Kennedy and MVP had Undertaker’s seal of approval while working on Smackdown. When Ken was drafted to Raw, Taker warned him about the “politics” of that show. Both Ken and MVP began to “suck” once they got drafted to the red brand. Even as a teen at the time, I was baffled at the sudden decline of both. I always preferred Smackdown since the brand split. And since listening to wrestling shoots all these years, it makes sense that Smackdown was better. Look at the main event scene. You had wrestlers willing to do business and elevate talent.
In that mid-2000s era, Smackdown was by far the best show for matches. I enjoyed it but RAW was just meh. Prior to the Benoit ‘incident’, Smackdown was red hot.
@@VazzVegaswell it’s Randy Orton. Of course he isn’t going to get fired, he’s one of the biggest names in WWE history. Kennedy never had that kind of leverage backstage or with management
@VazzVegas, yeah, let's fire a top 5 star for dropping a jobber on his head. That's wild, it's not ballet accidents happen. If you're a mid 20s star who is being pushed to the moon, with a bad attitude at the time you'd stooge off someone you think hurt you.
@@rm22.02Nobody ever argued Kennedy had as much leverage was a bigger star. Obviously the point is the double standard. Orton having more pull feeds into that
If I had a guess. The shoulder bump pinched a nerve and sent a jolt up to his neck. Making Randy think he landed on his head/neck. Politics made Randy think it was from Ken being unsafe.
Something also to think about is Stevie telling the story about Ken bear hugging and lifting him could of tweaked his neck/shoulder and as a result the impact from the suplex really hurt/ stung
I thought this whole thing was that nobody was supposed to do anything to Orton at all because he was so delicate and this move was on the no list. But Orton shouldn't have even been in there in that case.
Yeah, it's very possible that neither of em were lying and that Orton got hurt without it being obvious to others looking on and without Kennedy being sloppy. My biggest injuries in sports, work, life, etc have all been that way including breaking my wrist playing soccer. I was the goalie and I think someone fell on me after I went for a save, but honestly I don't remember. Also messed up my neck rather badly in wrestling practice after slipping on some water. Stuff happens.
Cena and Orton are really good friends. I've wrestled before. Getting hurt or potatoed by someone you know is more forgiving than someone you don't know who you're trusting with your life.
@@FOPBUMEGGu & I both seen the clip a million times. Orton was out there leaping like a frog once Kennedy hit that move on him , no one told orton to jump that high lmao. He landed safely & protested Kennedy dropped em on his head when his head didn’t touch the ring😂. Kennedy & a few other people backstage watched the footage & they all agreed that orton over reacted & they tried showing Vince but Vince didn’t care & did what orton wanted.
Im sure if Randy could look back on it he’d admit he was wrong. He was a little brat that Vince spoiled back then, him & cena both. Orton was a piece of shit with an anger & ego problem.
@@gerardovega4641 it's not a suprise in the slightest, it was know for a long time that orton got chanses after chanses because of who he was and by that point he was one of the biggest stars in the company, so naturally he could get away with plenty of shit Had Cera or triple h done it they wouldn't have been fired either It's a matter of having a value to your name and something like that exist in the real world too
Getting railroaded isn't unique to the wrestling business. I got this shit once in my first career. If someone wants you gone, they'll take literally anything you do, pretend it was the most heinous breach of trust imaginable, and gaslight you into thinking you're horrible at your job to justify giving you the boot. Personally I would rather they just tell me to my face that they don't like me and they want me gone without all the psychological bullshit added making me insecure in my work from that point forward. It's bad enough to take a person's job away from them, but to then also make them second guess themselves from then on is particularly scummy.
Once Kennedy returned a few days prior u can see the animosity or ortons face & how he walked to the back like yeah I have something for u😂. It was reported a lot of top guys didn’t like a rookie coming in & taking their spot. That’s how special Kennedy was. Guy was over as a heel & a face, could talk his ass off on the mic & was solid in ring with the right presence. Orton nor cena wasn’t gonna let a guy come in who wasn’t 5 years into the company take over their spots. Im more pissed at Vince since Vince liked Kennedy a lot & named him after him😂 but yeah ken was set up for sure
Idk Cena was selling that Kennedy just slammed Orton and he's going to get a hot tag. Its not till Orton sits up on his knees that Cena's face changes.
@@Papellxhase It's hard to feel threatened by a guy that's already injury prone at that point and screwed up multiple plans because of it. Had to been something else.
@@blazemegatron919 a bunch of marks talking about something as facts that they weren't there to witness. I like Stevie and other wrestlers talking about it cuz they were actually there. When fans comment and say things like I think this or I think that. Nobody cares what you think. You are a random person with no firsthand secondhand or even third hand knowledge
Let's not forget that Orton openly admitted, on camera, that he was talking shit behind Punk's back and calling him dangerous in the ring. We can't assume he didn't also do the same to Ken.
@@shawnfauth6614it was reported that it was some backstage politicking in regards to Ken’s misdiagnosed injury & they “lost the Injury report” & couldn’t show him🤣. Once ken found out himself the damage had already been done. Kennedy was so damn good they did everything in their power to make this guy not succeed & fail in the wwe. He’d be a damn megastar in the wwe today
@@PapellxhaseFacts Mr Kennedy wasn’t just better than them on the mic, in the ring he was way better. The Green Bay Plunge was a crazy finisher, he also did a nice Swanton
I believe the story was that Orton had a bad left shoulder at the time and asked Kennedy to drop him opposite to normal so he didn't have to bump on the bad shoulder. Orton bumped according to that, but Kennedy dropped him normally causing Orton to land on the bad shoulder. Then political shenanigans. I can't remember the direct source, but Kennedy said it on a shoot interview somewhere.
@@devrayne6770not to mention he got hit with the wellness policy himself & was a bully backstage & also had an anger problem which became outrageous & Vince didn’t bother to tell him to calm tf down. Vince was the reason orton acted how he acted. Given recently with jevon botching that finish on nxt , if that was 2009 orton would’ve had the poor guy fired…
You should review the Move where Triple H literally throws Randy over the top rope on his shoulder completely wrong, but because it’s Hunter, all was forgiven quite quickly.
