Karl Anderson is proud of the fact that he came up through the Cincinnati, Ohio area.
Karl Anderson is best known for his time wrestling in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but he has roots in the Cincinnati wrestling scene and he is damn proud of it.
During a recent interview with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Anderson reflected on his days getting started in the industry in Cincinnati.
"I’m proud of the fact that I came up through the Cincinnati wrestling scene. I would still send people to Roger Ruffen," he said. "If anybody asked, I’d say, 'Go to Roger Ruffen of Northern Wrestling Federation in Cincinnati. I’m telling you, train there. Go there for six months. You gotta learn from the ground up and you gotta learn that way.' I think I was brought up in the business perfectly because I would wrestle on Friday at a student show in front of 20 people. On Saturday, Roger would have a show in Wilmington, Ohio, in front of 75 people.
"On Sunday, I’d drive to Georgetown, Kentucky at the Georgetown Convention Center and I’d wrestle for the MWA where Mr. Hayes ran with Honest Donnie Green and Ray Steele, and I’d wrestle in front of 60-70 people," he added. "On Monday, I’d go back and wrestle in front of 90 people at the Madison Theater in Covington, Kentucky. I’d wrestle four days a week and probably make $20 or $25, but that wasn’t even on my thought process because I think with pro wrestling, you have to beyond love this to truly get into it. I know we make jokes about money all the time, it really is just a joke. I did this for zero money for eight years. When you learn how to fall in love with this for nothing, the rewards start to come, and they start to shower themselves in. I’m glad I came up in the Cincinnati area, and I’m proud of it."
Elsewhere in the interview, Anderson reflected on being fired by WWE while he was injured. Read his comments here.
Check out the interview embedded above.
