The former Mr. Kennedy is reflecting on training Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson early in his professional wrestling journey.
Ken Anderson, formerly Mr. Kennedy in WWE, is now paying it forward and focused on the next generation of superstars as a trainer.
Speaking on The Kurt Angle Show Podcast, the former WWE United States Champion detailed his goals as a trainer, noting that among several WWE NXT and AEW stars of today, he helped train Gable Steveson for his transition into the world of pro wrestling.
"He's really taken to it," he said. "He's one of those guys, I remember, he took his first bump, and I told him, 'Get up this way,' and he got up the wrong way. Before I even said anything, he just went, 'Oh--' reversed himself back down and did it almost perfectly the first time.
"People will often say that Kurt took to the business like nobody they've ever seen before, that he got it immediately, and you got not only the athletic side of things, but you got the showmanship, the storytelling, and the character stuff. I feel like Gable is on that path. He can do great things," Ken added. "He's young. He's very young, but he's already a man. You know, he's very young, but when I'm talking to him, he seems you're talking to an old soul like he's in his 30s."
In addition to Gable Steveson, Anderson has helped train the likes of Tiffany Stratton and Von Wagner of NXT, AEW's Top Flight, and Julia Hart. Anderson reflected on working with all of those individuals and credited Darius Martin as the first graduate of his wrestling school.
"[I trained Tiffany Stratton]. I did, yeah. For the first six months that she started. There's a couple of other people in WWE, too. Von Wagner, Javier Bernal," Anderson said. "There's a couple. Then in AEW, Dante and Darius Martin was our first graduate actually at The Academy, Dante Martin, Julia Hart..."
Fans can learn more about Anderson's training school, The Academy, at this link.
Gable Steveson has yet to debut in WWE, but he is returning to the wrestling mat for the U.S. Open. Learn more about that at this link.
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