Ken Anderson was recently outed by numerous students for scamming them out of their money amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple students that Bodyslam spoke to echoed sentiments about how unprofessional their experiences were. Texts from the Academy: School of Professional Wrestling to students were particularly damning regarding his communication, or lack thereof with his students. After two years and constant postponements of the timetable of when their training would begin, Anderson still has yet to answer inquiries regarding refunds or field questions regarding the process.
Anderson has now responded publicly on his Facebook page in a post that can be read here.
“I feel it neccessary, given the nature of the original Reddit post and subsequent articles written about my character and my wrestling school, to address them publicly.
I personally have not been contacted by anyone from the Internet Wrestling Community wishing to ask for my comments on those statements about me. In 2016, my friend Shawn Daivari and I realized we had similar visions for how a wrestling school should be and could be operated. We decided to team up and open “The Academy: School of Professional Wrestling.”
Since day one, we were committed to giving everyone that came through our doors an opportunity to learn as much as they could about professional wrestling. From safety to etiquette, from basic holds to exciting high spots, from character development to interview skills, we either covered it or were able to connect our students to resources that did. We’ve hosted some of the biggest names in the wrestling industry as guest trainers. We’ve welcomed over 200 students from all walks of life, foreign and domestic, each with individual goals and aspirations.
Dozens of those students now appear weekly around the midwest independent wrestling scene, some have traveled nationally and even internationally, a handful of our graduates are “on the radar” of the big companies, one is working for WWE and a few call AEW their current fulltime employer.
Unfortunately, Covid 19 closed our doors in 2020. I understand that not all will agree with our decision to not re-open and to play it safe (some re-opened almost immediately) as we were hit with variants and waves of infection. I don’t have control over what others choose to do with their bodies or businesses, but I felt it was the right thing to do for the health and safety of our students and their families as well as our own family. Pro -wrestling and social distancing do not pair well. If I had to do it again without the benefit of hindsight I would have handled those unsure times the same way.
As those dates got pushed forward, in the individual correspondence with our students, there was a natural sense of frustration. But each time we expressed our reasons and concerns, we were met with understanding every time, from every student. It was our understanding that everyone was on the same page. In hindsight we recognize that we could have and should have communicated more.
Nobody has been conned or scammed. We remain as dedicated to and excited about re-opening now as we were to initially open our doors in 2016.
We are currently working with a realtor to secure a new location that will meet our specific needs: high ceilings, zero noise restrictions, ample parking for our students, price and location. Two months ago, we had found a great building that met every single one of those criteria, but after discussing it with each student individually, and some expressing concerns over distance, we decided that it wasn’t a fit. We need to do this right the …second time. With minimum 3-5 yr lease terms we cannot get into a building that isn’t going to check those boxes. We look forward to re-opening. The minute that we secure that building, we will be in touch with everyone including new students, returning students and graduates. In the meantime, our students are encouraged to contact us at any time, with any concerns.
Thank you,
Ken Anderson.
Although they don’t quite echo sentiments of his prospective students, Bodyslam isn’t going to respond to the validity of his claims regarding the school for the rest of this piece. Our main takeaway is the line “I personally have not been contacted by anyone from the Internet Wrestling Community wishing to ask for my comments on those statements about me.” Bodyslam personally reached out to Anderson before the initial story ran on Sunday night. Anderson finally responded to the inquiry after releasing his statement, citing that he’d edit that part out. Nearly 12 hours later, such edit isn’t reflected.
Shying away from news, the goal of my piece was to never ruin a reputation and no goal of any piece of mine will ever be with the intention to ruin anybody’s reputation. My goal was originally to get answers for students who clearly have been led on or not adequately communicated with. Unfortunately, following a long-winded statement, I feel like I almost have to shift my attention as Anderson implied that I didn’t do my job or reach out to him. As a journalist, the lack of reaching out would reflect poorly on me and I don’t appreciate the blatant fabrication of that part of Anderson’s statement. Furthermore, when he mentioned how he’d rectify it, he did no such thing. If Anderson is willing to field questions, I’m still willing to sit and ask for his side of the story.
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