On Sunday night, we exclusively reported that former WWE and Impact star Ken Anderson had been stealing money from those who signed up for his wrestling school. The Academy: The School of Professional Wrestling has taken money from its potential students without offering any wrestling training.
Part of our report clarified that Anderson didn’t even have a building for the students to train in, per a source who wished to remain anonymous. This is one of a variety of reasons that’s been given for constant postponement.
Another student, Wyatt Tordsen, has corroborated the original report. Furthermore, Bodyslam has acquired more details regarding the situation of the school’s building. According to a to a text sent to Tordsen on January 3rd of this year, the school had been conversing with a realtor for a location. However, this fell through as, according to the messages, the realtor required the Academy to lease the building for a minimum of one year. Anderson’s school specifically noted that they were interested in renting the building for only a quarter of the year, leaving a nine-month gap in occupancy.
The peculiar thing about the lease situation is that program, which cost approximately $2,950 at full price, is an eight-month commitment. Anderson also offered Tordsen a four-month crash course for a discounted rate of $1,300. From there, a student had the option to walk away or finish the class, with eight months being the minimum to graduate from the school. Whether or not a student had taken the deal, the school would need to be open for longer than three months for the full extent of what the students paid.
Fortunately for Tordsen, he only paid the $500 downpayment up front. Meanwhile, the school noted to Tordsen that there are 20 students per class, meaning a full class would make the school around $59,000 assuming every student paid the normal price. In any case, the school would receive a minimum of $10,000 in downpayments.
Tordsen paid in September 2020, originally signing up to begin the following February. The course was postponed. In the first week of May, 2021, the school reached out to him to push it back further. The postponements have reached as late as November 2022, with very little explanation, clarification or contact.
Tordsen issued the following statement to Bodyslam:
“I hope nothing but the best for the victims who lost more money than I did. I could’ve very much been in a worse position if I took his sale he offered me. I’m very concerned for Mr. Anderson and am let down I won’t be trained by a childhood superhero of mine. I hope he can refund the others.”
Other students have requested a refund only for the requests to be ignored by Anderson and the Academy: School of Professional Wrestling. Bodyslam will continue to monitor the situation. Bodyslam has also reached out to Anderson for comments on the situation and have yet to hear back.
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