 Kendrick in 2019 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Brian David Kendrick (1979-05-29)May 29, 1979 (age 46)[7][8] Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.[8] |
Spouse | |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Brian Kendrick[1][2] The Brian Kendrick[1] Leonardo Spanky[2] Spanky[2] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 175 lb (79 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Venice, California[3] Olympia, Washington[1] Orlando, Florida[4] |
| Trained by | Shawn Michaels[5] Rudy Boy Gonzalez[5] Texas Wrestling Academy[6] Tracy Smothers |
| Debut | October 8, 1999[5] |
Brian David Kendrick (born May 29, 1979) is an Americanprofessional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure inWWE. He is also known for his time inRing of Honor (ROH),Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA),New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), andPro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1).
Kendrick began his career in 1999. During the early years of his career, Kendrick wrestled asLeonardo Spanky or simplySpanky for several small Americanpromotions like ROH and TNA and for Japanese promotions like Zero1, where he won theNWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship andZero-One United States Openweight Championship.[9][10] In the early 2000s, he also had two stints with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later World Wrestling Entertainment), one as adevelopmental wrestler and a second stint where he appeared as part of the main roster before departing. He would make his return to WWE in 2005, where he was paired withPaul London. During his time as a tag team, they would win theWorld Tag Team Championship and theWWE Tag Team Championship, with the latter becoming the longest reign of the title until 2016. After the team was dissolved, he began a singles career as The Brian Kendrick, withEzekiel Jackson as his enforcer. He would leave WWE in 2009. The next year, Kendrick would make his return to TNA, where he stayed for two years, winning theTNA X Division Championship. He also worked until 2016 on theindependent circuit and toured occasionally with NJPW.
In 2014, Kendrick began to work with WWE as a trainer. He would make his return to the ring during the 2016Cruiserweight Classic, a tournament held by WWE for cruiserweight wrestlers. Despite not winning the tournament, Kendrick was assigned to 205 Live, a newly created cruiserweight brand, where he would capture theWWE Cruiserweight Championship once. During the following years, Kendrick worked on both the205 Live andNXT UK programs, until he began to work as a backstage producer for theNXT brand.
Kendrick is also a promoter. He currently owns and operates his own promotion, called Brian Kendrick's Wrestling Pro Wrestling, as well as a professional wrestling trainer at Pro Wrestling Unpluggeds Kayfabe college[11]
Kendrick was born in theWashington, D.C., suburb ofFairfax, Virginia, and is the son of Barbara Kendrick and the oldest of three children—a brother named Neal and a sister named Shannon.[5][12] He later moved to Olympia, Washington where he attendedNorth Thurston High School inLacey, Washington.[2][5][12] During hissenior year, he worked as adishwasher at Dirty Dave's Pizza Parlor while saving money to attendwrestling school.
While growing up, Kendrick's favorite wrestlers includedUltimate Warrior,Blue Blazer andKoko B. Ware.[13] He was also a fan of Shawn Michaels, who trained him, andChris Jericho.[13] He was already very good friends with his former tag team partnerPaul London, as well as withLance Cade andBryan Danielson, both of whom he trained with.[13]
In 1999, he moved toTexas to begin training at the NWA Southwest wrestling school and later attended theShawn Michaels Wrestling Academy.[5] It was there that Kendrick adopted thering name Spanky,[2][8] a nickname he was given due to his method of staying awake during long drives on the indy circuit.[14] He made hisprofessional wrestling debut on October 8, 1999, in a match withAmerican Dragon that ended in a 10-minute time limitdraw.[5]In October 2001, Kendrick wrestled American Dragon in the first round of The King of the Indies tournament, but lost.[15] The crowd, however, gave both men a standing ovation after the match.[2]
