"I really wanted to keep my real name" - Paul Heyman gave major former WWE star a new moniker (Exclusive)

Ken Anderson rose to fame in WWE as Mr. Kennedy. The former WWE star recently opened up about the origins of his in-ring name and Paul Heyman's influence on Sportskeeda Wrestling's UnSKripted.

Anderson recalled the day he was called up to the main roster and how he was told to come up with a new moniker by Vince McMahon.

Paul Heyman was Anderson's mentor at the time, and the two had an hour-long conversation, during which they brainstormed over multiple alternatives. While Anderson wanted to use his real name on WWE TV, he was given various reasons as to why he needed a change.

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In the end, Paul Heyman felt that Anderson should go ahead with Vince McMahon's middle name, Kennedy, and that's what the former United States Champion adopted when he joined WWE's big leagues.Here's what Ken Anderson had to say about Vince McMahon's decision to change his name:

"I remember that the day they pulled me up to SmackDown, I made my debut on SmackDown; Johnny Ace, John Laurinaitis, came up to me and said, 'Hey, Vince McMahon wants to talk to you.' He wants you to change your name because I was Ken Anderson at the time. I really wanted to keep my real name, but there were a bunch of different reasons given for why they wanted to switch it." revealed Ken Anderson.

The former Impact World Champion also discussed Paul Heyman coming up with his new moniker:

"So I called Paul during the day and said here's what they want me to do; you got any suggestions? And we just brainstormed for an hour or more about different names, and finally, Paul said, 'Kennedy, Kennedy is Vince's middle name!' So!" said Ken Anderson.

Paul Heyman had big plans for Ken Anderson right from his WWE developmental days

Paul Heyman replaced Jim Cornette at Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), and Ken Anderson was one of the names that caught the former ECW boss' attention.

Heyman personally told Anderson that he had big plans for the superstar and predicted him to appear on main roster television within two weeks.

The former Money in the Bank holder was already a massive Paul Heyman fan coming into WWE, and he was lucky enough to receive the backing of the legendary manager himself.

"It was Paul's idea to choose the name Kennedy in the first place. Paul was hugely influential, even before I met him, because I was a fan of ECW and I was a fan of his work, and then when I started at OVW, Jim Cornette was in charge there and he got released, and I remember Paul came down and said, 'Hey, this is what we're going to do. I'm going to push you. I've got a lot of ideas for you.' And he told me, 'You'll be on TV within the next two months.' Meaning that I would be on SmackDown or RAW," Anderson stated.

Ken Anderson also reacted to the WWE Hall of Fame induction of his former rival, The Undertaker, on the latest UnSKripted episode, and you can check out what he had to say right here.

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