Ken Anderson (wrestler)
Kenneth Anthony Anderson is an American professional wrestler. He is known for his tenure in WWE from 2005 to 2009 under the ring name Mr. Kennedy, and his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as Mr. Anderson from 2010 to 2016. He also works as an announcer for Top Rank Boxing.
Before signing a development deal with World Wrestling Entertainment and being assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE's farm area, Anderson began his career on the independent circuit. He was promoted to the main roster in 2005. One year after his debut, he won the WWE United States Championship, which he held for 42 days. At WrestleMania 23, he won the 2007 Money in the Bank briefcase with a title shot for the promotion's world title. However, he dropped the briefcase to Edge after being misdiagnosed with an injury. Kennedy would remain with the promotion until 2009.
In 2010, Anderson signed with TNA, where he competed under the ring names Mr. Anderson and Ken Anderson. In 2011, he would win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship twice during a feud with the villainous group, Immortal. After losing the title, he would remain with the promotion as a mid-card wrestler, joining the villainous faction Aces & Eights at one point, until he departed TNA in 2016. In 2019, Anderson came back to pro wrestling programming when he worked for National Wrestling Alliance. In September 2025, Anderson officially returned to TNA after 9 years away from the promotion.
In 2016, Anderson opened a wrestling school called The Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota, along with Shawn Daivari, Molly Holly, Ariya Daivari, and Arik Cannon. He has also worked occasionally as an actor and starred as Master Chief Petty Officer Carter Holt in the WWE Studios production Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia in 2009.
Early life
Kenneth Anthony Anderson was born on March 6, 1976, in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. Anderson graduated from Washington High School in Two Rivers. During his time there, he excelled at swimming and track and field. He also announced school basketball games and did a radio assignment in his Mass Media class. When doing this, a friend suggested to Anderson to repeat the surnames to make it funnier. That element was eventually used again in his wrestling character when encouraged by Paul Heyman. Before beginning his wrestling career, Anderson worked as a security officer at Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant and a personal trainer. He also served in the United States Army. His father died on April 13, 2006, from cancer.Professional wrestling career
Early career (1999–2005)
Anderson, under the ring name "Two Rivers Jack", made his debut on September 11, 1999, at a North American Wrestling Federation event in Whitewater, Wisconsin, losing to Golga. He wrestled just twenty-one matches before appearing for the World Wrestling Federation on Jakked in 2001, where he lost to Essa Rios. He occasionally worked as enhancement talent for WWF when shows ran in Wisconsin. Anderson also made an appearance on NWA: Total Nonstop Action's secondary television program, Xplosion. The owner of the promotion, Jeff Jarrett, approached him for a contract but communications broke down.World Wrestling Entertainment (2005–2009)
Ohio Valley Wrestling (2005)
Upon signing with WWE in February 2005, Anderson was sent to the Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental territory, where he would remain for six months. When he arrived, Jim Cornette was in charge of the organization and, according to Anderson, did not see potential in his abilities and declined to feature him as more than an occasional bit-player on OVW's programming. When Cornette departed, his replacement, Paul Heyman, showed immediate interest in Anderson, comparing his qualities to The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Five weeks later, Anderson was called up to WWE's main roster to work on Velocity. He credits Heyman with helping him develop the character with which he would achieve success. Before his first SmackDown! match, he showed himself to be a cocky and arrogant wrestler 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, he changed his name "Ken Kennedy", to "Mr. Kennedy". The change was initially suggested by Heyman and was chosen because it is the middle name of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.Undefeated streak (2005–2006)
Kennedy, as a heel, defeated Funaki in his SmackDown! debut on August 25. 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. While working on both Velocity and SmackDown!, he was also still working in OVW. Kennedy made his pay-per-view debut at No Mercy on October 9, defeating Hardcore Holly and injuring Holly's ribs during the match.On the November 11 episode of SmackDown!, Kennedy faced Eddie Guerrero to compete for a spot on Team SmackDown! at Survivor Series on November 27. He lost the match when Guerrero tossed him a steel chair and played possum, a move which Guerrero had made famous. The 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 was Guerrero's final televised match, as he died two days later. In interviews about the incident, Kennedy has stated that he considers this an "unfortunate honor".
In December, Kennedy participated in WWE's overseas tour. On the second day in Italy, Kennedy suffered a legitimate latissimus dorsi tear. Kennedy was sidelined for nearly six months while he rehabilitated the injury. He continued to make appearances on SmackDown! and Velocity throughout January and February and even made an appearance on the January 11, 2006, episode of WWE Byte This! with Todd Grisham to maintain visibility.
