A question about Orton and Mr. Kennedy

[Richard Blonoff]

First all I am new here and if my post is in the wrong forum by all means please move it mods. Second I used the search function and came up with nothing so I thought I would ask you guys.

I have heard a lot of talk in the past about Randy Orton got Mr. Kennedy/Anderson fired from the WWE. Is this true and if so what happened?

There was a period from about 2005 up until 2010 where my interest in wrestling fell off, mostly due to high school and college.

I have heard stories about how Randy isn't the most popular guy backstage and has been accused of harassment towards some female employees but Orton was only just beginning to get popular with Evolution and his legend killer persona when I took my hiatus from watching so I really didn't know too much about him.

Anything you guys could fill me in on would be great

 

[Cracka Jack]

Orton had a reputation of being kind of an asshole to people backstage earlier in his career. The thought is that he had a very short temper, and that him being in good standing in Vince's eyes allowed him to have some sway with decisions related to the talent. Kennedy, an already-know to be injury prone guy, came back from a long injury on an episode of Raw, as a surprise entrant in a big tag match (don't know for sure, but I believe this was the episode that was moved to LA over the whole Nuggets playoff fiasco). During the match, it looked liked Kennedy had hurt himself on one of the spots, specifically with Randy. He rolled out of the ring grabbing his arm. I don't remember how the match ended, but the next day Kennedy was released. Some say this was due to, after the match, Orton and possibly Cena complaining to Vince about working with someone as dangerous as Kennedy, so he was fired. This is all hearsay, of course, but what some people believe.

 

[Y2JBL]

Never heard that theory that it was supposedly about Kennedy rolling out of the ring with a hurt arm, instead I've always heard it was this backdrop, and Orton was upset that he himself was almost the one to get injured by the inexperienced Kennedy. You can see the obviously awkward landing, and then even after that, Orton kinda reaches over and slaps at Kennedy (in reality he probably wanted to do much worse than that but tried to calm down).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JQJ104mur8&feature=related

[YOUTUBE]1JQJ104mur8[/YOUTUBE]

 

[JohnJohnson]

This is the video that I found on YouTube. The description sums it up in saying:"Mr. Kennedy Was Released By The WWE On Friday May 29, 2009. Now Many People Believe It Was Because of A "Wrist Injury" And That Is Not The Case. Mr. Kennedy Performed A Routine Backsuplex, But Randy Orton Landed On His Shoulder. The Same Shoulder (Shoulder/Collar Bone) That Was Injured Last Year Around This Time That Took Him Out For 5 Months. Mr. McMahon Then Came To The Decision That, That 'Was The Last Straw' And Came To The Release of Mr. Kennedy . . . Kennedy. Enjoy!!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3UbJk7ciRA

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

I think its pretty much academic and the thread maker has answers to questions like what/why/how Randy prick?

Anderson was dubbed as injury-prone AND unsafe to work with and I heard this a lot (which doesn't make it true) that both Orton and Cena complained and he got released.

But if we do talk about Randy being a hissyfit throwing ladyboy look no further than:

[YOUTUBE]N-kxxFjiD6s[/YOUTUBE]

So Kofi misses a spot, a spot that I didn't even notice till Orton had his impromptu period and he gets trashed live on air. Unprofessional? Atleast bitching in the back isn't on TV.

 

[slice_of_life]

Kennedy is a notoriously stiff worker, but damn is he talented. Looks unorthodox in the ring but is incredibly athletic and damn good on the mic. He was a fan favorite and would be a big asset to the WWE now. I think it had less to do with his stiffness and more to do with locker room politics. I honestly believe that firing him was one of the bigger mistakes they have made in recent memory.

 

[therockiswwf]

Kennedy did done a move that almost hurt Orton. Orton has known shoulder/back issues (he is kind of fragile in his upper back area) so people have to be careful with him. Orton has said he calmly sat down with Kennedy after the match to tell him to be more careful but Kennedy refused to listen. At that point Orton told McMahon he didn't want to wrestle Kennedy anymore. Cena and Undertaker also tried to talk to him before this but it's obvious he never listened. He basically got fired for being injury prone/being an asshole.

 

[Anderton10]

Kennedy is a notoriously stiff worker, but damn is he talented. Looks unorthodox in the ring but is incredibly athletic and damn good on the mic. He was a fan favorite and would be a big asset to the WWE now. I think it had less to do with his stiffness and more to do with locker room politics. I honestly believe that firing him was one of the bigger mistakes they have made in recent memory.

I complelty agree with you, i believe that if WWE didnt get rid of Kennedy then Kennedy would be one of the biggest stars in the WWE right now, something they are missing?

 

[the_vipers_enigma]

Well I'm not so sure if this is true but Orton went to Vince and he b****ed bout Kennedy. And since Orton got backed up by Cena(cena and orton being very good friends outside the ring) Vince fired Kennedy. Again not sure if this is true.

