Ken Anderson (wrestler)
Encyclopedia : K : KE : KEN : Ken Anderson (wrestler)
Ken Anderson (born March 6, 1976 in Minneapolis, Minnesota), is an American professional wrestler better known as Ken Kennedy or Mr. Kennedy currently performing for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on its SmackDown! brand.
Career
Anderson was trained by All-Star Championship Wrestling owners Eric Hammers and Mike Krause. 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 up with WWE, Anderson also made some appearances on TNA Xplosion.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, but the next week on Velocity he called himself "Mr. Kennedy".
His gimmick was intended to make him a heel by having him annoy the crowd but after a few weeks his announcements started getting face pops. To take the gimmick further an "old-school" style microphone, similar to the one used at Madison Square Garden, was lowered into the ring and the lights were turned off except for a single spot on Kennedy.
Kennedy made his SmackDown! debut on August 25, 2005, once again defeating Funaki. 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 his opponent 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 happened to be Guerrero's final televised match, as he died suddenly due to a massive coronary on November 13, 2005 in his hotel room in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where a 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 rehabed the injury.
Though he couldn't wrestle Kennedy still returned to SmackDown! on January 6, 2006, this time as a color commentator for the match between the then Cruiserweight champion Kid Kash and Juventud. He continued to make appearances on SmackDown! and Velocity throughout January and February, making his ring announcement and commentating specific matches. He even made an appearance on the January 11, 2006 edition of Byte This! with Todd Grisham to maintain visibility. [link]
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 made his unofficial WWE return at two SmackDown! house shows on June 3, 2006 and June 6, 2006 pinning Gunner Scott both times. Kennedy would make his return to SmackDown! on June 9, 2006 with a victory over Scotty 2 Hotty with 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 good 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 definitively lost by pinfall, ending his streak on SmackDown! of never being defeated by pin or submission, on the July 14, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, when he was rolled up and pinned by Matt Hardy.
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- *JFK - Just Finished by Kennedy / Green Bay Plunge / Lambeau Leap (Rolling fireman's carry slam from the middle rope)
- *Kenton Bomb (High-angle senton bomb)
- *Hangman's neckbreaker
- *Swinging side slam
- *Ura-nage backbreaker
- *Gutbuster
- *Powerslam
- Ring announcement
Championships and accomplishments
- *3-time ACW Heavyweight Champion
- *1-time ACW Television Champion
- *3-time ACW Tag Team Champion (with Mike Mercury)
- Mid American Wrestling
- UPCW
- Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling
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 in his home on April 13, 2006, after a two-year battle with cancer. In his off time, Anderson enjoys playing video games and watching the show 24.He is friends with AJ Styles and Austin Aries of ROH and TNA, and Randy Orton of WWE. His dream match would be to face "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, who was his inspiration to become re-interested in wrestling. He has a wire-haired fox terrier named Austin, named after "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
He appeared in a feature film Fighting The Still Life, made by former wrestler-turned-director Matt Burns, who wrestled as Sick Nick Mondo.
It is said he came up with his finisher when Austin Aries told him to take a unique move and do it from the top rope.
References
- [Ken Anderson at Bodyslamming.com]
- [Ken Kennedy at ObssessedWithWrestling.com]
- [IMDb Entry]
- [Ken Kennedy at Gerweck.Net]
- [Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter - James Alan Holmes]
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.