Mr. Kennedy On 'Interesting' Reason Why Vince McMahon Changed His Name In WWE

When Ken Anderson got called up to the WWE main roster in 2005, his name was changed to Ken Kennedy, ostensibly a nod to Vince McMahon's middle name. But how did that name change come about in the first place? Mr. Kennedy explained recently during an interview with "UnSKripted."

"[Vince] was like 'I don't want people associating you with them; I don't want them to think there's some kind of nepotism involved,'" he explained with the "them" being the fictional Anderson family that Arn Anderson is theoretically a member of. He compared and contrasted his situation to McMahon's ever-evolving feelings about wrestlers with a family lineage keeping their names, citing Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes as examples who got to keep their real names.

"I will say that whether or not I'm related to him, I was fortunate enough to be under [Arn's] wing at WWE because he was one of the producers there," Anderson added. "From the time that I was just an extra, going there and trying to get a job and trying to get looked at, I would sit around the ring, and Arn was one of those guys who was just happy to share his knowledge with anyone who would listen."

Ken Anderson currently runs The Academy: School of Professional Wrestling in St. Paul, Minnesota, the school that is otherwise best-known for producing AEW's Top Flight tag team.