Ken Anderson (better known as Mr. Kennedy) recently opened up about the disagreement he had with CEO of WWE, Vince McMahon, regarding his gimmick during his early years with the company.
Vince McMahon to Ken Anderson: “Funny doesn’t draw money”
Ken Anderson, the current NWA star during an interview, discussed that he and Vince McMahon had a difference in opinions regarding the former’s on-screen character.
Ken Anderson, the former WWE United States Champion said, “When I first debuted, I was really over-the-top, and sort of comedic in my delivery of everything, and I remember him [Vince McMahon] telling me, ‘you’ve got to stop trying to be funny and entertaining.’
He continued, “I remember thinking, isn’t that the point of what we’re trying to do here, to just be entertaining? He said, with all due respect, ‘funny, doesn’t draw money.”
The Rock, former WWE wrestler was popular for his hilarious in-ring promos, that made him one of the best wrestlers with mic skills. Ken Anderson had given the example of ‘The Great One’, explaining that he also had a funny approach for cutting the promos.
The 44-year-old revealed, “When he said, ‘nobody ever drew big bucks being funny, goofy, and doing comedy stuff,’ I was like, with all due respect, but I’m a huge fan of The Rock, and almost every one of his promos was funny.”
He added, “And he said yeah, but The Rock sort of hamstrung himself when he started cutting those funny promos.”
Opposing to Ken Anderson’s idea, Vince Mcmahon explained that comedy gimmicks are always seen as secondary characters.
The former Mr. Money in the Bank stated, “Vince said that after Rock cut those funny promos, fans began to expect the same delivery every single night. I understood why it’s really hard to do that [cut funny promos] when you are running 52 weeks a year.”
Ken Anderson admits, “So, I think that was an interesting piece of advice. There were times I think where funny is appropriate, but overall, the comedy characters, unfortunately, always seem to be secondary characters.”
Ken Anderson made his WWE debut at Velocity in 2005. He has won both WWE United States Championship and Money in the Bank ladder match once.
He was released by WWE in 2010 after Randy Orton complained Vince McMahon that Ken Anderson hit a botched move on ‘The Viper’ which could have been a career-ending injury.
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