Mr. Anderson's debut in TNA, and subsequent heel run was great. He was an asshole, plain and simple he talked shit during matches, he worked very well with a fast pace with long physical matches. Then the face turn happened. He became an "asshole", and that worked for a while too. Eventually I stopped buying him as a face. He pissed and moaned about losing the belt, much like Christian just did as a heel, except they kept pushing him as a face. Fast forward to now, he's back as a heel in a feud with a different heel, he's gotten decidedly soft around the middle, and he's resorting to saying "shit" on a PPV. "Well Asshole doesn't shock 'em anymore, so what's next?' Not meaningful character development, that would shock the hell outta me, but "shit". Shit hasn't been meaningful since they started saying it on TNT late at night. What I'm asking is, Has Ken Anderson run his course, or is there something that can be done to salvage a once promising career?
Has Ken Anderson Jumped the Shark....SHARK?
- Thread starter Sub-Xero
- Start date
The Death Rattle
Why So Serious?
I agree in large part with your assessment of Anderson's tenure in TNA. I believed his initial character was ideal for him, culminating in a solid feud and series of matches with Kurt Angle. Since that time though, his constant character tweaks have left him weaker and less over. Consistent character motivation is crucial for any wrestler, as it's how the audience relates to that wrestler.
The first and most important thing that must be done is TNA needs to decide what Anderson is going to be. He seems like a natural heel, which is my personal vote. But my vote doesn't count, TNA's creative is the one that does. Give him a direction and stay with it for more then a few months.
I think he needs to be written out of storylines for a period of time, perhaps 2 or 3 months. After that, he can be brought back into the fold with whatever they want to do with him. Just keep it constant. No more playing face one week, heel the next, then back to face. It has killed all of his momentum, and left him far less motivated than when he first came onto the scene. I can't even really fault him either, as it must be difficult alternating between face and heel so often. The man could be an asset to TNA, but they must decide on how to use him to utilize his skills.
The first and most important thing that must be done is TNA needs to decide what Anderson is going to be. He seems like a natural heel, which is my personal vote. But my vote doesn't count, TNA's creative is the one that does. Give him a direction and stay with it for more then a few months.
I think he needs to be written out of storylines for a period of time, perhaps 2 or 3 months. After that, he can be brought back into the fold with whatever they want to do with him. Just keep it constant. No more playing face one week, heel the next, then back to face. It has killed all of his momentum, and left him far less motivated than when he first came onto the scene. I can't even really fault him either, as it must be difficult alternating between face and heel so often. The man could be an asset to TNA, but they must decide on how to use him to utilize his skills.
Rising Savior
Occasional Pre-Show
I don't know I have no fucking clue what Tna is doing with Mr.Anderson. Anderson's a heel then a tweener then a face then a heel again and now after Hardcore Justice it seems as if Anderson is gonna turn face again. It seems like Kenny's character is lost in direction and Tna doesn't know what to do with him. They should just keep Anderson as a heel and leave it at that.
Aaronliveshere
Dark Match Winner
Maybe the same writers for Ken Anderson also write for Somoa Joe.
Let's close our eyes, place papers on the wall that say "heel" and "face" and when we run out of idea...we will just throw some darts (best 2 out of 3) and that is what he'll be this week. Of course i'm exaggerating. I think they just flip a coin
Let's close our eyes, place papers on the wall that say "heel" and "face" and when we run out of idea...we will just throw some darts (best 2 out of 3) and that is what he'll be this week. Of course i'm exaggerating. I think they just flip a coin
Cvaldezjr04
Occasional Pre-Show
Ken Anderson Hell Run = SCSA wannabe PLAIN AND SIMPLE! Anderson is/was is TERRIBLE!
AttitudeChild
Occasional Pre-Show
I said it once and I'll say it again. Anderson has become SO CHEESY. He reminds me of Jim Carey doing his best Dane Cook impersonation. When he first arrived in TNA he had so much hype with him because of the stuff that happened with Orton. But now, I can't stand the guy. He's WAY to animated. He is like the ideal bad guy that you would see on a Disney show or something. Ken needs a complete character overhaul because the whinny asshole thing has gotten old.