You slow motion video analysis and quote of "head never touched" Reminds me of the JFK movie court scene "Totally inconsistent with the shot from the depository. Again... back and to the left… back and to the left… back and to the left… back and to the left."
Randy and Cena at that time were divas and complained about more than one talent they didn't like when they got the chance. Say what you will about them now, but at that time you would have had to be sure you babied them and ensured they were happy; otherwise, you'd end up like Kennedy or Alex Reily, etc.
You're right. I always thought Cena was a piece of shit as a wrestler and a human being. Orton I had respect for until I saw a video of Orton using a racial slur. The more I learn about Randy the more I hate him.
lmfao "they were divas and complained" bro Vince doesn't let alone get to the top without having a great relationship with him. Cena and Orton - the companies biggest stars - gave Vince their honest opinion on Kennedy - they didn't tell Vince to fire him😂 they didnt say don't push him or bury him or anything😂 if anything you're being a bigger diva than they were
Orton was one of those guys that would've killed himself for Vince. He was in an interview not too long ago after Vince stepped down talking about how by 2017 his back had gotten bad but he was still working just to make Vince happy. @@BigBadJerryRogers
What stood out to me: 1. Randy let's go of the headlock early and slides his left hand to Ken's shoulder, which positioned his elbow behind him. 2. Ken might be lifting more from Randy's leg than his body, which would cause the rotation, especially if his arm was low on Randy's body.
Randy jumped higher than Ken expected and you can see his hand slide up his hamstring to his groin area causing Ken to lose control on the drop in my opinion it happens
Orton, Cena, & Shawn all played roles in Kennedy getting cut, & as Stevie said, management was already souring on him because of feedback Cena & Shawn gave on him
I hate it for ken since taker who really saw something in Kennedy told him about raw once he got drafted to raw & that the politics on raw are far more higher & different than smackdown. With this warning from the deadman , Kennedy was basically set up literally. If this didn’t happen I’m sure somewhere down the line orton would’ve derailed his push anyways causing him to get released. Im just glad in a short amount of time he displayed such a unique charisma as a bad & good guy & went on to have a good career in tna
I was there at STAPLES Center that night, didn't see what went wrong until the next day or so. But WWE drew 9,000 fans within 6 days of tickets going on sale for an event that was booked at the last minute.
One of the least deserved egomaniacs. There isn't a single thing he has pulled off in the ring that couldn't be done by almost every other wrestler in the business.
@@CassieRage3339Randy is one of the best wrestler in the pass 20 years. Only the likes of John Cena surpassed him in his prime. Even still today he's one of best wrestlers. If you think anyone else could have pulled the insane rko like the evan boorne one or the Seth Rollins curbstomp wrestlemania one you're just lying because you dislike randy.
He did it on purpose jumping High, he didn’t want ken there. He wanted him gone & was pissed when he found out he returned in 2009, just look at Randy’s face once Kennedy comes back in 09.. Randy’s face is sort of I got something for u I’m getting u out of here
Randy Orton Pretty much pulled a Hulk Hogan against the Undertaker during Survivor Series 91 because Hogan claimed that the Tombstone Piledriver caused his head to hit the steel chair but his head was no where near touching that steel chair. Which really put Taker on edge because he thought he did something wrong.
I don't get why Stevie Richards isn't training somewhere. An absolute asset in terms of breaking items down and going through everything step by step. That kind of knowledge is priceless.
I was at this show, the 'Denver Debacle'. Wondering why they're wearing basketball jerseys? Raw was originally scheduled to take place in Denver, but the Denver Nuggets advanced to a playoff game that was going to take place that same night. So WWE ended up getting the boot out of the arena in Denver just a few days before the show. The Staples Center in Los Angeles stepped up to fill in at the last minute. That's why there is a 5-on-5 tag team match, the baby-face 'Los Angeles' team vs. the heel 'Denver' team.
Fun fact: CM Punk caught Randy Orton trying to bury him at the 2011 Royal Rumble backstage. Punk had to go pee during his runout and when he did the GTS on Orton, he accidentally got some knee in his face and asked "You good" and Randy said yeah. After CM Punk went to the bathroom he found him talking to Arn Anderson and said "Man what are you doing you said I was ok!"
@@alternative7586 It had something to do with the rko getting botched or something so kofi’s push got diminished but years later they made it into a storyline
This was absolutely Randy's fault. The position he was in as Kennedy was beginning to fall back is what you would see from a luchador over-rotating to counter. Randy isn't that guy, he's not going to be landing on his feet. Kennedy can't stop Randy from hurting himself here.
As a former Indy Ref, what I see is Ken's LEFT hand pulling the physical momentum juuuust enough to cause the turn. In training, I've been turned directions in the air that I hadn't been picked up in as well and ended up with a neck injury that took a few years to really loosen back up. It was the structure that supported my neck internally that essentially 'knotted up' but felt like my neck was broken.
Man, being a 5 year old I hated you Stevie coming out as Right to Censor. But now that I'm 29 and get to see all these breakdowns of my childhood is fucking amazing. Much love to you.
Honestly, it kinda looks like both are a little at fault. You're right on the setup and the lift. Everything looks perfect. But at the peak of the suplex, Randy is slightly tilted to his left. I'm guessing (and maybe because of the shoulder issues y'all alluded to) that he tried to turn slightly back to his right to take a clean back bump. At the same time, Kennedy is trying to slide him off for the clean landing on the mat and not on him. And it looks like he slightly overcompensates on the rotation to his right, bringing his right hand down too soon and at the wrong angle. Due to both parts of this, Randy ends up damn near perpendicular to Kennedy. Love the channel guys. Stevie, you have always been a true one man. Keep it up.
