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Mr Kennedy Discusses Hilarious Name WWE Proposed For Him

By Damian Clarke • Published 22nd July 2022

Mr Kennedy may not have had the most successful time in WWE, however it could have been a lot worse if a name which was suggested for him had come to fruition.

Also known to many as Mr Anderson, Mr Kennedy was a one-time United States Champion, and also won the Money In The Bank briefcase at WrestleMania 23, although his was one of the few unsuccessful cash-ins.

Before making the move to the main WWE roster, Mr Kennedy pitched the a**hole line which would become his catchphrase elsewhere. However, as WWE had just moved in to the PG era, it wasn’t one that he could run with.

Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Mr Kennedy explained how there was an even funnier name which was suggested for him which may have provided a loophole for the problem.

So Vince [McMahon] asked me, ‘Do you have any catchphrases?’, and I said, ‘ Yeah, nice guys finish last thing, good thing I’m an asshole.’ And he was like, ‘We had just gone PG.’ It was like, ‘No, I don’t, we can’t do that.’ And then Johnny [Ace] was getting into it, it was like Johnny, Stephanie [McMahon], Kevin Dunn, Vince, I think that’s who was all in that room. And Johnny goes, ‘Hey, how about what if your name was like, Adam Hole? And then you could say, “Nice guys finish last. Thank God I’m an A Hole.” And it would be… [silence].’
And I remember Vince just, there was a silence in the room. And Vince just looked up at me and he goes, ‘What do you think of that?’ And I said, ‘I like it. I think it’s funny. But I feel like that would be sort of a flash in the pan, somebody that would be here for like two or three months and then be done. It sounds very gimmicky. And I’ve been here for a long time.’ And Vince looks at me like, almost as though [that] were a test.

Mr Kennedy was let go by WWE in 2009, and re-emerged in IMPACT Wrestling where he became a three-time World Champion. Since then, he has wrestled extensively on the independent circuit and also recently appeared for the NWA.

With thanks to Inside The Ropes for the transcription.