In February 2000, Kendrick signed a developmental deal with theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF), spending a year in the company's "farm territory",Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW), before thepromotion closed and Kendrick was released from his contract.[8][5] Kendrick won his first Championship in MCW when he defeated American Dragon for theMCW Southern Light Heavyweight Championship on September 22.[16] He later teamed with American Dragon to win theMCW Southern Tag Team Championship, on December 1, becoming a double champion.[17] The tag team disbanded after they lost the Championships toThe Dupps.[17] On December 30, however, the Southern Light Heavyweight title was declared vacant after a match that Kendrick had with Derrick King.[16] In a match for the vacant championship, Kendrick regained the title after beating King, on January 6, 2001.[16] He later dropped it to Tyler Gates, before regaining it on May 11.[16] On June 1, however, Spanky was stripped of the title and it was abandoned, making Spanky the last ever MCW Southern Light Heavyweight Champion.[16] He also holds the record for most reigns, with three.[16]
On February 23, 2002, Kendrick wrestled on the premiere show ofRing of Honor (ROH), winning the match to gain an ROH contract.[18] While in ROH, Kendrick competed in several other promotions such asHeartland Wrestling Association andAll Pro Wrestling, before leaving for Japan in June to compete inPro Wrestling Zero-One (Zero-One).[8] There, he wrestled under the ring name Leonardo Spanky, agimmick proposed byShinya Hashimoto due to Kendrick's resemblance toLeonardo DiCaprio.[19] On June 29, he became the firstInternational Junior Heavyweight Champion in company history.[9][20] Hedropped the title toLow Ki a few months later.[21]
In late 2002, Kendrick signed a contract withWWE, but was unable to compete until he completed his time in the independent circuit.[8] He made his WWE debut on the edition of January 11, 2003, ofVelocity under thegimmick of amascot representing the local sports team of the town in which he was competing.[22] He continued wearingmasks for several weeks, each time competing under a different identity.[23][24][25] After acting as a telegram deliverer for Big Show to Undertaker, and getting a Last Ride for his troubles, he showed up the following week and began a series of events trying to impress the then General Manager of Smackdown!Stephanie McMahon in order to earn a contract for the WWE, including trying to last five minutes in a match withKurt Angle. He eventually earned himself a contract on the March 20, 2003, episode of Smackdown! by defeatingShannon Moore. His first major storyline within WWE came on the May 1, 2003, episode ofSmackDown!. He reverted to his former "Spanky" ring name after he interrupted apromo byJohn Cena.[26] The twofeuded over their similarhip hop gimmicks, until May 22.[27] On October 30, Spanky beganteaming withPaul London until January 13, 2004, when Kendrick left WWE to return to Zero1.[19][28][29]
After leaving WWE, Kendrick wrestled in different independent promotions. He returned toPro Wrestling Zero1 as "Spanky" and was quicklypushed to capture theNWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship. This occurred with partnerLow Ki on February 19, 2004, when they defeatedDick Togo andIkuto Hidaka.[30] They lost the championship toTatsuhito Takaiwa andTomohiro Ishii a few months later.[31] Kendrick gained a new tag team partner inKaz Hayashi, on September 19, 2004, and won back the championships.[31] They held onto the titles until March 2005, when theydropped them to Hidaka and Minoru Fujita.[31] Although he lost the tag titles in March, Kendrick, as Spanky, received a singles push, and won theZero-One United States Openweight Championship that same month.[32][33] but he lost the title in September 2005.[34]
Kendrick had a brief stint inTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling in November 2004 under the ring name "Spanky" on the November 4 episode ofImpact where he defeatedKaz,Matt Sydal andAmazing Red, in afour-way match.[2] At TNA's first monthly three-hour PPV eventVictory Road, Spanky competed in a20-man X-Division Gauntlet match for the X Division Cup the match was won byHéctor Garza.