At the OVW tapings on May 17, Kennedy returned to in-ring action, facing OVW Heavyweight Champion CM Punk in a title match that Kennedy lost. Kennedy made his return to SmackDown! on the June 9 episode with a victory over Scotty 2 Hotty after using the "Kenton Bomb". On the July 14 episode of SmackDown!, Matt Hardy used a roll-up to defeat Kennedy, ending Kennedy's streak of never being defeated by pin or submission. On the July 21 episode of SmackDown!, Batista put out an open challenge to find an opponent for The Great American Bash on July 23, as his original opponent, Mark Henry, had been injured. Kennedy accepted the challenge and won the match by disqualification, however, he suffered an injury during the match after being thrown headfirst into the steel steps, resulting in an exposed cranium laceration which required twenty stitches to close. Kennedy helped Vince and Shane McMahon in their feud with D-Generation X, appearing at both SummerSlam on August 20 and the August 28 episode of Raw to attack them.
United States Champion and Mr. Money in the Bank (2006–2007)
On the September 1 episode of SmackDown!, Kennedy defeated Finlay and Bobby Lashley in a triple threat match to win the WWE United States Championship, his first and only championship reign in WWE. On the September 8 episode of SmackDown!, Kennedy announced that he wanted to move over to the Raw brand, as SmackDown! did not interest him anymore since 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 on October 8. Kennedy won the match by disqualification after The Undertaker hit him with the United States Championship belt. On the October 13 episode of SmackDown!, Kennedy, now with a win over The Undertaker, again stated his desire to move to Raw. However, Long again put him against an opponent who he had never faced—this time Chris Benoit—with the United States Championship 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. Ultimately, Kennedy lost the match and the United States Championship to Benoit after submitting to the "Crippler Crossface" following a distraction by The Undertaker.File:Kennedy-dominates-Holly,-RLA-Melb-10.11.2007.jpg|thumb|175px|Mr. Kennedy standing over Hardcore Holly at a Raw house show|alt=Mr. Kennedy standing over Hardcore Holly at a Raw house show
In November, Kennedy joined forces with Montel Vontavious Porter in matches against Brothers of Destruction. On the November 3 episode 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 Kennedy disqualified his team by performing a low blow, Long restarted the match again with no countouts and no disqualifications. Kennedy and MVP continued to feud with the two, with MVP feuding with Kane while Kennedy challenged The Undertaker to a match at Survivor Series on November 26, which was later announced as a First Blood match. Kennedy defeated The Undertaker at Survivor Series after MVP turned on Kennedy and aimed for his head with a steel chair, but missed and hit The Undertaker instead, leaving The Undertaker bleeding. After the match, The Undertaker attacked Kennedy, forcing him to bleed. At Armageddon on December 17, Kennedy and The Undertaker met in a final match; they were scheduled in a Last Ride match. In the match, The Undertaker defeated Kennedy.
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 Royal Rumble on January 28. After he prevented The Undertaker from beating his time, Kennedy's time of 5:07 ended up being the fastest. At the Royal Rumble, he lost to Batista, as well as a subsequent rematch on the February 9 episode of SmackDown!. From there, Kennedy began a short feud with ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley, leading to a match at No Way Out on February 18 for the ECW World Championship, which Kennedy won by disqualification after Lashley hit him with a chair. Kennedy challenged Lashley unsuccessfully for the ECW World Championship on the February 20 episode of ECW and the March 2 episode of SmackDown! as well.
Kennedy earned a spot in the 2007 Money in the Bank ladder match by defeating Sabu in an Extreme Rules match on the February 27 episode of ECW. At WrestleMania 23 on April 1, 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 on March 30, 2008. Kennedy announced on the April 30 episode of Raw that he would be cashing in his Money in the Bank championship opportunity in eleven months at WrestleMania XXIV. On the May 7 episode of Raw, Kennedy, however, lost his Money in the Bank briefcase to Edge, after being struck with a monitor before the match began. Kennedy had sustained an injury prior to his match with Edge, and it was thought that his right triceps muscle tore off the bone and he would be out for a minimum of five to seven months, leading to the decision to transfer the briefcase in lieu of the original plan of having him cash it in against the World Heavyweight Champion, The Undertaker, following a steel cage match, as he needed time away for bicep surgery. The injury, however, was not as serious as initially thought, as the triceps tendon did not tear off the bone but was, in fact, a massive hematoma, which would keep him out for only five to seven weeks.
On the June 11 episode of Raw, Kennedy was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the WWE Draft. On the August 20 episode of Raw, Carlito hosted the interview segment Carlito's Cabana. During the segment, Carlito challenged his guest, Umaga for his Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam on August 26, and Kennedy also demanded a shot at the title. Raw General Manager William Regal, scheduled a match between Kennedy and Carlito, in which the winner would receive an opportunity to face off against Umaga at SummerSlam. After the match ended in a draw, Regal booked a triple threat match at SummerSlam between the three men for the Intercontinental Championship; at SummerSlam, Umaga retained the title. On the September 10 episode of Raw, Mr. McMahon revealed that Kennedy had, in storyline, been suspended for "impersonating a McMahon." This angle was written because Kennedy being named one of the eleven wrestlers implicated in a steroid scandal and therefore suspended for thirty days in accordance with WWE's Wellness Policy.