Karl Anderson Slams WWE

"Getting released by WWE was the best thing that ever happened to me."

by Andrew Pollard
Karl Anderson Luke Gallows Good Brothers
IMPACT Wrestling

During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Karl Anderson has talked about how he deserved more during his stint in WWE and how being released by Vince McMahon's sports entertainment company was the best thing to ever happen to him.

As Machine Gun put it:

"What we do is scripted entertainment, and I'll be honest, there are times when I felt like I deserved more in WWE. Going on the road in WWE, especially in 2018 and 2019, I was taking my frustrations from the road back home. My wife didn't understand what I was going through. My kids couldn't understand why I was in a bad mood. All I wanted to do was get out of that bad mood. I was only home for two or three days, and then I had to go back to this f**king place I didn't want to go back to. A couple weeks very quickly turns into six months. I love my family so much, but that affected my life at home. Getting released by WWE was the best thing that ever happened to me. It's been a reminder that wrestling isn't everything. At the end of the day, family is #1. Sometimes you can lose sight of that."

Anderson's final WWE appearance saw him featured in the Undertaker vs. AJ Styles Boneyard Match at WrestleMania 36. Shortly after that PPV, the tag team specialist was one of many released by WWE as part of the company's post-'Mania mass cuts.

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Since departing WWE, Anderson and long-time partner Luke Gallows have signed with IMPACT Wrestling - and have of course become quite the staple of AEW programming alongside Kenny Omega, Don Callis and the Young Bucks.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.