Mr Anderson Interview: Losing Favor in WWE, Injuries, More

Two-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion Mr. Anderson was recently interviewed by Journey of a Frontman. The current TNA star discussed a number of prevalent topics within TNA, while also hitting on a number of topics in regards to his time in WWE.

Known as Mr. Kennedy in WWE, Anderson discussed his tenure in the company, which came to a close in May of 2009. Anderson discussed losing favor within the company, and how he believed he was punished due to sustaining injuries:

“What happens is when you’re injured, you’re punished for being injured. You get injured because your job is dangerous and they run you five days a week. I was never injured because of stupid things that I did, it was usually at the hands of somebody else. Once I got a bruise on my triceps that was misdiagnosed as a torn triceps. It’s almost like you’re punished for getting injured. When you come back, you’re sort of de-pushed and somebody else has taken that slot. That’s understandable to a degree, but they can say “Here we go, off to the races again” and they choose not to.”

“Another one of the things that frustrated me was everything that brought me to the dance in the first place, I was told to stop doing all that stuff. “Do it this way, don’t do it that way. What you’re doing is wrong.” I did it on Smackdown for a couple years. Taker, Batista, Rey Mysterio, Bob Holly, Chris Benoit, Kane, Booker T, all those guys loved working with me and had no problems working with me. I went over to RAW and suddenly I don’t know how to work or wrestle or do my thing. I was told don’t do it this way, do it that way. That to me was frustrating because all I wanted to do was entertain.”

Anderson also contrasted the different working styles between WWE and TNA:

“They were telling me just the opposite. They said they would put bullet points down on my promos to let me know where they were going with the main story, they told me however I decided to get there was up to me. A lot of times, I would call Paul Heyman and ask him what he would do in this situation. I told him what they had for me and we would talk almost every week. Paul Heyman was responsible for helping me with a lot of the stuff that was coming out of my mouth in the early days at TNA.”

Anderson was also asked about the recent TNA departure of Samoa Joe, who will be returning to Ring of Honor. Anderson discussed the possibility of Joe being signed by WWE:

“I love Joe to death. I think that no matter what happens, he’s just a tremendous talent and he’ll be sought after. It’s always hard to take that step into the unknown, but he did it and I respect the fact that he had the balls to do it. He just said ‘You know what, I’m gonna leave and try some different things.’ I think that even if he went around and did independents, he would be just as successful as Colt Cabana in that regard.”

“I think so. I absolutely think it could happen. And I hope it does for him. I hope if it does, he’ll have a good experience there and I hope they’ll [WWE] treat them well. Joe’s a guy that will stand up for himself too.”

Be sure to check out the entire interview, here. Mr. Anderson also discussed what he did following his WWE departure in 2009, his current work in TNA, and much more.