Mr. Kennedy being fired is what turned me off about Randy Orton and John Cena. Both are WWE legends but it seems they, (including Shawn Michaels and others) complained about Ken all the time. Since he got drafted to RAW, Ken wasn't the Mr. Kennedy that had a magnificent run with Taker and Batista. I just wish WWE brought Mr. Kennedy back because he's really talented. I would like to see Mr. Kennedy vs LA Knight or other remarkable talkers and talents of today.
Thanks for doing this review because it gave a lot of good insight on what really happened. This kinda shows that Orton and others had it out for Mr. Kennedy. That they were just looking for an excuse to fire him and they finally got it done. Richards says that guys like Cena, Orton, and Triple H. Has their spots secure so why would they be afraid of their spots being taking. That should be the case but sadly it isn’t true. Because they have been multiple stories and reports that stated that those 3 were one of the first ones to play backstage politics. Especially Triple H because it had to be about him.
We all know Randy Orton prior to 2013 or so was an absolute menace. This is why I don't feel bad for Hulk Hogan absolutely teaching him the business. He probably saw how immature he was and figured he couldn't trust him as we know Hogan never puts anybody over that he doesn't trust
Kennedy got over faster than anyone wanted him to. He wasn't a Vinny product. He was, therefore, doomed to never get over. That belly to back suplex was perfectly placed: all shoulders and back. Not a Saito, which is on the shoulders and on the neck. Orton was being a ditch.
@@dmalak4509 When even Undertaker says Raw was a political sh!tshow, you know things are bad. Both Randy and Cena buried people who threatened their spot.
The question Stevie asks us at 18:40 I think has to be about Jeff Hardy. No way he was caught less times than the times he was actually suspended for the wellness policy.
The fact Randy was unprofessional himself, constantly getting suspended and still had the stroke to mess up careers is crazy. Slowed Kofi's heat down for 10 yrs.
If I'm not mistaken, Ken Anderson got caught as one of the clients in the Signature Pharma scandal, so it wasn't WWE that caught him for Steroid use after he talked about the wellness policy "helping him get off steroids", it was the scandal that just so happened to break shortly after that interview.
In addition to the product going downhill, I stopped watching wrestling because it hit me how the vast majority of the biggest stars are the laziest, shittiest, most dishonest people and the good people in the business hardly ever got rewarded. I know that's how life often goes, but that doesn't mean I have to give these psychotic narcissists my money, time, and energy.
Exactly and I agree. Like how part timers like Goldberg, Brock Lensar and others. Just show up whenever they want to and get paid a bunch of money. Then just leave like nothing.
@@Newportnews98 You obviously weren't watching the WWE when Mr. Kennedy was there. He had the fans eating out of the palm of his hand with his promos. He also wrestled better than 5MOD Cena and Resthold Randy.
Kennedy has said in recent years that he doesn't hold this incident against Randy anymore because he knows he was at the point where he had annoyed so many people that he would've just got fired over something else eventually.
I used to watch this over and over. Orton politicking with the rest of the boys to ruin Ken’s career. I hate people like this. They’re at work places all the time
I remember an interview somewhere way back that everyone was told to not do a belly to back on Orton because of his back and Ken decided to do it anyway
always felt like he got screwed over. a lot was falling apart for him (injuries, scandals, etc) prior to the Cena Orton incident which could have just been them seeing the perfect time to strike and get him out of the picture and WWE. speculation, yes. but it was still a huge shock for me at the time. the man was golden from what i had seen of him.
Holding negligible offenses against a stranger for 14 years is wild levels of mental illness. He's an all time great, him getting preferential treatment from the office is not his fault. He's also said many times that he was a asshole when he was younger, made huge mistakes and the company cleaned up after him. Holding a grudge for a fictional character is insanity.
@@jeremyvisser3877 Guy was boring as fuck and would put on the exact same slow boring matches for a decade and a half. I actually think he got considerably worse after his feud with Mick Foley. He went from that cocky punk into a robot and stopped improving. The only thing he had going for him was his looks and the diamond cutter.
@@rndompersn3426absolutely correct. What you stated are pure facts Any dispute is just a Randy Bore-ton fan boy. With that said, he is a great wrestler, not as good as he’s made out to be but that’s part and parcel of WWE politics when they straight up lie about a talent (Cena, Goldberg, HHH) I lost all these years, as a lifelong fan, because I couldn’t stand the Cena superman crap, Orton boring me and levesque burying everyone
Y’all need to chill lol. Orton is widely recognized by multiple professionals as one of the best ever. Several people backstage (like Kevin Owens, Braun Strowman, Damian Priest, Finn Balor, etc.) have stated that he is now the ultimate locker room leader. What happened to Kennedy was sad but even he admits now that he was himself to blame, as he violated company rules like illicitly talking about Benoit for example. Orton has admitted that he used to be a jerk at times but you can’t deny that he was a company juggernaut who not only defined a generation of wrestling but helped build an entire new generation of performers, which even Kennedy acknowledges so no need for grudge.
my favorite tna moment of mr.kennedy wa when he was feuding with sting in tna and he dressed up as surfer sting and suprised sting and hit sting with a scorpion death drop. holy cow he looked just like sting in his younger days when he did that.
I’ve been saying it for years, that Randy Orton knew he was going to do this before the show even started. No idea about locker room issues, but Ken had the charisma that Randy could only dream of.
Always loved Stevie Richard's. What an awesome talent he was and had great moxy and charisma. He could speak and wrestle really well. As a Podcaster, he has this great ability to passionately deep dive into the subtle details of matches and the buisness. You can tell he is very detailed and focused.
This reminds me of Hogan and Undertaker. When Undertaker hit Hogan with the Tombstone, Hogan lied and said he injured his neck. Guess what? Hogan's head never touched the mat. Undertaker, since then, knew what Hogan is all about money and lies
To think that WWE got rid of a upper midcarder /occasional main eventer at the behest of a guy who peaked in 2009 ? Especially when you consider how much WWE struggled with its upper midcard /main event scene during the 2010s . ...
