Ken Anderson spent four years performing as Mr. Kennedy in WWE, and he found some success as he won both the United States Championship and Money in the Bank.
The star left the sports entertainment giant in 2009, and speaking on a recent episode of The Kurt Angle Show, he opened up about not being surprised that he hasn’t been contacted about a WWE return as he left under unfortunate circumstances. He also reveals that he declined to be contacted for a Royal Rumble return in the past few years.
“No, I’m not surprised. I said some really sh—- things on the way out the door, and I completely get it. I would like to eventually be able to go back there and finish it out, but I completely understand if that doesn’t happen. I did it to myself.
“I was asked a few years ago, it wasn’t official, but I was asked but Daivari, ‘Hey, your name came up for Royal Rumble. Would you be interested?’ I wasn’t. I was completely out of shape, and I turned it down. But it wasn’t an official ask anyway. I just said, ‘No, I’m not interested.’” (h/t WrestleZone)
Ken Anderson’s WWE Name Was Inspired By Vince McMahon
Speaking in a 2022 interview with Chris Van Vliet, Anderson opened up about having a conversation with Paul Heyman about changing his name after he signed with WWE. He ended up using the name Mr. Kennedy as an homage to the middle name of Vince McMahon.
“Like, I feel like he did [get the connection]. Because it was Paul that suggested it in the first place. Because I called Paul and I said ‘Hey, they want me to change my name? What do you think?’ And he was like ‘You know, you have to pick something that is near and dear to his heart.’ And he was like ‘His dog’s name is Ruckus, or Rumpus.’ I think he had two dogs at the time. ‘But what about Kenny Rumpus? Kenny Ruckus?’ I’m like no.
“I was Kamikaze Ken when I started in the indies, and I had these like backwards K’s. And I wanted to sort of like keep that as my logo. And I was like something with a K and he was like ‘Kennedy is his middle name.’ And then I remember when we were in that room, and I said that they just pause for a minute it was [Vince saying] ‘Oh, I don’t think there’s ever been a Kennedy. Do you like it?’ And I was like ‘I liked Ken Anderson to be honest with you, but you call me Mr. Dickhead if you want to. It’s your company.’
“And he just kind of smirked and then he looked at Kevin Dunn, and he goes, ‘Make sure he’s got Kennedy on his TitanTron tonight.’ That was the second week. That was the week that I did do it on SmackDown. So the first two weeks that I was there on TV I was Anderson.” (h/t Inside the Ropes)