hours to complete.[73] He also has a clown tattoo on his biceps,[72] which he got at age nineteen because he was voted class clown in high school and is always clowning around, but says it did not turn out the way he wanted it to and plans to get it replaced with another clown that more closely matches what he originally requested.[73]
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Persondata | |
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NAME | Anderson, Ken |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kamikaze Ken; Anderson, Mr.; Kennedy, Ken; Kennedy, Mr.; Money In The Bank, Mr. |
SHORT DESCRIPTION | Professional wrestler |
DATE OF BIRTH | March 6, 1976 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
DATE OF DEATH | |
PLACE OF DEATH |