What I like about this show is we have a well-informed and inquisitive wrestling fan working with an articulate and experienced wrestler who enjoys delivering the insights.
I've taken bumps, even clean, and had a quick pain, I've sold up cussing the bump and tatered the guy...Randy thought "receipt", then thought "nope I'm a company guy"
Orton intentionally sandbagged the move and tried to sell it as a botch by Kennedy. The weird thing about it is, they still got the poor guy blacklisted and haven't brought him back more than 15 years later. They don't even have him listed in their Alumni page.
This looks like WWE, maybe Vince or Johnny Ace, was looking for a reason to fire Kennedy and this was it. Ken's days in the E were already numbered at the time.
I have a different take on this. Randy Orton is a spoiled little baby that doesn’t like taking big bumps even if you didn’t like Kennedy, you could clearly see he had it. And just like sharks in infested waters they could see him slowly coming up in the ranks and tried stop it before anything could happen. That’s my two cents on it.
Randy Orton pulled a "Ohhh, you got me, brother!"
LMAO that's a great comparison goddamn
Right in that palumboism stomach Randy has now 😂
Randy Hogan XD
First thing I thought of, glad I'm not the only one lol.
Why would RKO want Kennedy gone?
I think the real beef between Ken and Randy was about who had the worst Tribal back tattoo. 😂
Shut up kid
So true Ken takes the cake there, bright red like what was he thinking 🤣🤣
Kennedy and MVP had Undertaker’s seal of approval while working on Smackdown. When Ken was drafted to Raw, Taker warned him about the “politics” of that show. Both Ken and MVP began to “suck” once they got drafted to the red brand. Even as a teen at the time, I was baffled at the sudden decline of both. I always preferred Smackdown since the brand split. And since listening to wrestling shoots all these years, it makes sense that Smackdown was better. Look at the main event scene. You had wrestlers willing to do business and elevate talent.
In that mid-2000s era, Smackdown was by far the best show for matches. I enjoyed it but RAW was just meh. Prior to the Benoit ‘incident’, Smackdown was red hot.
I remember that Ken Kennedy did hurt Takers elbow in a dark match
You perfectly summed up how I felt.
when did taker warn Kennedy about the politics of raw? never heard that story before
Dude I noticed the decline too. Kennedy seemed like a shell of himself on RAW and was booked like crap.
Remember when Randy backdropped one of the Singh Brothers onto the announce table neck first and he just did an “oops” face. 😂
And Randy didn't get fired for that. It's all politics in wrestling, sadly.
@@VazzVegaswell it’s Randy Orton. Of course he isn’t going to get fired, he’s one of the biggest names in WWE history. Kennedy never had that kind of leverage backstage or with management
@VazzVegas, yeah, let's fire a top 5 star for dropping a jobber on his head. That's wild, it's not ballet accidents happen. If you're a mid 20s star who is being pushed to the moon, with a bad attitude at the time you'd stooge off someone you think hurt you.
@@rm22.02Nobody ever argued Kennedy had as much leverage was a bigger star.
Obviously the point is the double standard. Orton having more pull feeds into that
Randy Orton has gotten away with so much in his career. Like it's been stated it's politics
If I had a guess. The shoulder bump pinched a nerve and sent a jolt up to his neck. Making Randy think he landed on his head/neck. Politics made Randy think it was from Ken being unsafe.
Something also to think about is Stevie telling the story about Ken bear hugging and lifting him could of tweaked his neck/shoulder and as a result the impact from the suplex really hurt/ stung
I thought this whole thing was that nobody was supposed to do anything to Orton at all because he was so delicate and this move was on the no list. But Orton shouldn't have even been in there in that case.
Yeah, it's very possible that neither of em were lying and that Orton got hurt without it being obvious to others looking on and without Kennedy being sloppy. My biggest injuries in sports, work, life, etc have all been that way including breaking my wrist playing soccer. I was the goalie and I think someone fell on me after I went for a save, but honestly I don't remember. Also messed up my neck rather badly in wrestling practice after slipping on some water. Stuff happens.
@@TrueNomadSkiesyeah, I've been a pro wrestler for 15 years and I've got hurt during the weirdest times. Stuff does happen
If Cena had botched that move, Orton would've stayed quiet. It was backstage politics.
No Kennedy was trash
exactly
Cena and Orton are really good friends. I've wrestled before. Getting hurt or potatoed by someone you know is more forgiving than someone you don't know who you're trusting with your life.
But randy didn't get hurt
How could Cena botched the move if he wasn't even in the ring 😂
Stevie Richards: The John Madden of breaking down spots.
Boom!
And right here…. It’s goes whooop and Boom!
Manning or Romo.
Ken picked Randy up and... BOOM!
Madden wasnt a liar.
Ken was a roidhead. He failed a test and was canned.
"See, here you got the momma bucket, and, and here you got the daddy bucket. And right here, here's......the baby bucket."
To quote Booker T "you got to make it in the locker room before you make it in the ring"
Randy botched his jump. Kennedy didnt do anything wrong here.
That was my take- Randy jumped harder than Kennedy was expecting-
Exactly my thoughts as well.
Ie. Randy sandbagged him.
@@FOPBUMEGGu & I both seen the clip a million times. Orton was out there leaping like a frog once Kennedy hit that move on him , no one told orton to jump that high lmao. He landed safely & protested Kennedy dropped em on his head when his head didn’t touch the ring😂. Kennedy & a few other people backstage watched the footage & they all agreed that orton over reacted & they tried showing Vince but Vince didn’t care & did what orton wanted.
Kennedy SA'd Michael Cole I think Vince really liked Kennedy
This was during the era of Diva Orton
I believe that Maria said Orton was the biggest diva backstage.
That was some Hulk Hogan level bollocks from Randy
Im sure if Randy could look back on it he’d admit he was wrong. He was a little brat that Vince spoiled back then, him & cena both. Orton was a piece of shit with an anger & ego problem.
