Karl Anderson says WWE was a serious culture shock after his years in New Japan. He claims he encountered wrestlers who would get angry and “pout” over doing jobs, refuse to help put matches together and even go to Gorilla trying to change things because they were upset about losing.
Speaking to LNG Productions, Anderson made the claims while explaining why he usually followed whatever direction WWE gave him instead of fighting against it. The conversation started with his extremely short WWE Speed match against Andrade, where Nick Aldis was the agent and told Anderson that WWE wanted them to produce the fastest Speed match.
“The direction for that Speed match was—hey, it was Nick Aldis was the agent, by the way, as well. He just goes, the direction is they want this to be the fastest Speed match.”
Aldis eventually asked whether Anderson and Andrade could get everything done in roughly 20 seconds. Anderson didn’t argue. He suggested letting Andrade hit his offense and going straight to the finish.
“I remember Nick going, ‘Well, do you think you can get that done in this 20 seconds?’ And I go, ‘I mean, do you just want him to hit me with this and hit the finish?’ And he goes, ‘That, probably.’ And I went, ‘All right.’”
The match ended up getting far more attention than Anderson expected. Even Samoa Joe and Jay White reached out afterward, leaving Anderson wondering why everyone had suddenly seen his Speed match.
“I got text messages that night. Like, you know, people—like, for example, I think Samoa Joe messaged me that night. Jay White messaged me that night.”
“I was like, ‘What the f***?’ And I’m like, ‘Why is everybody seeing this Speed match?’”
What confused Anderson even more was the backlash. From his perspective, an agent gave him a direction and he followed it. He wasn’t sure whether fans expected him to start fighting WWE over getting more time.
“Was I supposed to argue for more time with the agent who was telling me that, ‘Hey, you do 20 seconds?’ I don’t know.”
That got Anderson thinking about something he admits he never completely understood during his WWE run. Sometimes wrestlers had to advocate for themselves backstage, even if other people mocked them for constantly knocking on Triple H’s door.
“You know, sometimes you do. You go for it. You let people talk s*it about you. You let them make fun of you and you let them call you a mark, and you go bang on the door and you say, ‘I need two—I need the whole three minutes.’”
Anderson’s instinct was different because he says he had always been taught to simply do what he was told. That was especially true in New Japan, where he claims he never fought against losing or even considered trying to change a finish because he didn’t like the result.
“And so, New Japan, I never fought a—I never fought a loss. I never fought a loss. But I never even thought about being mad that I was losing or, you know, or changing a finish, anything.”
Then he got to WWE, and that mentality apparently wasn’t shared by everyone. Anderson claims he saw wrestlers who didn’t want to do jobs become angry and “pout” when they were booked to lose. According to him, some wouldn’t come help call the match before later going to Gorilla and trying to change things because they were upset about themselves or their partner taking the loss.
“Then I got to WWE and I just was blown away by what I was dealing with. Like, you know, the guys not wanting to do jobs and then getting angry and pouting and not coming and calling the match and then going to Gorilla and changing it because they were so p***** they were losing and making their partner lose. And I’m going, ‘What in the f*** am I dealing with?’ You know?”
Anderson didn’t name any of the wrestlers he was referring to, so his claims remain allegations about unnamed WWE talent. His larger point was that WWE forced him to learn a backstage side of wrestling he hadn’t experienced the same way in New Japan.
“So, I had to learn a lot. I was 36 years old going to the WWE and learning a whole new style of wrestling.”
Anderson spent years believing that being a professional meant doing what you were told. WWE apparently taught him that some people had a very different idea, and maybe he should have been banging on a few more doors himself.
What do you make of Karl Anderson claiming WWE stars would pout and try to change matches because they didn’t want to lose? Let us know 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.
