All Elite Wrestling/IMPACT star Karl Anderson believes that being released by WWE was the best thing that ever happened to him.
Anderson opened up about his difficult stint at WWE and his subsequent release in a recent interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated.
“What we do is scripted entertainment, and I’ll be honest, there are times when I felt like I deserved more in WWE,” Anderson said.
Anderson revealed that he became disillusioned during his time at WWE, which led to him taking his frustrations home with him.
“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***ing 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," the former Raw Tag Team Champion admitted. "Getting released by WWE was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
After eight years of carving out a name for himself as a wrestler in Japan, Anderson was signed by WWE in 2016 alongside his tag partner Doc/Luke Gallows. Gallows and Anderson were so successful in Japan that many fans had high hopes for them in WWE, but things didn't really work out and the pair parted ways with WWE On April 15, 2020, along with several other superstars because of measures implemented by WWE due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anderson and Gallows signed with IMPACT Wrestling shortly after leaving WWE, but it didn't take long for AEW to come calling too. More so than any of their colleagues, Gallows and Anderson have been taking full advantage of the IMPACT/AEW alliance, making regular appearances for both companies over the past few months.
Anderson will go one-on-one with Jon Moxley for the IWGP US Championship on tonight's Fyter Fest edition of AEW Dynamite.