While still in the indies, Anderson did some jobbing on the lower level WWE programs, including Velocity in August 2003.
Batista vs. Mr. Kennedy
After dominating the midcard and having success in the main event for so long, Kennedy would receive a US Title shot against Finlay on September 1, 2006.
US Title: Mr. Kennedy vs. Finlay vs. Bobby Lashley
Finlay is defending and Bobby Lashley is a surprise addition to make it a three way. Kennedy tries to form an alliance with Lashley but Bobby pulls him into a belly to belly suplex for his efforts. Finlay clotheslines Bobby down to take over and Kennedy comes in to help on the double teaming. Kennedy quickly turns on the champ and sends him into the post before hitting the Ken-Ton Bomb for two on Lashley.
Finlay comes right back and puts Kennedy in a Boston crab but Lashley is back to run them both over. Kennedy is sent outside and Bobby hiptosses the champion down. A big clothesline puts Finlay outside as well and Lashley rules the ring. Everyone gets back inside but Bobby quickly knocks the champion to the floor again.
Rating: C. Nice match here but throwing everyone to the floor over and over again got annoying after awhile. Kennedy stealing the title made sense as he was always the guy that found a way to win after getting beaten on for long stretches in the match. Good stuff here but not a great match.
Next up in the parade of big matches was a match against the Undertaker at No Mercy 2006.
Mr. Kennedy vs. Undertaker
Back in the ring and Kennedy pulls Taker through the ropes to get himself a breather. Kennedy drills him coming back in, getting two. The running hip attack to the guy that is on the middle rope gets two. The move Ryder calls the Broski Boot hits and Taker is in trouble. Taker fights up from his knees and knocks Kennedy to the floor. The legdrop across the apron connects.
Last Ride is countered and they almost run into the referee. A buckle was exposed somewhere during this match and Kennedy rams Taker into it, followed by a clothesline to take him down. Kenton Bomb gets two so Kennedy is going to walk. Taker grabs the belt and hits him with it for the freaking LAME DQ.
Rating: B-. This was getting REALLY good at the end and then they screw it up with something like that. I mean, at least make it for the belt to make it worth something before you do something that annoying. Taker was actually feeling it tonight to the point that you might have thought Kennedy could pull off the huge upset. Good stuff here until the ending.
Just like his feud with Batista, Kennedy would win the first two matches against Undertaker but lose the blowoff match. Next up on his march through world champions would be ECW Champion Lashley at No Way Out 2007.
ECW Title: Mr. Kennedy vs. Bobby Lashley
This is in the Kennedy is awesome and keeps beating world champions but can’t beat one in a title match period. Lashley comes out first and Kennedy tries to jump him but gets beaten down instead. Cole is almost unrecognizable at this point with his voice being so messed up. We make it into the ring with Lashley completely in control.
Back to the floor again with JBL talking about how great both guys’ futures will be. And never mind as we fight in the ring for awhile. Lashley uses pure power to destroy Kennedy for the most part as we wait for the inevitable mistake to allow Kennedy to take over. He gets a Rack, which someone needs to bring back as a finisher. Maybe Big Zeke? Kennedy rakes the eyes and then goes after the knee to take over.
Kennedy gets a reverse figure four, as in Lashley is on his stomach and Kennedy is on his back. He switches over to a half crab which is important. By switching holds like that you can still do very little but you get enough variety to keep things interesting. Lashley gets back into it but can’t use the leg.
JBL is doing the vast amount of the talking now so Cole can rest his throat a bit. Lashley can’t get a belly to belly and Kennedy counters into a DDT for a long two. Kenton Bomb misses as it eats knees and here comes the bald dude. The Boo/Yay stuff goes to Lashley and he starts throwing Kennedy around for fun.
Lashley gets the Rack again (complete with the line of “made famous by a guy that wasn’t nearly the full package like this guy is” from JBL) and drops to his knees for Shock Treatment ala Abyss. And there goes the referee. Kennedy heads to the floor and grabs a chair. Bobby gets popped by it but the referee doesn’t see it. He gets the chair to drill Kennedy which is good for a DQ win for Kennedy. Cole can’t talk like at all anymore.
Rating: C. Decent match for the most part but the ending was pretty weak. Kennedy took it to Lashley but he had no way to finish people for the most part yet which was his major downfall for the most part. He didn’t have a finisher until the Mic Check so he had to rely on rollups or quick pins which never worked for the most part. Decent match, bad ending.
Wrestlemania 23 was just over a month later and Kennedy was in Money in the Bank.
Mr. Kennedy vs. CM Punk vs. Randy Orton vs. Finlay vs. Matt Hardy vs. King Booker vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Edge
With this match, we start the tradition of having too many people in a single MITB match and overcrowding the thing. Everyone looks up at the case until Anderson goes to get a ladder. Orton heads to the floor to stop him as the big brawl begins. Finlay DIVES on everyone not named Edge, allowing the Canadian to make a climb, only to be stopped by Matt. They head to the floor, allowing Orton and Finlay to head up top for a brawl on the ladder.
