Ken Anderson

Kenneth Anderson (born March 6, 1976) is an American professional wrestler.

Kenneth Anderson was born on March 6, 1976, in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.

Anderson graduated from Washington High School in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

During his time there, he excelled at swimming and track and field.

He also announced school basketball games and did a radio assignment in his Mass Media class.

When doing this, a friend suggested to Anderson to repeat the surnames to make it funnier.

That element was eventually used again in his wrestling character when encouraged by Paul Heyman.

Before beginning his wrestling career, Anderson worked as a security officer at Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant and a personal trainer.

He also served in the United States Army.

Anderson, under the ring name "Two Rivers Jack," made his debut on September 11, 1999, at a North American Wrestling Federation event in Whitewater, Wisconsin, losing to Golga.

He wrestled just twenty-one matches before appearing for the World Wrestling Federation on Jakked in 2001, where he lost to Essa Rios.

He occasionally worked as enhancement talent for WWF when shows ran in Wisconsin.

Anderson also made an appearance on NWA: Total Nonstop Action's secondary television program, Xplosion.

The owner of the promotion, Jeff Jarrett, approached him for a contract but communications broke down.

He is known for his tenure in WWE from 2005 to 2009 under the ring name Mr. Kennedy, and his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as Mr. Anderson from 2010 to 2016.

He is currently signed to Top Rank Boxing as their announcer.

Before signing a development deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and being assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE's farm area, Anderson began his career on the independent circuit.

He was promoted to the main roster in 2005.

One year after his debut, he won the WWE United States Championship, which he held for 42 days.

Upon signing with WWE in February 2005, Anderson was sent to the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) developmental territory, where he would remain for six months.

When he arrived, Jim Cornette was in charge of the organization and, according to Anderson, did not see potential in his abilities and declined to feature him as more than an occasional bit-player on OVW's programming.

When Cornette departed, his replacement, Paul Heyman, showed immediate interest in Anderson, comparing his qualities to The Rock and Steve Austin.

Five weeks later, Anderson was called up to WWE's main roster to work on Velocity.

He credits Heyman with helping him develop the character with which he would achieve success.

Before his first SmackDown! match, he showed himself to be a cocky and arrogant wrestler by taking a microphone and performing his own ring announcement.

He referred to himself as "Mr. Anderson" for this match.

A few weeks later, to avoid comparisons with the more famous Anderson family (as well as former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson), he changed his name "Ken Kennedy," to "Mr. Kennedy."

The change was initially suggested by Heyman and was chosen because it is the middle name of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.

Kennedy, as a heel, defeated Funaki in his SmackDown! debut on August 25.

Kennedy also created an ongoing mini-feud with SmackDown! ring announcer Tony Chimel based on Kennedy believing that Chimel's announcing was not done well enough or with sufficient respect, and therefore performing his own introductions or forcing Chimel to introduce him again.

His father died on April 13, 2006, from cancer.

At WrestleMania 23, he won the 2007 Money in the Bank briefcase with a title shot for the promotion's world title.

However, he dropped the briefcase to Edge after being misdiagnosed with an injury.

Kennedy would remain with the promotion until 2009.

He has also worked occasionally as an actor and starred as Master Chief Petty Officer Carter Holt in the WWE Studios production Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia in 2009.

In 2010, Anderson signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now Impact Wrestling), where he competed under the ring names Mr. Anderson and Ken Anderson.

In 2011, he would win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship twice during a feud with the villainous group Immortal.

After losing the title, he would remain with the promotion as a mid-card wrestler, joining the villainous faction Aces & Eights at one point, until he departed TNA in 2016.

In 2016, Anderson opened a wrestling school called The Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota, along with Shawn Daivari, Molly Holly, Ariya Daivari, and Arik Cannon.

In 2019, Anderson came back to pro wrestling programming when he worked for National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).