He then returned to ROH, as well as debuting on its sister promotionFull Impact Pro (FIP) on December 17, 2004, winning the first everFlorida Rumble.[2][35] On February 25, Kendrick wrestled a match against fellow WWE alumnus,James Gibson.[36] Throughout the match, the crowd chanted "Welcome Back!" and "SmackDown! Sucks!", and both men received a standing ovation after the match.[36] During his time in ROH, Kendrick wasbooked as a mid-carder, consistently having matches late on thecard.[37] Kendrick also competed in the Trios Tournament, but lost in the first round with his team members, Gibson andNigel McGuinness.[38] He unsuccessfully competed for several titles such as theROH Pure Championship,ROH World Championship andROH World Tag Team Championship.[39][40][41] In July 2005, Kendrick announced that he had re-signed with World Wrestling Entertainment, and would be returning there after he had fulfilled his obligations on theIndependent circuit.[2] In FIP, Kendrick won theFIP Tag Team Championship withSal Rinauro on August 6, 2005,[42] but lost it to The Heartbreak Express less than a month later, shortly before he returned to WWE.[2]
In July 2005, Kendrick announced that after he had fulfilled his obligations on the independent circuit, he would return to WWE. He made his return during a live event on August 22, 2005, losing in aFatal Four-Way match for theWWE Cruiserweight Championship.[8] He then reformed a tag team with his former partnerPaul London on the edition of September 30 ofVelocity.[43] On December 16, the pair remade their image, wearing theatrical masks to the ring with matching vests and shorts.[44] They were quickly elevated into theWWE Tag Team Championship picture, receiving a non-title match against WWE Tag Team ChampionsMNM on the edition of February 10, 2006, ofSmackDown!, which London and Kendrick lost.[45] On April 7, they faced MNM again, picking up a win in a non-title match.[46] Their storylinefeud continued, as London and Kendrick continued their winning streak over the champions, including singles victories for both Kendrick and London on MNM membersJohnny Nitro andJoey Mercury, respectively.[47][48][49] London and Kendrick won the WWE Tag Team Championship atJudgment Day, thus defeating MNM six times in a row in singles and tag team matches altogether.[50]
Their first main competition for the titles came whenK. C. James andIdol Stevens defeated the champions in a non-title match, in early August, igniting a storyline feud between the two teams.[51] During the rivalry,WWE DivaAshley Massaro began accompanying London and Kendrick to the ring, acting as avalet to the team while combating the actions of James and Stevens' managerMichelle McCool.[52]
On October 14, London and Kendrick became the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions until 2016, surpassing MNM's previous record of 145 days.[53][54][55] Despite this, they were still booked as the underdogs in their feuds, and this was shown when they began a losing streak to the team ofWilliam Regal andDave Taylor. Regal defeated both in singles matches[56][57] and on the December 8 episode ofSmackDown!, Kendrick and London lost a non-title tag team match to the duo.[58] London and Kendrick had a scheduled title defense atArmageddon, againstRegal and Taylor.[59] Before the pay-per-view, the match changed into a Fatal Four Way tag teamladder match with London and Kendrick defending their titles against Regal and Taylor, MNM, andThe Hardys.[59] London and Kendrick won the match and retained the titles.[59]
On February 2, 2007, London and Kendrick suffered a non-title loss to therookie teamDeuce 'n Domino.[60] In a title match atNo Way Out, London and Kendrick retained the championship.[61] London and Kendrick, however, dropped the championship to them on the edition of April 20 ofSmackDown!, ending their reign at 331 days (SmackDown! was recorded on April 17).[62][63] In the storyline, London missed amoonsault from thering apron to the floor during the title match, injuring his ribs, leaving Kendrick to battle Deuce 'n Domino alone.[64] London and Kendrick unsuccessfully competed for the title on June 1 in atriple threat tag team match, which also involved Regal and Taylor,[65] and lost a rematch on June 15 in a standard tag team match.[66]
Kendrick, along with London, was drafted to theRawbrand on June 17, 2007, during theSupplemental Draft.[67] They won their debut match onRaw againstThe World's Greatest Tag Team on June 18.[68] They were soon established as a threat to the tag titles, and on the edition of September 3 ofRaw, they won a number one contender's match forLance Cade and Trevor Murdoch'sWorld Tag Team Championship.[69] Kendrick and London then worked a feud with Cade and Murdoch, and at ahouse show on September 5, they defeated Cade and Murdoch to win the titles,[70] only to lose it back to Cade and Murdoch three days later.[71][72] London and Kendrick continued to feud with Cade and Murdoch and lost to the Tag Team champions atUnforgiven.[73] For the rest of 2007, London and Kendrick mainly competed onHeat or in tag title bouts,[74][75] until London got injured in late 2007.[76] As a result, Kendrick was mainly used as ajobber onRaw, until London returned at the start of February 2008, although Kendrick still won sometimes onHeat.[77]
In his next storyline, Kendrick abandoned London during ahandicap match withUmaga.[78] This abandonment resulted in Umaga performing theSamoan Spike on London, allowing Umaga to pick up the win over the duo. London and Kendrick still teamed together with no apparent dissension rising between the former tag team champions.[79] After defeatingCharlie Haas andRobbie McAllister onHeat, London and Kendrick said they were ready to win the World Tag Team Championship. London and Kendrick beat the championsHardcore Holly andCody Rhodes next week onHeat in a non-title match. However, they failed to win the World Tag Team Titles onRaw after Holly pinned London.
