Ken Anderson, known in WWE as Mr. Kennedy, details one of his biggest career regrets, which came after the biggest highlight of his WWE run.
At WrestleMania 23, Mr. Kennedy defeated Finlay, Matt Hardy, CM Punk, Booker T, Jeff Hardy, Edge, and Randy Orton in a Money in the Bank Ladder Match. That contract would have given him the right to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship any time he chose until WrestleMania 24. He had initially planned on cashing in the briefcase at WrestleMania 24.
He also cut a promo after his victory that night, but he now looks at that promo as one of the biggest regrets of his career.
During an interview with Rewind Recap Relive, Anderson revealed that he wanted to use his catchphrase, "Nice guys finish last. Thank God I'm an asshole," in the promo but WWE told him no. He would eventually use the line to great success and fanfare in TNA. He believes it could have been even bigger if the WWE machine had gotten behind the line.
"That promo was one of my biggest regrets in the wrestling business," he began. "Way back when I started in WWE, Vince had asked me, 'Do you have any catchphrases?' I said, 'Nice guys finish last. Thank God I'm an asshole.' They had just started the PG era. We couldn't say ass. We couldn't say damn. Which was crazy for me, being in the Attitude Era.
"So on that day, Michael Hayes pulled me aside and said, 'Hey, we want you to cut a promo right after. Think of this as your Austin 3:16 moment. That's what we want it to be like.' I was like, 'I got it. I'm gonna hit: Nice guys finish last. Thank God I'm an asshole.' They said, 'You'd better ask.' I asked, and they said no," he recalled. "If you ask and they say no, you can't do it no matter what. Had I said it, because then, like, fast forward to TNA. I said it in TNA, and it became like a thing. Immediately, the fans started chanting, 'We are assholes.' With the WWE machine behind that, I feel like [it could have been special]."
Ultimately, Anderson never cashed in the briefcase. In fact, he became the first person to lose it in a match against Edge, who would go on to cash in the case the very next night and defeat The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Anderson recently spoke about how doing a piledriver to The Undertaker got him reprimanded by Vince McMahon. Learn more here.
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