@@Papellxhaseyes, I'm surprised dude still got a push and was never fired. I think the most he got was a suspension.
'Hulk Hogan level bollocks' is a quote I'm going to use from now on. Cheers!
@@gerardovega4641 it's not a suprise in the slightest, it was know for a long time that orton got chanses after chanses because of who he was and by that point he was one of the biggest stars in the company, so naturally he could get away with plenty of shit
Had Cera or triple h done it they wouldn't have been fired either
It's a matter of having a value to your name and something like that exist in the real world too
Getting railroaded isn't unique to the wrestling business. I got this shit once in my first career. If someone wants you gone, they'll take literally anything you do, pretend it was the most heinous breach of trust imaginable, and gaslight you into thinking you're horrible at your job to justify giving you the boot. Personally I would rather they just tell me to my face that they don't like me and they want me gone without all the psychological bullshit added making me insecure in my work from that point forward. It's bad enough to take a person's job away from them, but to then also make them second guess themselves from then on is particularly scummy.
@@decollector95😂
Not to mention any companies but I’m going to throw one out Lubrizol does this exact thing.
dang that is spot on haha same boat...
Mr Kennedy chopped me in the chest in a pub in Preston, England, during a WrestleMania 31 watch party.
I can confirm he is a safe worker.
Cena was selling the alleged “botch” even before Randy did.
Ken was set-up here.
Once Kennedy returned a few days prior u can see the animosity or ortons face & how he walked to the back like yeah I have something for u😂. It was reported a lot of top guys didn’t like a rookie coming in & taking their spot. That’s how special Kennedy was. Guy was over as a heel & a face, could talk his ass off on the mic & was solid in ring with the right presence. Orton nor cena wasn’t gonna let a guy come in who wasn’t 5 years into the company take over their spots. Im more pissed at Vince since Vince liked Kennedy a lot & named him after him😂 but yeah ken was set up for sure
Good catch, Cena's over acting really does make it obvious.
Idk Cena was selling that Kennedy just slammed Orton and he's going to get a hot tag. Its not till Orton sits up on his knees that Cena's face changes.
@@Papellxhase It's hard to feel threatened by a guy that's already injury prone at that point and screwed up multiple plans because of it. Had to been something else.
@@blazemegatron919 a bunch of marks talking about something as facts that they weren't there to witness. I like Stevie and other wrestlers talking about it cuz they were actually there. When fans comment and say things like I think this or I think that. Nobody cares what you think. You are a random person with no firsthand secondhand or even third hand knowledge
Let's not forget that Orton openly admitted, on camera, that he was talking shit behind Punk's back and calling him dangerous in the ring. We can't assume he didn't also do the same to Ken.
They also misdiagnosed Ken’s injury
Really this is Dr Mispractice. Dr should go to jail for misdiagnosis
@@shawnfauth6614it was reported that it was some backstage politicking in regards to Ken’s misdiagnosed injury & they “lost the Injury report” & couldn’t show him🤣. Once ken found out himself the damage had already been done. Kennedy was so damn good they did everything in their power to make this guy not succeed & fail in the wwe. He’d be a damn megastar in the wwe today
@@Papellxhase imagine promos between mr kennedy and la knight
@@PapellxhaseFacts Mr Kennedy wasn’t just better than them on the mic, in the ring he was way better. The Green Bay Plunge was a crazy finisher, he also did a nice Swanton
@@shawnfauth6614 *Malpratice.
malpractice
/ˌmalˈpraktɪs/
noun
improper, illegal, or negligent professional behaviour.
"victims of medical malpractice"
I believe the story was that Orton had a bad left shoulder at the time and asked Kennedy to drop him opposite to normal so he didn't have to bump on the bad shoulder. Orton bumped according to that, but Kennedy dropped him normally causing Orton to land on the bad shoulder. Then political shenanigans. I can't remember the direct source, but Kennedy said it on a shoot interview somewhere.
I heard this aswell about the shoulder.
That would make sense..
Which would still make Kenedy look bad that he didn't take care.
This is why Stevie is the best Wrestling youtuber. Others wouldn't dare talk about this (Undertaker or Maven.)
Yeah i think they just keep to situations that has to with them. There is nothing wrong with that.
Cowards way of thinking like you😅@@cristianvictoria74
Stevie is what we want in a wrestler UA-camr always keeping it real.
Undertaker is fake
@lukesmith9692 VERY fake.
Orton was a bit of a knob with his temper to be fair, and more than once. Mistakes happen. Guys a dick.
Orton has been stale for 15 years. Same matches and comatose promos.
@@travismcdonald6576 thought I was the only one who felt that.
Randy was also protected, while other wrestlers couldn’t get away with half the things he reportedly did when he was younger.
@@devrayne6770not to mention he got hit with the wellness policy himself & was a bully backstage & also had an anger problem which became outrageous & Vince didn’t bother to tell him to calm tf down. Vince was the reason orton acted how he acted. Given recently with jevon botching that finish on nxt , if that was 2009 orton would’ve had the poor guy fired…
Cena & Randy both drew in money, Kennedy sucks.
Orton might have matured over the years, but that doesn’t change the fact he basically politicked to get Kennedy fired.
Phuck Ken ma boi orton said he unsafe phuck-em!
He wasn’t the only one. Many top guys used politics to fire guys. Cena, Hogan, Shawn, HHH, Austin, Rock, etc etc etc.
@ yes they did
You should review the Move where Triple H literally throws Randy over the top rope on his shoulder completely wrong, but because it’s Hunter, all was forgiven quite quickly.
Was that the match where orton got Injured?
@@gerardovega4641yep. Broke his clavicle and got sidelined for months.
Then he reinjured it while he recovering and remained sidelined for far longer.
You slow motion video analysis and quote of "head never touched"
Reminds me of the JFK movie court scene
"Totally inconsistent with the shot from the depository. Again... back and to the left… back and to the left… back and to the left… back and to the left."
We could have had 15 years of Mr. Kennedy, and instead got Blandy Snoreton.