UFOcalling
Master of the Scorpion Death Lock
If Mr. Anderson using the word "shit" is your only problem, then I don't think that he's jumped the shark.......SHARK! (lol, your thread title made me laugh)
I'd have to assume that Mr. Anderson uses "curse words" all the time in his everyday life, as I imagine almost all wrestlers (employed by TNA, RoH, & WWE) do. I mean, we've heard Anderson bleeped during backstage segments several times on Impact (obviously using the word "fuck"). Ken also uses the cutesy-term "frickin'/fricking" all the time on Impact...we all know that's just a "legal" way of saying "fuck". Bully Ray says it quite a bit as well. WWE PPVs used to be a lot more liberal with language, I even remember hearing Kurt Angle say "bullshit" on a WWE PPV (granted, that was like 10 years ago). There are probably a lot more examples of this, even though I can't think of any more specific ones.
You're right, saying "shit" on television is passé nowadays; you hear that word used on basic cable late at night all the time (usually on shows rated "MA"). In fact, there's hardly any language that's off-limit now (at least on "MA" or "TV-14" rated shows on late-night cable), sans the word "fuck".
I don't think Anderson said "shit" for the shock-value factor. I think he said it because he was allowed to, and that's how he talks in "real life". TNA could have bleeped him, if it was a huge deal. Chances are that the backstage segment where he said it was pre-taped, and they could have bleeped him before it went on-air. If the interview was live, there must be a six-second delay (or whatever) - so they could have taken care of it that way.
To answer your question, no...I don't think that Mr. Anderson jumped the shark by using the word "shit" on last night's PPV. I do think that his character has been severely tarnished, but I think that's mainly due to poor booking and choices backstage. His character could also have gone downhill due to the "artistic license" that TNA seems to give their wrestlers (it might not be the booking, maybe Ken did this to himself).
Since TNA performers are given more liberties than at other promotions, Ken might have shot himself in the foot by wanting too much - too fast. He could have jumped at the first opportunity they gave him, without thinking about his character in the long-run. For instance, when TNA creative told Ken that they wanted to put the belt on him (earlier this year, for the first time), Ken could have just said "yes"...without thinking about how he would just lose the belt a month later. Maybe Ken should have told them he didn't want the belt yet; that it wasn't "his time" (at least not yet). If Ken had a better mind for business, maybe he wouldn't have said "yes" to a championship run so quickly. Does that make sense?
I do believe that Anderson can come back as a strong character, but it will take some clever booking. TNA is more than capable of making Anderson relevant again, but I don't know if that's their #1 priority.
I'd have to assume that Mr. Anderson uses "curse words" all the time in his everyday life, as I imagine almost all wrestlers (employed by TNA, RoH, & WWE) do. I mean, we've heard Anderson bleeped during backstage segments several times on Impact (obviously using the word "fuck"). Ken also uses the cutesy-term "frickin'/fricking" all the time on Impact...we all know that's just a "legal" way of saying "fuck". Bully Ray says it quite a bit as well. WWE PPVs used to be a lot more liberal with language, I even remember hearing Kurt Angle say "bullshit" on a WWE PPV (granted, that was like 10 years ago). There are probably a lot more examples of this, even though I can't think of any more specific ones.
You're right, saying "shit" on television is passé nowadays; you hear that word used on basic cable late at night all the time (usually on shows rated "MA"). In fact, there's hardly any language that's off-limit now (at least on "MA" or "TV-14" rated shows on late-night cable), sans the word "fuck".
I don't think Anderson said "shit" for the shock-value factor. I think he said it because he was allowed to, and that's how he talks in "real life". TNA could have bleeped him, if it was a huge deal. Chances are that the backstage segment where he said it was pre-taped, and they could have bleeped him before it went on-air. If the interview was live, there must be a six-second delay (or whatever) - so they could have taken care of it that way.