As part of the2008 WWE Supplemental Draft, Kendrick was drafted back to theSmackDown brand while London stayed on Raw, thus ending the team.[80] He made his return to the brand on the July 18, 2008, airing ofSmackDown, as aheel, with new ring attire, changing his name to The Brian Kendrick and accompanied byEzekiel Jackson.[81] On the August 22 edition ofSmackDown, Kendrick won a 10-man battle royal to qualify for theWWE ChampionshipScramble match atUnforgiven.[82] Kendrick won the interim WWE Championship title at the event, though he did lose minutes after having the longest reign as "interim" champion. As Kendrick was not the final interim champion, he never officially held the title.[83] He later teamed with Jackson on many occasions, becoming number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship held byCarlito andPrimo, but they never managed to win the championship.
On April 15, 2009, Kendrick was separated from Jackson as he was drafted back to the Raw brand as part of the2009 Supplemental Draft while Jackson was drafted to theECW brand.[84] He wrestled his return match onRaw on the April 27 episode, againstKofi Kingston. He won a match onRaw after defeating Carlito on the May 11 episode before declaring his intention to win the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship; in the following weeks, Kendrick tried several unsuccessful pairings. In his final match, he was defeated by Kofi Kingston while cutting a promo onJerry Lawler. The match ended with Kendrick turning around into Trouble In Paradise. On July 30, 2009, WWE announced that Kendrick was released from his contract.[85]
Kendrick signed withDragon Gate USA on August 6, 2009.[86] His first match for the company, a losing effort againstCima atUntouchable, aired on pay-per-view edited down to only the highlights of the match.[87][88] On August 28 he made his return toPro Wrestling Guerrilla atSpeed of Sound where he, wrestling as a heel, defeated Bryan Danielson after a low blow.[89] Afterwards he formed an alliance withPWG World Tag Team ChampionsThe Young Bucks and started a feud withEl Generico,Colt Cabana and thePWG World ChampionKenny Omega. On December 19 Ring of Honor announced that Kendrick would be making his return to the company on February 13, 2010, at the8th Anniversary Show.[90] At the event Kendrick was defeated byRoderick Strong.[91]
On January 30, 2010, at PWG'sWrestleReunion 4 the Young Bucks decided that Kendrick did not fit in with them and turned on him, only for him to be saved by his old tag team partner Paul London. Later in the night, Kendrick and London defeated the Young Bucks, now renamed Generation Me, in a non-title match.[92] On March 27, 2010, at the tapings of Dragon Gate USA'sMercury Rising pay-per-view, Kendrick was defeated byJimmy Jacobs in aLoser Leaves Company tag team match, where he teamed with Paul London against Jacobs andJack Evans and as a result was forced to leave the company for good.[93]
On March 30, 2014, Kendrick made hisICW debut in a match againstJoe Coffey at ICW - Still Smokin' in the O2 ABC inGlasgow, Scotland, where he was narrowly defeated. On September 8, 2014, it was announced that Kendrick would once again team up withPaul London to take on The New Age Kliq inNewcastle, England, on October 5 for theInsane Championship Wrestling Tag-Team Championship.[94] Both men won the titles and lost them on November 2, 2014.
