Ken Anderson, the former Mr. Kennedy, has revealed that he is now “definitely” open to a return to WWE in some capacity, a significant shift from his previous stance of “never, never, never.” Speaking on WrestlingNews.co’s The Velvet Ropes with SoCal Val, Anderson discussed his legacy, his desire to right the ending of his WWE story, and the pivotal advice from “Stone Cold” Steve Austin that he now wishes he had taken.
For years after his WWE release, Anderson was adamant that he had no desire to go back. Now, with a new landscape in the company and a new perspective on his career, that has changed. “The entire time that I was with TNA, and even some post-TNA, I was like, ‘Never, never, never.’ I just had no desire to ever go back to WWE,” he said. “I look at the lay of the land there now and the way that things are, and I would definitely love to go back there. I’m a different person. Most of the people that are there… that are still there are different people. So for sure.”
Advice From “Stone Cold”
A major part of his desire to return stems from a feeling that he didn’t leave the company on his own terms, a situation he believes could have been avoided if he had listened to a phone call from Steve Austin at a critical juncture in his career. “The thing about WWE that’s unfortunate is I didn’t leave on my own terms. That’s sort of something that irks me a little bit,” he admitted.
“I remember having a discussion with Steve Austin. Steve was like, ‘Kid, get out of there.’ He called me one day and he was like, ‘Get out of there. You know, you got some bad juju. This person doesn’t like you. This person doesn’t like you. Get out, go to Japan, go to TNA, get over. Do your thing, and then you can always come back,'” Anderson confessed. “And I just never took him up on the offer. I waited too long. So I would love to go back and sort of make that thing right.” (Click below to watch the interview)
Hall of Fame and Legacy
When asked about a potential WWE Hall of Fame induction, Anderson was humble but acknowledged it would be a “great honor.” “No, it’s not something that I really think about too much. But, I mean, it would be a great honor, obviously,” he said. “For me, that was always… I always wanted to be a WWE superstar when I was coming up. That’s what I wanted to do.”
As for his ultimate legacy, Anderson hopes to be remembered as someone who gave everything he had to the business, and who, despite a rocky ending in WWE, was able to leave on his own terms in the grand scheme of his career. “I gave everything that I could… that I left it all out there and that I left on my own terms,” he stated. He also noted that he feels he can still contribute in the ring. “I feel like I can still go. I still have some gas in the tank,” he said, before adding that he would also “love to coach” and is open to any opportunity to contribute.
This interview is exclusive to WrestlingNews.co. If you use these quotes, please include a link back to this page.
