Welcome all!
For a slight change, today I thought I’d focus on one wrestler I’ve followed for a very long time, and I’m sure by the title you know who it is.
Originally, Ken Kennedy (as he was) came to the WWE and for me, was a nice change to every other wrestler on TV. Part of his gimmick involved the microphone coming down from the rafters and he introduced himself. He always came across as a very competent and cocky wrestler, but never seemed to fit in the “WWE Universe”.
A lot of people just didn’t take to him and in my opinion, he was underused by the company. He always oozed confidence and I liked that, much the same as Magnus in TNA now, but surely that should have put him in one of the top spots in the company? He was a big character and had an original gimmick, but it just didn’t help him.
Imagine my surprise when he arrived in TNA. Everything seemed to be right. A growing company with an edge, and a big character to add into a roster already bursting with talent. There was only one problem – he wasn’t Mr Kennedy anymore. Obviously the WWE had the rights to the name – not that it can do them much good as the wrestler isn’t there anymore – but that’s how it was, and so Mr Anderson was created.
I must admit that I struggled with the name for a while. I would often watch with my stepson who remembered Anderson from the WWE and he’d ask why his name was different. It’s a bit tricky to explain to an 8-year old! I don’t think he was initially well-received in TNA, probably because the only thing different from his time in WWE was his name. Everything else was the same – the mike, the introduction and the same bleach-blond hair. It took a while for him to get over with the fans, but he was always consistent in the ring.
The first part of his evolution was his hair. It was a very subtle change, and it didn’t happen straight away. The first time I noticed it was on a graphic for a PPV match. All of a sudden, he had brown hair. I noticed a few comments on Twitter at the time and a few people were asking if it actually was Anderson, because we’d never seen him with brown hair. It’s stupid when you think about it, but it seemed to be a part of his character. The match happened and he still had blond hair, which was a little confusing, but a few weeks later, the transformation was complete and he sported his brown hair. TNA finally seemed to be developing Anderson’s look and persona to suit their company instead of having a carbon-copy of his WWE image.
The next change was his new persona – the Asshole. All of his fans went by that name too, which brought him some fresh followers. People seemed to like the fact that he was outspoken and the fact that he called himself what a lot of people already thought of him. They overplayed the concept a little though. He wasn’t really a face or a heel – he was just an asshole.
His definitive heel turn in TNA finally happened when he joined the Aces & 8s – a group of men who invaded TNA and thought they were better than everyone else. Ultimately though, Anderson’s character didn’t fit too well. He got fed up sitting back and being told what to do, so he tried to climb the ranks in the group.
He made it to Vice-President and that’s where we saw the biggest change of all in Anderson’s character. He was no longer happy with what was happening in the group and made it widely known to everyone, especially the President – Bully Ray. It ended up with Anderson challenging Bully Ray for the World Heavyweight Championship.
I really didn’t know what to expect from the match itself because I’d never seen Anderson in the title mix before, but in my opinion, it was the best match of his career. Even though he lost the match, the amount of abuse he took (and gave to Bully Ray) really showed the calibre of the man and showed how good his in-ring work can be. It was a real pity that his contract ended shortly after and we all thought that the last time we saw him would be when he left the arena on a stretcher.
After a few weeks, maybe a month, Bully Ray started to reference former Aces & 8s members backstage. On one occasion, he stated that he’d nearly killed one of them – an obvious reference to Anderson. We all needed to see where Anderson would fit in now, and then it happened…
The final phase of his evolution – his return to Aces & 8s was short-lived because he’d come back to destroy the group. His face turn was complete.
His latest challenge sees him go up against Bully Ray in a match at Turning Point where the repercussions of the match are huge. If Anderson wins, Aces & 8s have to break up. But if he loses, his career is over. The match has already aired in the States, but it won’t air in the UK until this coming Sunday at 9pm on Challenge TV, so I’ve yet to see what happened. I know how I want this match to go – with Anderson winning. I’d hate to see Anderson go again after just coming back a couple of weeks ago, but whether the people behind the scenes think the same as me, we’ll just have to wait and see!
Hopefully you liked my account of the evolution of Mr Anderson. I may not have got everything exactly right, but it’s how I saw it. Don’t forget to catch me on Twitter – @ecwdave – and you can read my blogs at – ecwdave.blogspot.com
Recent Comments