Kendrick made an appearance forRing of Honor on February 2, 2016, defeatingWill Ferrara in a non-televised match.[95]
On January 17, 2010, at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)'spay-per-viewGenesis, Kendrick made his return to the promotion using his real name and losing toAmazing Red in a match for theTNA X Division Championship, under a similar heel gimmick to his The Brian Kendrick gimmick used in WWE.[96] On April 7, 2010,Dixie Carter announced on herTwitter account that Kendrick had signed a new multi-year deal with the company.[97] On the May 3, 2010, edition ofTNA Impact!, Kendrick turnedface by having a confrontation with his partnerDouglas Williams after their match against Ink Inc. (Shannon Moore andJesse Neal), but thenSamoa Joe came out and attacked both of them.[98] The following week, Kendrick picked up his first singles victory since returning to TNA by defeating Williams after a distraction fromKazarian.[99] As a result of his victory, Kendrick was given a shot at Williams' X Division Championship atSlammiversary VIII, but was unable to win the title.[100]
Kendrick received a rematch the following month atVictory Road, but was defeated again by Williams, this time in anUltimate Xsubmission match.[101] On the September 2 edition ofImpact!, Kendrick joinedEV 2.0, a stable consisting of formerExtreme Championship Wrestling performers.[102] AtBound for Glory Kendrick interfered in aLethal Lockdown match between EV 2.0 andFortune and helped his team win the match between the two factions.[103] AtTurning Point EV 2.0 faced Fortune in a ten-man tag team match, where each member of EV 2.0 put their TNA careers on the line. Kendrick was taken out of the match immediately, after being attacked by Douglas Williams. In the end, EV 2.0 lost the match and Sabu was released from TNA.[104]
After the dissolution of EV 2.0, Kendrick spent months wrestling mainly house show matches, before returning to PPV on April 17, 2011, atLockdown, where he wrestled in an eight-man X Division number one contender'sXscape match, where he outlasted six other men, before losing toMax Buck.[105] On the edition of May 5 ofImpact!, Kendrick came together with Amazing Red and Generation Me to battle for X Division's future, after the legitimate firing ofJay Lethal.[106] On June 12 atSlammiversary IX, Kendrick failed in his attempt to win the X Division Championship fromAbyss in a three-way match with Kazarian.[107] On July 10 atDestination X, Kendrick defeated Abyss to win the TNA X Division Championship for the first time.[108] On the edition of July 21 ofImpact Wrestling, Kendrick made his first successful defense of the X Division Championship by defeating Alex Shelley, following outside interference fromAustin Aries.[109] The following week Kendrick successfully defended the title against Abyss in an Ultimate X match to end the feud.[110]
On August 7, 2011, atHardcore Justice, Kendrick successfully defended the title against Alex Shelley and Austin Aries in a three-way match.[111] On September 11 atNo Surrender, Kendrick lost the X Division Championship.[112] On the September 29 edition ofImpact Wrestling, Kendrick won a five-man ladder match to earn a rematch with Aries.[113] On the October 6 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Kendrick was attacked byKid Kash for disrespect on Kash. On October 16 atBound for Glory, Kendrick failed in his attempt to regain the X Division Championship from Austin Aries, this was Kendrick's last TNA pay-per-view appearance.[114] On the November 17 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Kendrick teamed up withJesse Sorensen to help defeat Austin Aries and Kid Kash in a tag team match, this was Kendrick's last appearance in TNA. After three months of inactivity, TNA announced that Kendrick was released from his TNA contract on February 27, 2012.[115]
On June 18, 2011, atDominion 6.18, Kendrick made a surprise debut forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling inOsaka, teaming withGedo andJado in a six-man tag team match, where they defeatedJushin Thunder Liger,Kushida andTiger Mask, when Kendrick pinned Kushida with theSliced Bread #2.[116] Three days later Kendrick, Gedo and Jado were eliminated from the J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament in the first round by the team ofIWGP Heavyweight ChampionHiroshi Tanahashi, Kushida andMáscara Dorada.[117] The two matches built to a singles match between Kendrick and Kushida on June 23, where Kushida managed to pick up the win.[118] During his time in New Japan, Kendrick became an associate member ofChaos and competes for Chaos whenever he has toured New Japan.
