Born on March 6, 1976 and hailing from Green Bay, Wisconsin, Kenneth Anderson goes by the ring name Mr. Kennedy. After serving in the U.S. Army, Anderson trained with All-Star Championship Wrestling owners Eric Hammers & Mike Krause. From 2001 to 2004, he began to appear on WWE Jakked, WWE Velocity, and WWE Sunday Night Heat in a try-out basis as an independent jobber. After appearing on TNA Xplosion, he was approached by Jeff Jarrett for a contract at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Unfortunately communications broke down, thus Kennedy pursued other endeavors, such as competing in the 2002 and 2003 Ted Petty Invitational tournaments.
In 2005, Kennedy signed with WWE and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling. Six months later, he as hired to work on Velocity. He debuted on Smackdown in a fight with Shoichi Funaki, whom he defeated. He also made his pay-per-view debut on Smackdown's No Mercy, where he defeated Hardcore Holly, who injured his ribs.
Kennedy became part of WWE's tour in December 2005. During the tour's second day in Italy, he suffered serious latissimus dorsi tear and thus had to undergo surgery. This required him to take a six-month leave to recover.
Kennedy returned to Smackdown in January 2006 as a color commentator for a Cruiserweight Title match. He finally got back to the action in May, when he fought OVW Heavyweight Champion, CM Punk, who eventually retained his title. Returning to Smackdown, he won over Scotty 2 Hotty. In July of that year, he feuded with Batista, who lost their first match. However, Kennedy sustained an exposed cranium laceration, which required 20 stitches to close.
In September 2006's Smackdown, Kennedy defeated Dave Finalay and Bobby Lashley in a Triple Threat match which won him the WWE United States Championship, his first title reign in WWE. Expressing his desires to move to Raw, Kennedy was faced with The Undertaker, whom he also defeated at No Mercy.
In June 2007, Kennedy was finally drafted into Raw, where he defeated Bobby Lashley. He was suspended for a while, but returned later in October, where he faced John Cena in the main event. Kennedy wasn’t seen for weeks on WrestleMania XXIV, after several minor feuds. This was because he was filming a role in Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia. His return made him a crowd favorite, but was later drafted to the Smackdown brand during the June 2008 WWE Draft.