Mr. Anderson is back in TNA Wrestling! Well…at least for one night.
On the September 18 episode of TNA Impact! The former TNA World Heavyweight Champion stepped into a TNA ring for the first time in nearly ten years. Following his WWE stint, the 49-year-old made the transition over to TNA in 2010 and Mr. Anderson competed there for six years.
Now there was some controversy surrounding his exit as it’s been rumored that TNA fired him because it was drug related; however, some other reports claim Mr. Anderson and TNA officials couldn’t come to a new deal so Anderson left.
He came out during Frankie Kazarian’s “King’s Speech” where the International Champion questioned him about Steve Maclin. Frankie’s mouth got a little too slick for Mr. Anderson’s liking, but he was ambushed by Jake Something. Steve Maclin came out and saved Anderson from a beatdown.
The following week, Mr. Anderson teamed with the former International Champion and the duo got the win over Jake Something and Frankie Kazarian. It was certainly a cool moment for mid-2000’s fans who had missed seeing the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion. However, was this appearance the start of a new run? Or was this just a one and done thing? Anderson didn’t hesitate to answer that question as he confirmed that the appearance was just simply a one off.
“As far as anyone is concerned, it was a one-off. It was an opportunity. TNA was here in town, and a bunch of people, a bunch of friends of mine like Nic Nemeth, Matt Hardy, Frankie Kazarian, and Tommy Dreamer put in a word and said, ‘Hey, we’re in Ken’s town, maybe we should do something with him … Frankie reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, I have an idea, I’m gonna pitch it,’ and that was about a week and a half ago, at most.”
Now Mr. Anderson does regularly compete on the independent scene, though he does have a wrestling school that he opened in 2016 with Shawn Daivari, Molly Holly, Ariya Daivari, and Arik Cannon. The former TNA’s star appearance may be a one and done for now, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he popped up in TNA sometime in the future.