Randy and Cena at that time were divas and complained about more than one talent they didn't like when they got the chance. Say what you will about them now, but at that time you would have had to be sure you babied them and ensured they were happy; otherwise, you'd end up like Kennedy or Alex Reily, etc.
They did not want Kennedy and Carlito getting the attention they deserved
You're right. I always thought Cena was a piece of shit as a wrestler and a human being. Orton I had respect for until I saw a video of Orton using a racial slur. The more I learn about Randy the more I hate him.
John and Randy were the Shawn Michaels of the 2000s
I never saw an issue with that. They were drawing in money so almost everyone else who wasn't deserved to be looked down upon.
lmfao "they were divas and complained" bro Vince doesn't let alone get to the top without having a great relationship with him. Cena and Orton - the companies biggest stars - gave Vince their honest opinion on Kennedy - they didn't tell Vince to fire him😂 they didnt say don't push him or bury him or anything😂 if anything you're being a bigger diva than they were
randy has the worst shoulders in the history of mankind.
He shouldn't have been in there at all then, just on the apron for his team
Orton was one of those guys that would've killed himself for Vince. He was in an interview not too long ago after Vince stepped down talking about how by 2017 his back had gotten bad but he was still working just to make Vince happy.
@@BigBadJerryRogers
This is definitely that generation's "ohh you got me brother" moment.
What stood out to me: 1. Randy let's go of the headlock early and slides his left hand to Ken's shoulder, which positioned his elbow behind him. 2. Ken might be lifting more from Randy's leg than his body, which would cause the rotation, especially if his arm was low on Randy's body.
Randy jumped higher than Ken expected and you can see his hand slide up his hamstring to his groin area causing Ken to lose control on the drop in my opinion it happens
Yea but thrs wby u hold the wrestler
MVP and Kennedy were both better on Smackdown. That’s a solid point.
Orton, Cena, & Shawn all played roles in Kennedy getting cut, & as Stevie said, management was already souring on him because of feedback Cena & Shawn gave on him
I hate it for ken since taker who really saw something in Kennedy told him about raw once he got drafted to raw & that the politics on raw are far more higher & different than smackdown. With this warning from the deadman , Kennedy was basically set up literally. If this didn’t happen I’m sure somewhere down the line orton would’ve derailed his push anyways causing him to get released. Im just glad in a short amount of time he displayed such a unique charisma as a bad & good guy & went on to have a good career in tna
I was there at STAPLES Center that night, didn't see what went wrong until the next day or so. But WWE drew 9,000 fans within 6 days of tickets going on sale for an event that was booked at the last minute.
F***ing mark
Good someone finally called the SOB on it. I've said this for years.
They viewed Kennedy as a threat to their spots
Yes because he sucked
lol. You people are delusional...
@@j.k.1239very delusional
And they kept their spot well ratings bombed for years, just look at the crowd during their Royal Rumble 2014 match.
Anderson was starting to become popular as hell and they figured how to stop it
I LOVED kennedy. I thought he was a shoe in to be a top guy.
I can only imagine Randy is an egomaniac
One of the least deserved egomaniacs. There isn't a single thing he has pulled off in the ring that couldn't be done by almost every other wrestler in the business.
@@CassieRage3339Randy is one of the best wrestler in the pass 20 years. Only the likes of John Cena surpassed him in his prime. Even still today he's one of best wrestlers. If you think anyone else could have pulled the insane rko like the evan boorne one or the Seth Rollins curbstomp wrestlemania one you're just lying because you dislike randy.
I think Randy put too much air in his jump
100%
Bullshit he does the same thing with Cena and has never got hurt
Sure but also ken should have held him not just dropping him
@@Treyski4410he didn’t get hurt lmao
The one thing that I noticed when Randy is going up, he looks like he’s twisting his body and that could contribute why he landed that way
He did it on purpose jumping High, he didn’t want ken there. He wanted him gone & was pissed when he found out he returned in 2009, just look at Randy’s face once Kennedy comes back in 09.. Randy’s face is sort of I got something for u I’m getting u out of here
So glad I found this channel. Awesome stuff
Imagine being a grown man and taking food off peoples table because you don’t like their personality?
Randy Orton Pretty much pulled a Hulk Hogan against the Undertaker during Survivor Series 91 because Hogan claimed that the Tombstone Piledriver caused his head to hit the steel chair but his head was no where near touching that steel chair. Which really put Taker on edge because he thought he did something wrong.
Yes. Orton is a modern day Hogan. In the worst way possible.
I don't get why Stevie Richards isn't training somewhere. An absolute asset in terms of breaking items down and going through everything step by step. That kind of knowledge is priceless.
For sure, boy we hated him wayyyy back in the day .. 😅😅.. but all these years later what a great guy he is
This was when Stan Kronke cancelled the show in Denver so McMahon went to LA
lets all remember Orton dislocated his own shoulder slamming his arms on the mat before an RKO.
Cena had an issue....yeah Kennedy was getting pushed
Glorified midcarder.Kennedy at best would have been a upper heel for Cena to overcome.
@@j.k.1239Who, Cena?
@@JackBarrBaxter Copium.
@@j.k.1239?
@@j.k.1239well it could have been a compelling rivalry. I was a fan of Kennedy at the time, he had the it factor
I was at this show, the 'Denver Debacle'. Wondering why they're wearing basketball jerseys? Raw was originally scheduled to take place in Denver, but the Denver Nuggets advanced to a playoff game that was going to take place that same night. So WWE ended up getting the boot out of the arena in Denver just a few days before the show. The Staples Center in Los Angeles stepped up to fill in at the last minute. That's why there is a 5-on-5 tag team match, the baby-face 'Los Angeles' team vs. the heel 'Denver' team.
Fun fact: CM Punk caught Randy Orton trying to bury him at the 2011 Royal Rumble backstage. Punk had to go pee during his runout and when he did the GTS on Orton, he accidentally got some knee in his face and asked "You good" and Randy said yeah. After CM Punk went to the bathroom he found him talking to Arn Anderson and said "Man what are you doing you said I was ok!"
