Ken Anderson was the latest guest on the Pancakes and Powerslams show. During the live interview, WWE broke the news that Balls Mahoney had passed away.
Anderson immediately had a very interesting story to share about a particular interaction with Mahoney:
I was around him a lot when he was in the WWE when they married ECW with WWE. We spent a lot of time on the road because ECW and SmackDown would travel together. The overseas and in-state tours together. He was great [backstage]. Always a nice guy. I had some strange interactions with him. I remember one time I was walking up to an arena, I think we were in Germany, and he was sitting out kind of sunning himself. He had these headphones on, big headphones, and as I walked by, he pulled the headphones off, shook my hand [and said], ‘How’re you doing, brother?’ He was always the sweetest guy, very friendly. And I said, ‘I’m good. What cha listening to?’ And he goes, ‘Type O Negative.’ I’m like, ‘Oh. Those are the guys who think they’re vampires, right?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah. I’m a vampire too.’ I was like, ‘What? What do you mean?’ And he showed me his arm where he had cut himself the night before where he and his girlfriend were taking turns sucking each other’s blood.
Anderson shared the details on the original plans for his Money in the Bank win, and how it was changed, costing being the World Heavyweight Champion simply due to a misdiagnosis:
The intention was for me to wait the entire year. Then Undertaker got hurt, he’d torn his biceps, I believe. So Vince and Stephanie called me in the office after SmackDown and said, we were planning on Taker run with this title for a long time, but he’s hurt. We need to get the title off of him. We think the best way to do that is for you to come out next week, and cash in the Money in the Bank. So, we talked about it, talked about a couple of scenarios, then I left. The very next time that I wrestled, I believe it was Poughkeepsie [New York], during the first match, Batista shot me in the corner, gave me a clothesline, and just grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the corner for a short clothesline. For some reason, I just bumped kind of weird, kind of sideways, and when my triceps hit the mat, it just felt like something exploded. By the time I got to the locker room, I couldn’t bend my elbow. My arm was already starting to discolor. I drove with Hornswoggle that night to Erie, Pennsylvania to get an MRI. After the MRI they tell me to go to your hotel and just wait, we’ll call you and let you know what is happening.
So Stephanie calls me while I’m at the hotel and says, ‘You tore your tricep off the bone, and you’re gonna have to get surgery and you’re gonna be out for seven or eight months. But the problem is, we still need to get that title off of Taker because he’s injured. What we’re thinking is we’re gonna send Vince’s jet to come pick you up in Erie, fly you to Penn State, Edge is gonna challenge you for the Money in the Bank, and then he is going to do what you were supposed to do. [Edge challenged me on Raw], but I couldn’t do anything. It was as though I had a splint from my shoulder to my wrist. And Vince said, ‘What do you want to do?’ I said, just have him jump me, beat me all the way to the ring, roll me in, ring the bell, hit me with the spear and 1-2-3. [Vince said], ‘Ok. That’s what we’re gonna do.’ Then the next day, I flew to Birmingham, Alabama, and sat on Dr. James Andrews’ table. He says, ‘They’re telling me you tore your triceps, huh?’ So he feels around and goes, ‘That’s not a tear. You didn’t tear it.’ And I go, ‘Excuse me?’ He goes, ‘There’s no tear. You can tell where there’s a divot in the muscle, but not a tear.’ I did another MRI, and it was just a really bad bruise and my arm swelled up. He said if you take three maybe four weeks off, you’ll be right back in the ring. And that’s what happened.
If it were not for the misdiagnosis, he would have been World Heavyweight Champion.
Anderson also explained how the “F*** TNA!” comment was completely taken out of context:
I was told that someone took eight seconds out of that [long] video which said, ‘I’m Ken Anderson. I don’t work for TNA anymore. F TNA!’ Well that’s not what happened. The fans were chanting. It was a very adult crowd, wild crowd. 5-600 people in Scotland at ICW. ICW is a huge deal in Scotland. Reminds me a lot of ECW. You can say whatever you want on the mic. Anything goes. So, they started chanting, ‘F TNA!, F TNA!’ I said okay, I don’t work for them anymore, so yeah, I agree. And then I said after that, ‘Well, F you too!’ because I was playing a heel. But whoever posted the video in the first place just took the eight seconds out so it looks like I’m on a soapbox. I have friends that work in TNA. I’m not gonna badmouth the company. I had fun while I worked there. Loved that company, love wrestling. I hope that company can figure it out and become successful, because God knows the men and women there are busting their tails.
Anderson also shared his feelings of being Eddie Guerrero’s last opponent, details about the Lesnar/Hennig fight and more on the “Plane ride from Hell”, more on his WWE release, feuding with Sting, Aces & Eights, and much more in this nearly 90 minute discussion.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
