Karl Anderson reflects on The OC’s 2020 release from WWE.
During a recent appearance on Out of Character with Ryan Satin, Karl Anderson opened up about time helping him let go of anger over The OC’s surprising WWE release three years ago.
“When we were released by WWE in April 2020, I think it caught us by surprise,” Anderson said. “So being an emotional and fiery person that wants the best out of his profession, there were feelings of angst and anger about it. I wasn’t sure that we’d come back either, so that’s why we made sure for those two years that we were gone, we hit it hard and we didn’t take any breaks. I was almost busier than a lot of people in the industry for those couple of years.
“It feels like as the more that we were gone, the more we started feeling like some conversations started happening,” he recalled. “Then some of the angst goes away and you start to realize that some of that may have been the passion we have inside of us anyway just to be the best. Next thing you know, it’s two years later after being released and it was just time.
“We got a couple texts, a couple texts sent back. Then we got a call from Triple H and it was right around the time our IMPACT contract was finishing. We sat down, fixed it and figured it out. I’m happy that it happened, happy that it worked out, and everything’s going really well right now.”
Time To Man Up
Anderson admitted he had to “man up” over things he said when he was emotionally charged.
“Sometimes you gotta man up. Maybe I said some things, absolutely said some things that were said out of passion,” Anderson said. “When you’re angry or worked up about something, you’re gonna say what you feel and say what might be right or might not be right. But who knows what was going on behind the scenes at that time. Who knows what’s going on behind the scenes now sometimes? I don’t know all of that stuff. Who knows who was calling the shots at that point in 2020. I’m just glad that we’re able to work it out, fix it, just be men and move on.”
Anderson and Luke Gallows returned to WWE in October 2022 after Triple H became WWE’s Chief Content Officer. During their time away from the company, they became three-time IMPACT World Tag Team Champions and also competed on AEW Dynamite. Additionally, Anderson was able to capture the IWGP NEVER Openweight Championship for the first time.
RELATED: Karl Anderson: The O.C.’s WWE Return Was One Of The Greatest Of All Time
If you use this transcription, credit the original source, h/t WrestleZone and link back to this post.
