Ken Anderson Discusses His Time in TNA, Pay Issues, WWE Possibly Buying TNA, More

– Ken Anderson recently spoke with Interactive Wrestling Radio (transcript via wrestlezone.com), here are the highlights…

On Vince Russo’s View on Wrestling: “I don’t understand where the flack comes from! I really don’t! You’re given a script, you’re told “Play this emotion”. Here, go read these lines and say them as you would. I don’t understand why people don’t understand this is what we do – We’re acting! And a lot of times, as wrestlers, we’re guilty of being really bad actors. You get these people who don’t look at it that way, they don’t take any acting classes, and you watch them go out there and you can almost see them reading it as they say it. It’s terrible! It is like watching of D movie quality acting. You wouldn’t watch an hour and a half of it! If you did, it would be as a joke with your buddies. You’d get together and pick the worst possible movie and say, “Ok, we’re going to watch this just to laugh at it!” I love this business. I’m not saying everybody’s a bad actor. But, I think a lot of times, wrestlers are guilty of it. I’d like to be part of changing that. But, it is OK! It is OK to say that word, “actors”.

Have His Feelings Changed Since His WWE Release?: “Yes and no. Certain things were out of my control. But, leading up to it, when I sat back and when I really got to that point. The bad suplex that supposedly happened with Randy Orton that didn’t happen with Randy Orton… The supposed suplex. But, I had done things that had gotten to Vince McMahon to where he said, “I’m tired of hearing his name in a negative light. Get rid of him!” That’s on me, that’s on me. But, i will say that people say it was a “botched suplex”? Nobody inside the wrestling business uses the word “botch!” When it is used like an insider term, it drives me insane! I think it is the worst word ever in the history of words! ” (James mentions Botchamania on YouTube) “I’m actually a huge fan of Botchamania! (laughs) That’s the one thing I forgive the word for because it is really funny. I’ve actually made it a few times on Botchamania, I’m proud to say.”

On His Time With TNA & Issues With Pay:“I had a blast. The most frustrating thing about that experience was there were issues outside of the wrestlers’ control that continued to happen. I’m not there anymore so I am not privy to that information anymore. But, i know what I hear. But, I will say the one thing I loved about TNA was the locker room. There were old timers, kind of middle of the road like me, and guys trying to cut their teeth and make a name for themselves… Everybody busted their butts and went out there and performed. The problems, any problems experienced by the company had nothing to do with the talent. There were times where things were going on behind the scenes where it should have been a miserable existence… Guys were late, maybe 3 months on getting paid… I remember at one time, I was owed for like 30 shows. But, the locker room… Everybody still showed up, put on their happy face. We were there to do a job. We believed in the company! Even though there were frustrations with management, we all felt if we stuck with this….”

On WWE Possibly Buying TNA: “I will say this, even if WWE buys TNA, there is enough things going on out there that somebody else could make a run. If TNA goes away or is gobbled up by WWE, there will still be a void there where people will still want something different. Somebody somewhere will step up and make a run. With the right financial backing, it could take off. You’ve got so much stuff going on. You’ve got New Japan, you have Ring of Honor… I’ve said this for years and Daivari agrees with me. Everything’s PG now. If somebody comes and makes a program that is geared towards adults, I think wrestling takes off again. I really do. The idea that men and women go out and fight each other and can’t curse… I’ve never been in a bar fight where there wasn’t 57 curse words slung. When wrestlers go at it and you’re throwing “Gosh Darn Its” and “Dad Gummits”… (laughs) The most successful shows in the past decade have been extremely edge. Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad… Sometimes we insult people’s intelligence. We go for the lowest common denominator.”