Ken Anderson Reveals Original Plans For His WWE MITB Cash-In
Ken Anderson was so close to becoming World Heavyweight Champion in WWE, but unfortunate timing and a misdiagnosis led plans to change. Anderson was a recent guest of "INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet," and the man once known as Ken Kennedy talked about winning the Money In The Bank briefcase back at WrestleMania 23 in 2007. The plan was for Anderson to cash his briefcase in at the following WrestleMania.
"I only had it a month and a half, two months maybe, and they came to me. I was riding with Matt Hardy. We had left the building early, which was unlike us. We usually stayed until the very end. For whatever reason, we left early, and I got a call from Michael Hayes. He says, 'Where are you guys? I need you to come back. Vince needs to talk to you in his office.'"
Anderson and Hardy went back, and by the time he returned to the building, everyone was basically gone as he made his way to McMahon's office.
"I remember Batista coming out of Vince's office, and we passed each other in the hall and just came up to me and gave me a big hug, and he's like, 'You deserve it, bro.' And I played stupid, 'What do you mean? What do you mean?'"
Batista told Anderson that he wanted to let Vince tell him, and in the office were both him and his daughter, Stephanie McMahon. Undertaker, the current champion at the time, tore his bicep and was going to be out for a long time. They originally had Undertaker holding the WWE Title for an extended run, but now they were going to have to redirect course.
"He laid out the scenario basically and he's like, 'You're going to cash in your briefcase, we're going to have a new champion.' And I remember him telling me that they were high on Batista at the time; that was their guy." Anderson said. "... They felt like Batista needed to chase for a while, and they said, 'When we feel the time is right, we're going to put it on Batista, but we don't know how long that could be. I could be like a month, or five months, or six months, or whatever.' I remember I just said, 'Look, I appreciate you guys saying that, but this is business and I'll do what's necessary.'"
The next night while working a house show, Anderson felt his tricep pop while taking a clothesline, and on the outside of the ring, Fit Finlay told him that the injury didn't look good. Anderson's arm immediately started bruising, which was uncommon for him.
"I remember Hornswoggle drove me to the emergency room in Erie, Pennsylvania," Anderson said. He got a call from Stephanie saying that he tore his triceps off the bone and they were going to have to change plans once more.
"'We're going to take you to Penn State. Edge is going to challenge you for the briefcase, and then he's going to go on and do what you're supposed to do tomorrow night.' 'Okay,'" Anderson recalls responding. "And I remember thinking at the time, 'I've got a year to cash this thing in. Isn't there some other way you can get it off him?' But I didn't say it. I sort of regret not saying it now."
That night on "WWE Raw," Anderson was called a "chicken" by Edge, and that was enough for him to put the briefcase on the line.
"I gave up the briefcase. The next day, I flew to Dr. Andrews' table, and he's feeling my triceps, and he's like, 'That's not a tear.'"
Anderson never got the opportunity to hold a top title in WWE before being released in May 2009. He did end up becoming a two-time World Champion in IMPACT Wrestling after signing with them in 2010. Anderson has only wrestled three times since 2019 but did express an interest in returning to the ring soon.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.