Idk if you've seen it but after Punk's return they both sat down for a video to discuss that incident, so the hatchet is seemingly buried *now*
He had a incident with kofi as well
@@D1G1T47 you mean the concussion at the Royal Rumble 3 years later that he didn't want Kofi to feel bad about?
@@alternative7586 It had something to do with the rko getting botched or something so kofi’s push got diminished but years later they made it into a storyline
I remember when punk made a reference to chris benoit in 2011
This was absolutely Randy's fault. The position he was in as Kennedy was beginning to fall back is what you would see from a luchador over-rotating to counter. Randy isn't that guy, he's not going to be landing on his feet. Kennedy can't stop Randy from hurting himself here.
As a former Indy Ref, what I see is Ken's LEFT hand pulling the physical momentum juuuust enough to cause the turn. In training, I've been turned directions in the air that I hadn't been picked up in as well and ended up with a neck injury that took a few years to really loosen back up. It was the structure that supported my neck internally that essentially 'knotted up' but felt like my neck was broken.
It seems like Orton just through him under the bus.
Your cohost is correct. Randy messed up and blamed Ken
Man, being a 5 year old I hated you Stevie coming out as Right to Censor. But now that I'm 29 and get to see all these breakdowns of my childhood is fucking amazing. Much love to you.
I don’t think Ken should have got canned like that he was over for a character and to see what he did in tna he could have easily did it in wwe
Work on your English.
Honestly, it kinda looks like both are a little at fault. You're right on the setup and the lift. Everything looks perfect. But at the peak of the suplex, Randy is slightly tilted to his left. I'm guessing (and maybe because of the shoulder issues y'all alluded to) that he tried to turn slightly back to his right to take a clean back bump.
At the same time, Kennedy is trying to slide him off for the clean landing on the mat and not on him. And it looks like he slightly overcompensates on the rotation to his right, bringing his right hand down too soon and at the wrong angle. Due to both parts of this, Randy ends up damn near perpendicular to Kennedy.
Love the channel guys. Stevie, you have always been a true one man. Keep it up.
Mr. Kennedy being fired is what turned me off about Randy Orton and John Cena. Both are WWE legends but it seems they, (including Shawn Michaels and others) complained about Ken all the time.
Since he got drafted to RAW, Ken wasn't the Mr. Kennedy that had a magnificent run with Taker and Batista.
I just wish WWE brought Mr. Kennedy back because he's really talented. I would like to see Mr. Kennedy vs LA Knight or other remarkable talkers and talents of today.
Nobody cares.
He wasn’t a draw
Kennedy is really slow and out of shape now. Not that he was ever a physique guy, but he just looks bad now
@@j.k.1239??
@@Newportnews98who?
Thanks for doing this review because it gave a lot of good insight on what really happened. This kinda shows that Orton and others had it out for Mr. Kennedy. That they were just looking for an excuse to fire him and they finally got it done.
Richards says that guys like Cena, Orton, and Triple H. Has their spots secure so why would they be afraid of their spots being taking. That should be the case but sadly it isn’t true. Because they have been multiple stories and reports that stated that those 3 were one of the first ones to play backstage politics. Especially Triple H because it had to be about him.
We all know Randy Orton prior to 2013 or so was an absolute menace. This is why I don't feel bad for Hulk Hogan absolutely teaching him the business. He probably saw how immature he was and figured he couldn't trust him as we know Hogan never puts anybody over that he doesn't trust
Hogan who 🤣🤣
Randy Orton- "You got me Brother"
Kennedy got over faster than anyone wanted him to. He wasn't a Vinny product. He was, therefore, doomed to never get over. That belly to back suplex was perfectly placed: all shoulders and back. Not a Saito, which is on the shoulders and on the neck. Orton was being a ditch.
According to Ken, Undertaker warned him before heading to Raw after the draft. Politics of Raw was a lot different than Smackdown.
@@dmalak4509 When even Undertaker says Raw was a political sh!tshow, you know things are bad. Both Randy and Cena buried people who threatened their spot.
Ditch? 😅😅😅
The question Stevie asks us at 18:40 I think has to be about Jeff Hardy. No way he was caught less times than the times he was actually suspended for the wellness policy.
If a guy were to be fired over one botch, then 90% of wrestlers would have been fired over the years. It was 100% politics.
And even in terms of botches it's far down on the list of bad botches, far far worse have been done
That bs backstage diva drama came into is pathetic
The swipe randy did before falling back down was hilarious to me hahaha
I think maybe the Jerseys they are wearing affected maybe the follow thru of the move and Kennedy may have lost control of him
Loved every second of this Steve. Great content.
The fact Randy was unprofessional himself, constantly getting suspended and still had the stroke to mess up careers is crazy. Slowed Kofi's heat down for 10 yrs.
If I'm not mistaken, Ken Anderson got caught as one of the clients in the Signature Pharma scandal, so it wasn't WWE that caught him for Steroid use after he talked about the wellness policy "helping him get off steroids", it was the scandal that just so happened to break shortly after that interview.
They botched Mr. Kennedys career. He was on his way!! Then they cut him short on his run 🤦🏾
I can't believe there's no "I'll show you, you'll see!" at the end of your intro....c'mon! 😂
In addition to the product going downhill, I stopped watching wrestling because it hit me how the vast majority of the biggest stars are the laziest, shittiest, most dishonest people and the good people in the business hardly ever got rewarded. I know that's how life often goes, but that doesn't mean I have to give these psychotic narcissists my money, time, and energy.
Exactly and I agree. Like how part timers like Goldberg, Brock Lensar and others. Just show up whenever they want to and get paid a bunch of money. Then just leave like nothing.
The Green Bay Plunge from the second rope was one of the best moves. Shane Mercer's Moonsault & Battery is a similar move, but reverse.
Orton and Cena used their backstage powers to get Mr. Kennedy fired. He was a threat to them with him getting super over so fast.