To answer your question, no...I don't think that Mr. Anderson jumped the shark by using the word "shit" on last night's PPV. I do think that his character has been severely tarnished, but I think that's mainly due to poor booking and choices backstage. His character could also have gone downhill due to the "artistic license" that TNA seems to give their wrestlers (it might not be the booking, maybe Ken did this to himself).
Since TNA performers are given more liberties than at other promotions, Ken might have shot himself in the foot by wanting too much - too fast. He could have jumped at the first opportunity they gave him, without thinking about his character in the long-run. For instance, when TNA creative told Ken that they wanted to put the belt on him (earlier this year, for the first time), Ken could have just said "yes"...without thinking about how he would just lose the belt a month later. Maybe Ken should have told them he didn't want the belt yet; that it wasn't "his time" (at least not yet). If Ken had a better mind for business, maybe he wouldn't have said "yes" to a championship run so quickly. Does that make sense?
I do believe that Anderson can come back as a strong character, but it will take some clever booking. TNA is more than capable of making Anderson relevant again, but I don't know if that's their #1 priority.
Brian in Austin
Getting Noticed By Management
Interestingly I see TNA suffering thru the same sort of pains that I've seen the WWE go thru. That being, too many characters to get over. First they brought on Hulk and Bischoff. They had Sting, they brought on Angle (forgive me if I get the chronology wrong.), Anderson, Bubba and Devon, Mickie, Booker, Flair, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Nash, Hall, XPac, (albeit temporary for those last 3), Christian, and more. Given that Ken was never a main-eventer in WWE, but had shown great potential, maybe TNA jumped a bit too quickly thinking that Anderson was going to be a main event role player for them. Now they have all these names and faces that need airtime and there's only so many storylines to go around.
Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
I mostly enjoyed Anderson's initial heel run but, and I've always said this, I think the guy is kind of overrated and I think it's really becoming difficult for TNA to disguise that. It's become even harder since Anderson joined Immortal. And yeah, there were definitely times I felt that TNA was trying to do their own version of Austin vs. McMahon with Anderson & Bischoff. They didn't try to do the exact same thing, but the similarities were pretty obvious enough for anyone that's been watching wrestling for the past 15 years to clearly see it.
For most of his time in TNA, Anderson's character has generally been trying to play the guy that's "cool", especially when he's a heel. However, put up against a fully legit heel character like Bully Ray, I think Anderson just comes off looking like a complete clown. After all, at the ppv last night, we actually had Anderson blowing into his hands and making fart noises. One thing that's worse than watching a couple of 40 year old men behave like a couple of frat boys, i.e. HBK & Triple H during their last run as DX, is watching a 35 year old man acting like your typical 16 year old brat.
For me the "asshole" thing was funny for about five minutes before it became extremely repetitive, redundant and it just wasn't the edgy character that TNA thought it'd be in my opinion. After all, he'd say asshole about a dozen times during each promo and, just like in real life, overusing the swear words even in wrestling promos takes away from their impact and meaning. It just becomes bland and part of the background noise.
For most of his time in TNA, Anderson's character has generally been trying to play the guy that's "cool", especially when he's a heel. However, put up against a fully legit heel character like Bully Ray, I think Anderson just comes off looking like a complete clown. After all, at the ppv last night, we actually had Anderson blowing into his hands and making fart noises. One thing that's worse than watching a couple of 40 year old men behave like a couple of frat boys, i.e. HBK & Triple H during their last run as DX, is watching a 35 year old man acting like your typical 16 year old brat.
