A wrestler’s entrance is of utmost importance, providing stars the first opportunity to make an impression on fans in the audience. Paul Heyman knows this well, and he has a proven track record of being able to highlight stars during their entrances, whether it be the Sandman entering to Metallica or the Dudley Boys being accompanied by their whole family.
In a new interview with WrestlingNewsCo, Ken Anderson (known as Mr. Kennedy in WWE) spoke about his own iconic entrance where a microphone would drop down from the ceiling, giving him the opportunity to boisterously announce his own name to the crowd. He credited Paul Heyman for coming up with the idea during his time in developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling.
“Paul Heyman came in, took over creative, and he was like, ‘Tonight I want you to go out there and cut the ring announcer off and you know, run him down, and then you’re gonna do your own introduction, only you know how to do it.’
“And when I was out there, in the moment I just added the Anderson twice. And when I came back that night, I had like a 30 minute match, I think it was with Brent Albright. And I came back through the curtain and everybody… they weren’t saying the match was the s****, but like, ‘Hey great match, but when you said your last name twice man, that was it.’ So that’s when you know you sort of have something, and I just kept doing it, and Paul just had me do it week after week after week.”
Anderson was called up to WWE’s main roster just months after Heyman took over creative in OVW, taking on the name Mr. Kennedy after Vince McMahon as it’s the Chairman’s middle name.
At WrestleMania 23, Anderson won the Money in the Bank Briefcase, but later lost the briefcase to Edge after suffering a knee injury, dashing his hopes of becoming a world champion.
Paul Heyman Also Influenced Brock Lesnar’s WWE Return In 2021
Paul Heyman’s influence on the world of professional wrestling can’t be denied, and during a recent interview with Faction 919, he revealed that he also had a hand in Brock Lesnar deciding to return to WWE in 2021 after announcing his intent to retire in 2020.
“Nobody approached me on that. Brock Lesnar’s contract was up in April or May 2020. After the match with Drew McIntyre in that WrestleMania, Brock Lesnar went home to Saskatchewan. He was done in WWE, he wasn’t coming back, and my calendar was open, and so was Roman Reigns‘, so Roman Reigns and I formed a duo to serve as Special Counsel to the Tribal Chief on the Island of Relevancy, and then Brock Lesnar, seeing the success that Roman Reigns was enjoying, decided to come back.
“But I mean, there was no conscious effort to split from Brock Lesnar to then ascend to Roman Reigns. I ended up with Roman Reigns because Brock Lesnar left WWE for a while.”
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