Later on in the year Kennedy would turn heel again and face Shawn Michaels at Armageddon 2007.
Mr. Kennedy vs. Shawn Michaels
Kennedy says he’ll win pre match. Just a respect match here as far as I can tell. Kennedy takes over to start with a lot of basic offense focused on the back. Shawn tries to clear his head so Kennedy hammers on him a lot. Shawn is like wait a minute. I’m Shawn Michaels so let me chop you and sell like I’ve been shot and have a bad stomach ache. Due to the back work, Shawn can’t hit a suplex.
Kennedy tries a Mic Check but can’t it gets countered, injuring Kenderson’s elbow. Shawn, ever the psychologist out there, works on it. See how easy it is to do stuff that makes sense? Now why can so few people get that concept? Kennedy keeps trying to break the hold and finally sends both of them to the floor. That doesn’t go well either as his hand is slammed into the post.
Back inside and Shawn works on the hand and the arm. Shawn grabs a wristlock but Kennedy punches him through the ropes. That’s a new one. Back outside again and Shawn goes into the post. Well not really as he kind of slams against it. I don’t think there’s enough room for Shawn’s body inside the post. A running boot to a seated Shawn in the corner sets up a backbreaker for two.
In a nice bit of thinking from Kennedy, he jumps at Shawn from the middle rope but sees Shawn get his foot up so Kennedy stops his momentum and lands on his feet, avoiding the boot. He then sets for an elbow drop but Shawn rolls out of the way. Kennedy didn’t drop it right then but rather once Shawn rolled over, hitting Shawn in the bad back. Who says heels can’t be smart?
Shawn starts his comeback and chops away so he can hit the forearm and nipup. At least he’s putting a hand on his back for some selling. If he has a weakness, it’s his lack of selling injuries later in the match. There’s the top rope elbow and Shawn starts tuning up the band. I’ve never gotten how no one can hear the fans chanting along or hear Shawn stomping on the mat.
Either way he catches the kick and rolls up Shawn for two. Shawn gets a rollup of his own for the same. Kennedy hits a slingshot to send Shawn into the post and talks some trash. He punches Shawn with the left hand for no apparent reason and hurts it again, letting Sweet Chin Music (bad camera angle shows that it doesn’t hit at all, which is really good control from Shawn) end Kennedy.
Rating: B-. I liked this one as there was enough psychology peppered through it to make things work. Kennedy reinjuring his hand was a nice touch but you kind of have to wonder why he’d use his left hand for a punch. Kennedy wasn’t exactly known for his in ring abilities so this was a nice little surprise.
Soon after it was off to TNA, where Anderson would quickly get involved in a feud with Kurt Angle, leading to a big match at Lockdown.
Kurt Angle vs. Ken Anderson
This is standard rules but Anderson has the key. Not sure I get the point to that aspect as it’s bound be thrown around sometime. Also, I’d prefer a regular cage match but this is fine I suppose. Anderson has the key around his neck. Ok he has a chain around his neck with the key around it but you get the idea. Anderson goes for the door like 30 seconds in and like an idiot, he forgets about Angle.
Anderson accidentally leaves the key in the lock so there goes the point of the ladder match entirely. Angle is bleeding BAD already. Tenay says it was bound to happen at some point. At some point? I think every match has had that so far. This is one of the feuds that I’ve really liked for the majority of it. Angle is WORKING in there man. He’s still one of the best in the world when he works at it.
There is blood everywhere. Ok not really but it sounds good. Angle hits his run up the ropes and hit a belly to belly. Love that. Anderson uses his wrist tape to choke Angle out which is rather brilliant. Solid match so far. Angle gets his Germans. He hits about 6 or 7 of them and Anderson is just about out of it.
Angle goes for the door but stops. Dang it Kurt don’t be freaking stupid. Ankle Lock is on but you can’t win by tap out. And there’s the Mic Check. Yeah I’m stunned too. Anderson gets the lock open but Angle gets the Slam. And Angle locks the cage again. Ok then. And he throws the key away. Anderson freaks, even though there’s no roof on the cage.
Anderson tries to get out but Angle gets a German OFF THE TOP ROPE! SICK spot. Angle sets him for the moonsault but goes TO THE TOP OF THE CAGE! And he hits it. Yeah Angle still has it. Angle gets a key from….somewhere, but Anderson flips the double bird and is able to get a Mic Check.
We’re getting close to overkill here. Angle catches him with the ankle lock though and Anderson taps again. I smell a broken ankle. Anderson reverses but STILL can’t get out. Angel finds a chain or the Warrior Medal and chokes Anderson out with it in a reference to Anderson choking him out in the ladder match on Impact before walking out. GREAT match.
Rating: A+. Yeah I said it. Great match all around and the ending made sense given the way Anderson won the ladder match. This has been a great show and it needed a great match to get it over the hump. It just got that. Angle is still one of the best in the world and he can bring it.
Matt Morgan vs. Mr. Anderson
I really hope this has an actual ending instead of a screwjob of some point. Morgan grabs a headlock to start after the big match intros. There was a fifteen minute time limit announced and I have a bad feeling that’ll come into play. All of a sudden we’re talking about Ray Lewis and what he has next to his bed. You get multiple sports in this company I guess.