For me the "asshole" thing was funny for about five minutes before it became extremely repetitive, redundant and it just wasn't the edgy character that TNA thought it'd be in my opinion. After all, he'd say asshole about a dozen times during each promo and, just like in real life, overusing the swear words even in wrestling promos takes away from their impact and meaning. It just becomes bland and part of the background noise.
rondiesel2005
Getting Noticed By Management
I remember reading online about Anderson, he was a bit of a clown back in the days. The "asshole" gimmick, I knew it was going to get boring. And from watching the product it looks that they are having a hard time to figure out what to do with the guy because first they gave him the championship then they took it off of him. I don't know what they see in him and they look at him as a guy who is just very hard to book on impact. They need to stop trying to build him as another Stone Cold because he looks like a fool when he kept saying "asshole".
Ken Anderson has one problem. He hasn't been given a chance to have the people get behind either his heel or face persona. This is typical Russo booking, turning someone every week , whatever whatever whatever.
A performer needs atleast, MINIMUM, 6 - 8 months of being one set way, no tricks, no hints, ONE WAY. If he is gonna be babyface, make him a straight up babyface, feud him with straight up heels, make him vulnerable, build for him to get revenge.
But when someone just becomes a face, we as the audience, need time for this character to grow on us, for us to buy in. But right when we are about to buy in, BAM, he turns and now we gotta start all over again. Many of you are probably thinking, "right before we get it they rip it away and makes us wanna tune in to wonder why". My answer to that is, NO. We are all too smart for that, hence this thread, we know it is a clusterfuck going on in creative meetings involving Anderson.
TNA's problem is they have always HOT SHOT their angles, much like WCW did after Sting/Hogan (best singles angle in WCW history) and that does not work. Personally, if I were running TNA, I would take every guy and establish them as a heel or a face and keep them that way. Make it simple. Throw in twists and turns but save that for the midcard, let the main event flow nicely to avoid confusion, I want a completely new viewer to tune in and know exactly whats going on, I don't want them to be lost and asking too many questions about the main attractions and why they are taking place.
PS: I was never a fan of swearing in promos. Its a cheap pop, shock pop, doesn't advance anyone anywhere, not anymore. It only worked in the late 90's because it HAD never been done before and TV/Life in general was much more tamed.
A performer needs atleast, MINIMUM, 6 - 8 months of being one set way, no tricks, no hints, ONE WAY. If he is gonna be babyface, make him a straight up babyface, feud him with straight up heels, make him vulnerable, build for him to get revenge.
But when someone just becomes a face, we as the audience, need time for this character to grow on us, for us to buy in. But right when we are about to buy in, BAM, he turns and now we gotta start all over again. Many of you are probably thinking, "right before we get it they rip it away and makes us wanna tune in to wonder why". My answer to that is, NO. We are all too smart for that, hence this thread, we know it is a clusterfuck going on in creative meetings involving Anderson.
TNA's problem is they have always HOT SHOT their angles, much like WCW did after Sting/Hogan (best singles angle in WCW history) and that does not work. Personally, if I were running TNA, I would take every guy and establish them as a heel or a face and keep them that way. Make it simple. Throw in twists and turns but save that for the midcard, let the main event flow nicely to avoid confusion, I want a completely new viewer to tune in and know exactly whats going on, I don't want them to be lost and asking too many questions about the main attractions and why they are taking place.
PS: I was never a fan of swearing in promos. Its a cheap pop, shock pop, doesn't advance anyone anywhere, not anymore. It only worked in the late 90's because it HAD never been done before and TV/Life in general was much more tamed.
whoopin' ass
Championship Contender
i am not sure what is going on with Anderson. it seems like it is his time to be on the backburner much like Joe's, Pope's, and a few other guys. his asshole gimmick was a good short-term gimmick - he is a guy who doesn't care what people think, he just wants the title. tna overdid it with everyone calling him an asshole. we know he is one, he said it himself, we don't need everyone telling us the same week after week. i think tna doesn't have a clue what to do with him and it is so simple - have him be a heel who is out for himself. he will team with whoever as long as it is to screw over the champ and get him closer to the title or if it helps him keep the title. he didn't need to join immortal to get more heat. have him always be the wild card to throw everyone off - sure he will team with sting against hogan as long as he gets a title shot. they need someone to take out angle? sure, as long as he gets a title shot. i think right now, a couple months off tv is probably the best thing for him.
