TNA News: Ken Anderson Reportedly Fired Over Drug Issue

Ken Anderson was reportedly let go by Total Nonstop Action (TNA) after he showed up to a recent television taping under the influence and failed a subsequent drug test, according to Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet.

The Inquisitr reported yesterday that Anderson had been fired by TNA due to an undisclosed behavioral issue. A former TNA World champion, Anderson appeared at a recent Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) show in Glasgow, Scotland and was met with “F**K TNA” chants from the crowd. He responded by saying, “I don’t work for TNA anymore, so I agree with you. F**K TNA.”

Pro Wrestling Sheet’s report states that Anderson appeared to be under the influence in a recent match against Eric Young. Anderson looked so off during the match that TNA ended up scrapping the match from its scheduled January 19 air date. The company was worried about Anderson and had him take a drug test once he returned to the locker room, which he failed.

The 40-year-old Anderson was sent home after failing the test and has not been seen at any TNA events since. Management within the company wants Anderson to seek treatment, suggesting this issue could be serious.

After being fired from WWE in early 2009 due to an incident with Randy Orton, Anderson made his TNA debut in 2010. Upon his arrival, Anderson was heavily featured on TNA programming, culminating with two separate reigns as World champion.

In the last four years, Anderson bounced around on television from the main event picture to several small-scale feuds. Among the notable storylines, Anderson was a part of included the Aces & Eights stable from 2012-13.

Last year, Anderson spoke with The Inquisitr about his status with TNA and the company’s television show IMPACT being on the same channel (Destination America) as Ring of Honor (ROH). Sounding passionate about this business, Anderson praised a potential competition between the two federations.

“I think competition is always good and I’m totally okay with the fact that Ring of Honor is gonna be on our network. I guess at the end of the day, I can only control what I do in the ring so I try and not worry too much about what happens that’s outside of my control. You can worry yourself about it but look, I think what I do speaks for itself, I’m confident I’ll have a job anywhere. I’m just gonna do what I can do, I can wrestle, I’m gonna continue to wrestle, talk my s**t and see what happens.”

With TNA in the headlines due to a deteriorating relationship with Destination America, Anderson continued to be a part of the company’s programming. When TNA announced its move to PopTV, several nights of tapings in Pennsylvania, were announced. The incident occurred during one of those days of television tapings.

No longer under contract, Anderson is free to work wherever he wants. During the interview with The Inquisitr, Anderson didn’t rule out a possible return to WWE — specifically to work as a trainer in NXT. However, Anderson did express interest in passing on what he’s learned to the next generation of wrestlers.

“I feel like I have a lot more to give to the business in this portion of my career, but afterwards I look forward to helping out new talent. I don’t know if I’ll start a wrestling school or what it is but I’ve always enjoyed helping people and sort of passing along whatever minimal knowledge I have on a given topic.”

[Featured Photo by Image by Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images]