Mr. Kennedy is officially back in business with WWE after nearly 17 years, but he isn’t getting ahead of himself about what might come next. Ken Anderson has now opened up about his new Legends deal and admitted there are still a few things sitting on his bucket list.
As Ringside News exclusively reported, Anderson recently signed a WWE Legends deal, putting him back under contract with the company that released him in 2009. Now, while speaking with Nick Teodoro, Kennedy personally confirmed the deal and revealed that it could potentially lead to him doing some things with WWE.
“Well, I run a wrestling school in Minneapolis and still take bookings and this kind of stuff. And also, I just signed a Legends deal with WWE. So, going to be potentially doing some stuff with them. I’m doing, actually after I leave here tonight, I’m jumping on a train heading to Maryland to film at least the first part of a movie that I’m doing called a little movie, a little independent film called Dose of the Dead. It’s a zombie horror film.”
When Kennedy was asked what he actually expects from his renewed relationship with WWE, though, he wasn’t making any big predictions. He said he has reached a point in his life where he would rather take opportunities as they come instead of stressing over things outside his control.
“I really don’t expect it to do anything. You know what I mean? I’m just going to take opportunities as they’re presented to me. For a long time, I tried to control things in my life, or things that I couldn’t control really, really bothered me and ruined my day, ruined a lot of days. And I’ve just come to the point where, like, I can only control what I can control.”
That doesn’t mean Kennedy has nothing left he wants from wrestling. He admitted there are still some things on his bucket list, but he isn’t putting expectations on WWE or assuming the Legends deal automatically means those things will happen.
“So I’m gonna do that. And I think this is a really good positive thing. I’m really excited about it. But I don’t know. I don’t have any expectations of anyone. I think I’d be lying if I didn’t say, like, in my head I do have some things that—there are some things that are on my bucket list that I still want to do, but I’m just going to take every day as it comes.”
That’s quite a different position from where Kennedy and WWE stood nearly two decades ago. He debuted as Mr. Kennedy in 2005, captured the United States Championship and won Money in the Bank at WrestleMania 23 in 2007, seemingly putting him on the doorstep of a world championship run.
That opportunity disappeared after an injury scare resulted in Kennedy losing the briefcase to Edge. His WWE run eventually ended on May 29, 2009, just days after a match involving Randy Orton, with concerns about his in-ring safety becoming part of the controversy surrounding his release.
Kennedy later reinvented himself in TNA as Mr. Anderson and became a two-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Now, almost 17 years after WWE showed him the door, he’s officially back under contract — something that would have sounded pretty unlikely considering how everything ended.
The real mystery is what Anderson meant by those unfinished bucket-list items. He isn’t saying what they are yet, and with no expectations attached to the deal, WWE has plenty of room to surprise people with how Mr. Kennedy might eventually pop back up.
What do you think is still on Mr. Kennedy’s WWE bucket list after signing his Legends deal? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