New Hot Fed
Championship Contender
They pushed him to the moon for months, having him chasing the title, having storylines like "is he gonna join Immortal or not?". But then he gets the title, instead of making him uber dominant and you know push him like crazy, it's one month of non-existance on tv. And then he finaly join Immortal, they have him lose the title(!!!). And he's bad mouthed by Ray like he's a loser then lose to Ray to boot.
I have never seen such build up of a wrestler and such a destruction of a wrestler is such a small length of time. It's like TNA bookers made a bet or something.
I have never seen such build up of a wrestler and such a destruction of a wrestler is such a small length of time. It's like TNA bookers made a bet or something.
UFOcalling
Master of the Scorpion Death Lock
I think the feud that Anderson is currently involved in (with Bully Ray) isn't quite over yet. Obviously, TNA booked the Anderson/Ray feud because they wanted to create a conflict within Immortal. If their match last night at HC Justice was the end of their feud, then it was ******ed for the feud to happen in the first place.
I personally believe that Ray & Anderson will continue to be "at war" with each other, even though both will continue to be members of Immortal (at least for a little while). If I had a say in TNA's booking, I would continue this feud until BFG in October. I think Anderson & Bully Ray will have a rematch at No Surrender (the next TNA PPV), with Anderson winning the match. That way, the score will be 1 to 1.
The next logical step is to have the "final" match of the current Anderson/Ray feud at Bound For Glory, with the winner taking all. It should also have the stipulation of "loser leaves Immortal". I would book Bully Ray to win this match, although I'd book it as a "cheap" win (interference, use of a weapon, etc). If that's the way it goes down, Bully Ray will be able to brag about his win and Anderson will be out of Immortal. This way, neither guy will really lose too much credibility. Bully Ray would be cemented as Immortal's "top-dog", and Anderson can go back to his "popular heel" character (Mr. Asshole).
If that's not the way that TNA is going with this feud, then they're completely missing the boat. I seriously hope this is how it goes down.
I personally believe that Ray & Anderson will continue to be "at war" with each other, even though both will continue to be members of Immortal (at least for a little while). If I had a say in TNA's booking, I would continue this feud until BFG in October. I think Anderson & Bully Ray will have a rematch at No Surrender (the next TNA PPV), with Anderson winning the match. That way, the score will be 1 to 1.
The next logical step is to have the "final" match of the current Anderson/Ray feud at Bound For Glory, with the winner taking all. It should also have the stipulation of "loser leaves Immortal". I would book Bully Ray to win this match, although I'd book it as a "cheap" win (interference, use of a weapon, etc). If that's the way it goes down, Bully Ray will be able to brag about his win and Anderson will be out of Immortal. This way, neither guy will really lose too much credibility. Bully Ray would be cemented as Immortal's "top-dog", and Anderson can go back to his "popular heel" character (Mr. Asshole).
If that's not the way that TNA is going with this feud, then they're completely missing the boat. I seriously hope this is how it goes down.
Skairipa Matrix
3 Time Elite Openweight Champion
yes he needs to stay either face or heel but personally i still like the asshole gimmick with him but i dont get why they have him play a heel one week then a face the next and keep going like that every week a twigger works but not if they change from heel to face every week or every couple weeks! i say keep him as a full HEEL and let him be the top heel of the company but thts just me 
MrHashasheen
Enjoying Wrestling
Said it perfectly, mate. Just wished more people got it instead of talking about TNA not giving him a chance or undercutting him.
Hey, whaddya know? Another guy that the "IWC" built up to be the next big thing who has suddenly "jumped the shark" because you're just starting to notice his limitations!
I don't think Anderson's "jumped" anything. I think he's settling in to what he was ALWAYS destined to be - a solid talent, good for being somewhere near the top of the mid-card, with the occasional run in the main event on a hot angle. The only people who ever really thought this guy was going to be a permanent main-eventer were the guys on these forum boards.
