After wrestling just one match after his recent shoulder injury, it has been reported Mr. Kennedy has been released from his contract with the WWE.
Kennedy’s Return
It was a rather shocking announcement for many in the WWE universe to learn of the superstar’s firing, which was announced on WWE.com on the 29th May 2009. It came just four days after his return to the ring on the 25th May episode of Monday Night Raw.
Kennedy’s return saw him competing in the 10-man tag match main event. His team included the main bulk of Raw’s top babyface superstars; MVP, Batista and John Cena, as well as WWE Hall of Famer, Jerry ‘the King’ Lawler, as they faced off against their hell equivalents.
With Kennedy being instantly featured in such a high profile match on his return, it has made the announcement of his release all the more shocking. Before he wrestled, he had appeared on the ramp way and cut a promo on Randy Orton. He not only publicised his part in the match, but also declared his intention on becoming the next WWE Champion. It seemed to most that Kennedy had quite a future with the WWE.
Kennedy’s Injury History
Despite being pushed hard since on his entrance into the WWE, Ken Kennedy, real name Ken Anderson, seemed to be plagued by injuries. In December 2005 Kennedy received his first of three serious injuries. On the overseas tour to Italy he suffered a serious latissimus dorsi tear, which kept him out of the ring for nearly six months. Kennedy had been undefeated for months before his first loss via disqualification to Eddie Guerrero in Guerrero’s last match before his tragic death. The character of Kennedy had been pushed hard on WWE programming prior to this.
While injury, Kennedy’s presence was kept on Smackdown and the now defunct Velocity as much as possible in order to keep him fresh in the viewer’s mind. Upon his return his push continued. He was able to gain several victories over the Smackdown brand’s top stars, including both Batista and the Undertaker and he came close to winning the World Heavyweight championship in his title match with the animal. He was also able to pick up first title reign as US Champion during this time, as well as winning the ‘Money in the Bank’ ladder match at Wrestlemania 23. A ‘Money in the Bank’ win has, up until now, always been met with a reign with one of the top titles.
However, on the May 7th 2007 episode of Raw, Kennedy dropped the ‘Money in the Bank’ contract to Edge. Kennedy had, it was suspected, torn his right triceps muscle right off the bone. Despite the injury not being quite as serious as first believed, Kennedy still found himself on the injured list for a number of months. Undertaker, who was World Heavyweight Champion at the time had injured his own arm in a similar fashion, and was required to drop the title to someone the following night during the Smackdown recordings. Ultimately it was Edge who would be granted this opportunity. It would more than likely have been Kennedy if circumstances had been different.
Upon return from his second injury Kennedy found himself drafted from the Smackdown brand to the Raw brand. His went on to have a high profile feud with Shawn Michaels, however it seemed that his pushed had cooled. Soon after this he turned face while engaged in a rivalry with then Raw General Manager, William Regal. At the next draft he was drafted back to Smackdown, where he was subsequently injured once again in a match with Shelton Benjamin. While on Smackdown, he never made another appearance in the ring.
Around the time of his rivalry with Michaels, Kennedy was also implicated in the steroid scandal, which saw his suspension. Many internet rumours at this time had suggested that Kennedy might be the one to be named as Vince McMahon’s illegitimate son during that angle. In the end it was Hornswoggle that took that position, in a comical storyline rather than the serious angle and push that Kennedy might have received.
In the most recent draft of 2009, Kennedy was sent back to Raw once again. In the 10-man tag main event, Kennedy received an RKO from Randy Orton and was reported afterwards to have injured his wrist taking the move. Four days later, he was released.
Although there is not much information on Kennedy’s release yet available, it has been suggested on wrestling news sites that him being ‘injury prone’ might be the reason. The truth behind the matter is sure to surface soon. Still, the release of a top superstar without much warning has still been considered a shock by many wrestling fans.
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