They head to the floor with Anderson in trouble. They have a ton of time here which means they’re likely going to stretch this out as far as they can. A main point here is that Anderson’s head might not be right which has people scared. Anderson works on the leg for a long time. Tazz thinks Immortal wants Anderson to win here because he has a chink in his armor. Makes sense.
Morgan gets a swinging chokeslam off the top and a clothesline to take over completely. They slug it out from their knees and neither guy can take over. Carbon Footprint out of nowhere takes Anderson down for two and Morgan isn’t happy. Since one finisher gets two the other one has to as well. They hit heads and Anderson gets a small package for the pin. Yep that’s it.
Rating: C. Not a bad match I guess but this is supposed to be the major selling point for the show? The ending came out of nowhere and felt completely flat if that makes sense. This was ok but I still don’t buy either of these guys as a main event threat. Nothing great at all but I think it’s setting this up.
Bischoff comes out and the title is on the line RIGHT NOW!
TNA World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson
I have a really bad feeling the title is about to change hands. Jeff comes to the ring smoking….a joint? I must be seeing things. Maybe they’re afraid of the drug charges? Twist of Hate gets two as that move is killed more and more every match. Another Twist of Hate gets two. Anderson sends him to the floor by the belt as they’re making this kind of competitive.
Morgan takes Hardy’s head off with the discus clothesline out of nowhere. He sends Hardy in for a close two. They slug it out and Anderson takes over with a neckbreaker for two. Jeff grabs a chair but Foley pops up to grab it away. Here’s Flair to counteract Foley and get us our run-in quorum of the main event. Hardy gets crotched on the top but manages to shove Anderson off. Swanton gets two.
Anderson, of course, is bleeding from the head. Hardy’s jeans are ripped. He takes Anderson down and calls for Matt. RVD runs out for the fourth run-in of the match and fights Matt off to the back. Bischoff becomes the seventh person involved in the match by bringing in a chair but gets caught in a Mic Check. Twist of Hate is countered into the Mic Check to give Anderson the title.
Rating: D+. Total and complete mess of a match with all kinds of people coming in while the selling from both guys was awful. Also, no one can ever complain about SuperCena again after that performance by Anderson. Anderson winning the title should have been a huge moment, but instead it’s going to be something that people see when they turn on Impact Thursday. I’d be ticked off if I cared about this company, which is waning rapidly.
Anderson would lose the title back to Hardy a month later before getting another shot at Sting at Slammiversary 2011.
TNA World Title: Sting vs. Mr. Anderson
Sting comes in and jumps Anderson during the entrance. He’s in all red here and has that paint on his face making him look like the Joker. All Sting so far as Anderson can’t even get his shirt off. Into the crowd they go and Anderson goes into a wall. There’s black/gray around Sting’s mouth for some reason. Anderson gets a quick reversal and that gets him nowhere at all as Sting pounds on him even more.
Up the steps they go even further and this is wasting a ton of time. To the ring finally and Sting is sent into the post. Anderson sends Sting’s hand into the steps and then pulls the arm around the post for awhile. More F Bombs dropped as an armbar goes on Sting. Clothesline puts Sting down again for two. Anderson wastes forever and does Sting’s chest pound before missing a horrible Stinger Splash.
Modified world’s strongest slam gets two. Anderson is covering a lot here. Back to the armbar which makes some sense here at least. Sting starts his comeback and pounds on his chest as he is known to do at times. Clothesline sets up a backdrop and the splash in the corner. Scorpion is set up….and here’s Bischoff. Another Stinger Splash misses and Anderson gets a very close two.
Sting gets a regular DDT with the bad arm for two. He tries something close to a Banzai Drop but gets caught in the little stingers which gets two for Anderson. Mic Check hits on the second attempt for two. Stinger Splash and the Death Drop hit but Bischoff interferes and messes with the count so there was only a two count instead of the three. Low blow RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REFEREE sets up the Mic Check and we have a new champion. Wow indeed.
Rating: C. The chicanery hits again. I really hope this doesn’t set up Anderson joining Immortal because it really seemed like it was dying there for awhile. Bischoff is the source of drama again which is his custom. Hopefully this sticks around so we don’t have Sting vs. Hogan for the title. Surprising ending and it more or less locks up Angle winning tonight in the main event.
TNA World Title: Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray
Bully gets in a cheap shot and sends Anderson into the steps before asking Brooke for a chair. It takes forever to get there and Anderson gets in a shot to the ribs to take the chair away. He blasts the champion in the back and pounds him back into the ring. Ray goes up but gets hit low, allowing Anderson to hit a rolling senton. The fans are COMPLETELY behind Anderson here and him telling himself to get the tables makes them cheer even louder. Even Tenay is cheering for Anderson.
Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray
Ray takes off the chain to whip Anderson even more but Anderson takes the chain away and gets in a few whips of his own. Anderson loads up a big chained fist but gets sent to the floor instead. Ray pulls back the mats but Anderson backdrops Ray onto the concrete instead.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at: