Ex-WWE Star Addresses Rumors Randy Orton Got Him Fired

WWE

Ken Anderson has opened up about his ‘misdirected’ resentment over his WWE firing and Randy Orton’s role in it.

Anderson would sign a WWE contract in 2005 debuting as Mr Kennedy in August of that year and going on to become United States Champion.

His release would come in May 2009, with Anderson previously stating it was due to Randy Orton raising a complaint with WWE management over Anderson’s recklessness in the ring, with John Cena being encouraged to also raise his concerns.

According to Anderson in an interview with Brian Fritz of AOL Fan House in 2010, Orton asked him to do a belly-to-back suplex, with Orton later saying that Kennedy had “dropped him on his head”, leading to Orton complaining to McMahon along with Cena.

Anderson has since reassessed his recollection of events over what got him fired and addressed this in an interview on The A2theK Wrestling Show, saying:

“I did talk to (Orton), but let me say this: Nobody got me fired. I got me fired.

“You know, like, as the years wore on, right? Because I was very bitter and upset for a few years.

“And that resentment was directed at the wrong place, and it should have been directed back at me, because had I been doing all the right things, I would have never been in a position where one person’s word could have any effect on my career.”

He would go on to admit that he had “done enough things” to be an issue for Vince McMahon and that the Orton incident was clearly one thing too many.

Anderson’s WWE run also included an injury that derailed plans for him to cash-in Money in the Bank to become world champion, and a WWE wellness policy violation which led to a planned storyline for him to be Vince McMahon’s illegitimate son being canceled.

He would also recall a 2019 conversation that he had with Orton that helped clear the air, stating:

“We have talked and I think both of us are in very different places in our lives right now. (I) had like a very long, pretty cool discussion with him.”

Anderson was referring to the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota where he had previously revealed he had a 30-minute conversation with Orton.

Transcript from Wrestling Inc.

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• ken anderson
• Mr. Kennedy
• Randy Orton
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