Arn Anderson Recalls Kevin Owens Often Being Difficult To Deal With In WWE
Arn Anderson was an agent in WWE for over a decade, spending much of his time working with John Cena. During his time working with Cena, Anderson was the agent for Cena's matches with Kevin Owens in 2015 over multiple pay-per-views. Although Owens was unsuccessful in his feud with Cena, beginning his main roster career with the biggest star in the company was a plus for the NXT Champion and it helped shape his career in WWE.
On a recent episode of ARN, Anderson spoke about his relationship with Owens during his time with the company. Anderson said Owens could be tough to deal with at times, making small things difficult, but hopes since he's left the company he's changed.
"I'm hoping it's gotten better, I think Kevin Owens, when he first got [to WWE] should've been used right out of the get go as a baby face," Anderson said. "Forget about the fact that he doesn't have a world class body, once I saw that first night he wrestled John Cena, man [the fans] were soundly behind the guy.
"There were a lot of times, I told Kevin this, he was a pain in the ass arguing over trivial things. They really didn't matter. It would be a long drawn out decision, he and I have had this talk before, I hope he's doing better. It was just, as a producer, you had guys that you saw your name written down beside and you went 'This is going to be a piece of cake today' or 'Man, I'm in for a long day'."
Anderson continued to talk about WWE in the present day on the road to WrestleMania 37. This year's event is expected to host 50,000 total fans over two nights, with 25,000 per night, and will emanate from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Arn Anderson said he's rooting for WWE and wishes they would get the green light to host 100,000 fans because it would benefit the entire wrestling business as a whole.
"I have a lot of friends that are feeding their families there this very moment," Anderson said. "I want them to succeed huge because when one company blows up, that competitor gets pulled up by the bootstraps. Business gets hot and everybody benefits. Right now, I'm hoping and wishing they would let 100,000 people come in for WrestleMania because it'll open the door for the rest of us which Tony Khan was the leader of making crowds when there wasn't a crowd, manufacturing a crowd. It's just going to help us get those arenas filled back up and get business back on track the way it should be because I think our fans are clamoring for that.
"I just love wrestling, I love my company because they have been super good to me and I'm super loyal to them. They're going to have to run me off, they gotta fire me to get rid of me and I hope Tony doesn't have that thought in mind any time soon. I love the company, the attitude of all the people there, they're all thankful to be there and that kind of environment permeates more positive thoughts."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit ARN Podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.