PS - Yeah, that title is pretty damn funny, though.
I don't think Anderson's "jumped" anything. I think he's settling in to what he was ALWAYS destined to be - a solid talent, good for being somewhere near the top of the mid-card, with the occasional run in the main event on a hot angle. The only people who ever really thought this guy was going to be a permanent main-eventer were the guys on these forum boards.
PS - Yeah, that title is pretty damn funny, though.
New Hot Fed
Championship Contender
Wow you don't think Anderson has had enough humiliation from Bully Ray as it is? You want him to lose again against the same guy at the grandest stage of them all? It would be better if at least Anderson gets revenge and take over Immortal. It would give him something to do.
rollingrock
Dark Match Jobber
I love the idea of giving Ken something to do... If you give him somewhere else to do it.
I am not a "Bully Ray" fan; Wasn't even a fan when they split them in WWE... But I have never seen a reason for Ken to be a singles wrestler, & moving him to TNA has not changed that.
He has been amazing on the TNA mic, but can't back it (or "hack it") in the ring.
UFOcalling
Master of the Scorpion Death Lock
You completely missed the point. The point I was trying to make is that Mr. Anderson would have a chance to exact his revenge on Bully Ray at No Surrender (TNA's September PPV).
Let's say that a match is booked between Mr. Anderson & Bully Ray for No Surrender. Since that PPV is about four weeks away, this would give TNA a chance to build up the feud a bit (since they didn't do that at all for their match at HC Justice). If there is a match between the two at No Surrender, I'd book it as a hardcore match (or street-fight, whatever). I'd book it as a bloody, hardcore spot-fest with absolutely ZERO outside interference. I'd also book Anderson to beat Ray, cleanly.
Since Bully Ray is "more experienced" with hardcore matches (tables, etc), this would allow Anderson to "beat him at his own game". Do you see what I'm saying? If Anderson won this hypothetical match at No Surrender, this would make the score between them 1 to 1 (instead of 1 to 0, like it is now).
If that match goes down at No Surrender (especially the way I described it), both guys would pretty much be even. That's why there would have to be a "winner takes all" match booked for BFG. That's when I would have Bully Ray win "all the marbles", maybe by booking the match with a "loser leaves Immortal" stipulation.
If a "loser leaves Immortal" match is booked between Anderson & Ray at BFG, it would make a lot more sense to have Bully Ray come out on top. Ray is working better as a full-fledged heel right now, and I think Anderson would be better off on his own.
Like I said in my last post, I would book the finish to the BFG match as a "cheap win". Even though Bully Ray technically won the match, he would have cheated somehow. Bully Ray would be able to have bragging rights, even though the fans would boo the shit out of him for cheating. This would also make the fans cheer for Anderson again -- since Bully Ray would have "screwed" him out of winning the match, and also "screwed" him out of Immortal. I think this is the best way for Mr. Anderson to leave the group, since he's better on his own anyway.
If Bully Ray "screws" Anderson at BFG this way, the fans will definitely cheer for their "popular heel" again (which Anderson will need, if he's going to be on his own). If the fans cheer loudly enough, Mr. Anderson might even get elevated even higher than he was before joining Immortal (as a "tweener", or "popular heel"). That alone could be enough to earn Mr. Anderson the right (at least in the eyes of the fans) to chase after the WHC again.
Does it make sense to you now, or do you still think that Bully Ray will be "humiliating" Anderson if he wins the hypothetical match at BFG?
Brian in Austin
Getting Noticed By Management
You hit it right out of the park for me in that we completely agree on Anderson. No question that that the ahole gimmick wore slick pretty quickly and now they are having trouble helping him find his place in TNA. Sorta the same thing that was happening in the WWE until he was handed his walking papers there. Unfortunately, I've seen some evidence of him in TNA being a bit reckless which was his reputation up north as well. Point is, in my view, he doesn't have much rope left before he becomes just another guy on their roster instead of the superstar, if you will, they had planned for him to be.