😂😂😂😂😂he wasn’t a draw so explain how was he a threat to the 2 biggest stars in the company???
@@Newportnews98 You obviously weren't watching the WWE when Mr. Kennedy was there. He had the fans eating out of the palm of his hand with his promos. He also wrestled better than 5MOD Cena and Resthold Randy.
This was in 2009, Kennedy had already lost his push because he got caught taking steroids during the Benoit thing. He was doing nothing at the time
Nice production. Alot better from the last time i tuned in
Kennedy has said in recent years that he doesn't hold this incident against Randy anymore because he knows he was at the point where he had annoyed so many people that he would've just got fired over something else eventually.
I used to watch this over and over. Orton politicking with the rest of the boys to ruin Ken’s career. I hate people like this. They’re at work places all the time
I remember an interview somewhere way back that everyone was told to not do a belly to back on Orton because of his back and Ken decided to do it anyway
Kennedy had more potential
Really enjoying your channel Stevie
Randy buried more talent than Triple H and John Cena combined and yet nobody ever says shit
always felt like he got screwed over. a lot was falling apart for him (injuries, scandals, etc) prior to the Cena Orton incident which could have just been them seeing the perfect time to strike and get him out of the picture and WWE.
speculation, yes. but it was still a huge shock for me at the time. the man was golden from what i had seen of him.
This is the main (of many) reasons why I am not, and never have been a Randy Orton fan.
Holding negligible offenses against a stranger for 14 years is wild levels of mental illness. He's an all time great, him getting preferential treatment from the office is not his fault. He's also said many times that he was a asshole when he was younger, made huge mistakes and the company cleaned up after him. Holding a grudge for a fictional character is insanity.
@@jeremyvisser3877 Guy was boring as fuck and would put on the exact same slow boring matches for a decade and a half. I actually think he got considerably worse after his feud with Mick Foley. He went from that cocky punk into a robot and stopped improving. The only thing he had going for him was his looks and the diamond cutter.
@@jeremyvisser3877 he's boring as sin and has never had a personality ever, unless he was throwing a temper tantrum that got somebody else buried.
@@rndompersn3426absolutely correct. What you stated are pure facts
Any dispute is just a Randy Bore-ton fan boy. With that said, he is a great wrestler, not as good as he’s made out to be but that’s part and parcel of WWE politics when they straight up lie about a talent (Cena, Goldberg, HHH)
I lost all these years, as a lifelong fan, because I couldn’t stand the Cena superman crap, Orton boring me and levesque burying everyone
Y’all need to chill lol. Orton is widely recognized by multiple professionals as one of the best ever. Several people backstage (like Kevin Owens, Braun Strowman, Damian Priest, Finn Balor, etc.) have stated that he is now the ultimate locker room leader. What happened to Kennedy was sad but even he admits now that he was himself to blame, as he violated company rules like illicitly talking about Benoit for example. Orton has admitted that he used to be a jerk at times but you can’t deny that he was a company juggernaut who not only defined a generation of wrestling but helped build an entire new generation of performers, which even Kennedy acknowledges so no need for grudge.
my favorite tna moment of mr.kennedy wa when he was feuding with sting in tna and he dressed up as surfer sting and suprised sting and hit sting with a scorpion death drop. holy cow he looked just like sting in his younger days when he did that.
Cena and Orton are firmly in the scumbag camp imo .
I’ve been saying it for years, that Randy Orton knew he was going to do this before the show even started.
No idea about locker room issues, but Ken had the charisma that Randy could only dream of.
Kennedy got Hogan'd
Always loved Stevie Richard's. What an awesome talent he was and had great moxy and charisma. He could speak and wrestle really well. As a Podcaster, he has this great ability to passionately deep dive into the subtle details of matches and the buisness. You can tell he is very detailed and focused.
This reminds me of Hogan and Undertaker. When Undertaker hit Hogan with the Tombstone, Hogan lied and said he injured his neck. Guess what? Hogan's head never touched the mat. Undertaker, since then, knew what Hogan is all about money and lies
7:30 the young Englishman shows his brilliance
To think that WWE got rid of a upper midcarder /occasional main eventer at the behest of a guy who peaked in 2009 ?
Especially when you consider how much WWE struggled with its upper midcard /main event scene during the 2010s . ...
Ken’s left knee looked like it was in weird position while Orton is coming down
You guys cracked this one wide open. It's too bad Vince didn't spend a little time studying the tape.
What I like about this show is we have a well-informed and inquisitive wrestling fan working with an articulate and experienced wrestler who enjoys delivering the insights.
I've taken bumps, even clean, and had a quick pain, I've sold up cussing the bump and tatered the guy...Randy thought "receipt", then thought "nope I'm a company guy"
he dropped me on my head with a gap that size I'm not sure what camera angle is going to do
Orton intentionally sandbagged the move and tried to sell it as a botch by Kennedy. The weird thing about it is, they still got the poor guy blacklisted and haven't brought him back more than 15 years later. They don't even have him listed in their Alumni page.
Randy took a COMPLETE 'Drop-on-head'from the SAME MOVE from William Regal a few weeks later in England!!!! Lol
Mr. Kennedy aka Mr. Anderson is the original. LA Knight aka Eli Drake is the knock off version.
L.A knight is an attitude era fanboy playing cosplay in the Miz's ring
This looks like WWE, maybe Vince or Johnny Ace, was looking for a reason to fire Kennedy and this was it. Ken's days in the E were already numbered at the time.
Truth is Kennedy was on the rise and Cena/Orton felt threatened. Eventually one of them would have to lose to him, and they didn't want that.
Ah, the intricacies of office politics. Beautiful stuff.
I have a different take on this. Randy Orton is a spoiled little baby that doesn’t like taking big bumps even if you didn’t like Kennedy, you could clearly see he had it. And just like sharks in infested waters they could see him slowly coming up in the ranks and tried stop it before anything could happen. That’s my two cents on it.