Bruce Prichard Thinks Mr. Kennedy Was Afraid Of Success In WWE, Recalls Nasty Boys’ 2007 Tryout Match

On a recent episode of Something To Wrestle, Bruce Prichard discussed Armageddon 2007. Bruce discussed Mr. Kennedy’s career reaching a make or break point and the Nasty Boys having a tryout in Tampa. Below are some highlights.

On Mr. Kennedy’s career being at a ‘make or break’ phase in 2007: “It was make or break time for Ken because there was so much potential there, there was so much hype coming in. I remember Heyman saying this is the next big thing. Paul wasn’t alone. We all felt that way about Ken because Ken could talk, man. He was a great promo, he was engaging with the audience. The audience seemed to buy his stuff.

“But, when it came to the big match when it came to, alright, we’ve got to turn that corner he would always stop short of making that complete turn. I like Ken personally a lot and I thought he had an awful lot to offer to the business. I just feel sometimes and question whether or not he was afraid of that success. Whether he could articulate that or not that I just think there was something in him that he would get there and something would always happen. Something would always seem to happen that would not work.. If you can’t go out and have a good match with Shawn and tell a great story with Shawn then maybe we are wasting our time.. But we weren’t ready to give up on Ken. I thought Ken had ‘it’.”

On the angle where Hornswoggle was Vince McMahon’s son: “You know I thought it was fun, but I also think it was wearing thin and when you look at it it’s time to move on. Because, look, Hornswoggle could be an attraction and to not be able to utilize him at live events and get him out there is short changing him and the promotion.. I think what was best for Hornswoggle and for the company was to move him beyond Vince and take him somewhere else.”

On the Nasty Boys having a dark match in 2007: “The Nasty Boys, you listen to the Nasty Boys and guys who are friends with the Nasty Boys. ‘Ah yeah, they look great! They’re the Nasty Boys.’ I mean you’re not looking for Superstar physiques anyway, they are the Nasty Boys. Even for the Nasty Boys it was like ‘Oh my god!’ They were large. They were really out of shape. It was not good. But, as a favor.. Vince always liked the Nasty Boys. We all did. ‘Sure man, come on in. We’re in Tampa, you live in Tampa. Lets have a tryout in Tampa.’ And I think the pop that was alluded to earlier was just the pop for the Nasty Boys music being the first match of the night. It was not a good tryout; it was pretty bad as a matter of fact. They were out of breath and then they wouldn’t get out of the ring… That was kinda the story of the Nasty Boys tryout.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Something to Wrestle with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.