 

[Steve-O-Matt]

There's loads of variations and no real truth to these stories, anyone could be in the wrong. It all comes down to what you think and how you translate the events that happened, everyone has a different opinion and here's mine.

Kennedy who has always been REALLY skilled on the mic, I mean up there with some of the greats has always been accident prone. In fact, the earliest memory I have of him was when he returned from an injury, LOL, not even his debut I remember, so I doubt he lasted long in that case. In spite of this however, he was ever so slowly climbing the ranks, going back and forth from SmackDown! and RAW without making any real impact on either, in fact when he was drafted one year, I forget where to and where from, I swear I didn't see him in one match on that brand for an entire year, then he got drafted back (for some reason).

So maybe the problem was that Ken couldn't get enough practise or something maybe...

Anyway, moving onto the match itself. Orton has always been someone who DEMANDS perfection, any less is not enough for him, we've all seen how serious and dedicated he is to the company. This will cause a lot of stress and anger especially, in my opinion he isn't too far from his own gimmick. Of course he would take it personally if Ken dropped him on his bad shoulder, maybe that day someone parked in his space or had one too many fans bothering him which probably sparked it.

But in my opinion, Orton has always been someone who's quick tempered but he burns out quite easily and can be a good guy when he wants to be. Now days I think Orton has really got a hold of his anger and he's starting to relax a lot more in the ring and just have fun with it.

As for Ken, the decision of firing him for nearly injuring Orton and himself on his first match back, may have been harsh, but the WWE, Orton, Cena, Vince, whoever, demand PERFECTION every time.

Maybe they offered him a chance to commentate or announce or something and maybe he was too hard headed to accept, who knows the real truth, all we can do is put the facts together and hopefully get some sort of picture.

... And I've really got to learn to cut down my answers and maybe proof read them if I made any mistakes, LOL.

 

[MrAsmith97]

Kennedy is a notoriously stiff worker, but damn is he talented. Looks unorthodox in the ring but is incredibly athletic and damn good on the mic. He was a fan favorite and would be a big asset to the WWE now. I think it had less to do with his stiffness and more to do with locker room politics. I honestly believe that firing him was one of the bigger mistakes they have made in recent memory.

I have too disagree, i was always a fan of his mic work and at times how he carried himself in the ring, But one of the top rules in wrestling is making sure your opponent is safe. I'm not saying he didnt have the potential but it was only a matter of time before ken was released.

 

[Griborn]

I just personally hope there's no similar action taken against Wade Barrett after last week's Smackdown tapings...

I see Wade as more talented than Kennedy.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

This is the first that I have heard any mention of Cena's name in the incident, both UK based Wrestling Mags (PowerSlam and FSM) laid the whole episode at Randy's feet. Now considering Randy has managed to injure HIMSELF doing that spin / knuckle slamming thing he does as a build up to attempting an RKO, he might need to look in the mirror before accusing others of being sloppy. Does anyone looking at the move really believe it was that badly executed? Better than that, Randy didn't appear to sandbag it, so he knew what the move entailed and went along with it.

'Ken Kennedy's dangerous in the ring' is something that has been spouted many times but with the exception of this incident were Randy almost got injured, is there any evidence behind the claim? I've never seen any.

I like Randy (voted him my top wrestler in this years pole) but he had many years of being regarded the companies biggest A-Hole. To his credit, he seems to have transcended this.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

But if we do talk about Randy being a hissyfit throwing ladyboy look no further than:

[YOUTUBE]N-kxxFjiD6s[/YOUTUBE]

So Kofi misses a spot, a spot that I didn't even notice till Orton had his impromptu period and he gets trashed live on air. Unprofessional? Atleast bitching in the back isn't on TV.

I laughed my ass of when this happened. Orton had been working with Kofi a lot around that time, so I'm guessing he knows more about Kofi (the worker) than we do. I think Kofi is awful in just about every way, so I wouldn't be surprised to find out Kofi was blowing spots night after night.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

I called him a dick and never saw him wrestle Kofi again.

Don't be like SD is to TNA here just coz it's Orton. I can't expect that from the guy who beat jmt.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

Kennedy is a notoriously stiff worker, but damn is he talented. Looks unorthodox in the ring but is incredibly athletic and damn good on the mic. He was a fan favorite and would be a big asset to the WWE now. I think it had less to do with his stiffness and more to do with locker room politics. I honestly believe that firing him was one of the bigger mistakes they have made in recent memory.

If any of this nonsense was actually true, don't you think the WWE would have brought Kennedy/Anderson back by now?

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

I have heard a lot of talk in the past about Randy Orton got Mr. Kennedy/Anderson fired from the WWE. Is this true and if so what happened?

Yeah it's true. I remember something to do with Orton filing a sexual harassment against Kennedy. He said in a statement, and I quote, 'He burst into the locker room one time in Philly after my match when I was in the shower shouting MISSTTTTTEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRR RAPIST HANDS, and proceeded to thrust soap at me many times telling me to "clean his nipples and call him Bubble tits"'.

Shortly after this Kennedy got released. True story bruv.