On May 11, 2012, New Japan announced that Kendrick would return to the promotion to take part in the2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament asDavey Richards' replacement.[119][120] In theround-robin stage of the tournament, which ran from May 27 to June 9, Kendrick won five out of his eight matches, but a loss toRyusuke Taguchi in his final round-robin match caused him to narrowly miss advancing to the semifinals of the tournament.[121][122] Kendrick returned to New Japan on October 21, when he and Low Ki entered the2012 Super Jr. Tag Tournament as "Chaos World Wrestling Warriors".[123] However, the team was eliminated from the tournament in the first round byApollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi).[124]
In May 2013, Kendrick returned to participate in the2013 Best of the Super Juniors, where he managed to win four out of his eight matches, failing to qualify for the semifinals.[125] Kendrick returned to NJPW on October 25 to take part in the2013 Super Jr. Tag Tournament, where he teamed withBeretta. They were, however, eliminated in their first round match by The Young Bucks, following a pre-match assault byBullet Club.[126] Kendrick teamed with various Chaos stablemates in midcard six-man and eight-man tag team matches for the rest of the tour, which lasted until November 6.[127][128]
In 2013, Kendrick founded his own professional wrestling promotion, called Brian Kendrick's Wrestling Pro Wrestling, in Bell Gardens, California. Wrestling Pro Wrestling currently has live streaming event on Twitch TV monthly.[11] The promotion ran shows pretty regularly until 2018, when they only ran two shows. Both shows took place in Los Angeles rather than Bell Gardens and South Gate, where his previous shows had taken place.[129]
On December 11, 2014, Kendrick was backstage atNXT TakeOver: R Evolution as he was reportedly trying out for a trainer role at theWWE Performance Center.[130] Kendrick made his televised return on the February 25, 2015, episode ofNXT, losing toFinn Bálor.[131] Kendrick then began working as a trainer for WWE and was tasked in trainingEva Marie andTough Enough Season 6 contestantsDaria Berenato and Mada Abdelhamid.[132] Kendrick appeared on Season 4 ofTotal Divas as a recurring character.[133]
On June 13, 2016, Kendrick was announced as a participant in WWE's upcomingCruiserweight Classic tournament.[134] The tournament began on June 23, with Kendrick defeatingRaul Mendoza in the first round match.[135] On July 14, Kendrick defeatedTony Nese in the second round match.[136] On August 26, Kendrick was eliminated from the tournament in the quarterfinals byKota Ibushi, with his performance moving color commentatorDaniel Bryan to tears and drawing an ovation from the live crowd. Kendrick and Bryan would later embrace each other in the ring.[137]
On the August 22 episode ofRaw, Kendrick was announced as part of the upcoming cruiserweight division.[138] On the September 19 episode ofRaw, Kendrick made his official main roster return, winning a number one contender's fatal four-way match againstCedric Alexander,Gran Metalik andRich Swann for theWWE Cruiserweight Championship.[139] AtClash of Champions, Kendrick failed to win the title fromTJ Perkins.[140] After the match, Kendrick embraced Perkins, but attacked him with aheadbutt afterwards, re-establishing himself as aheel in the process.[141] The next night onRaw, Kendrick challenged Perkins to another match.[142] AtHell in a Cell on October 30, Kendrick defeated Perkins to win the Cruiserweight Championship, after faking an injury.[143] AtSurvivor Series in aninterpromotional match, Kendrick retained the title against SmackDown brand'sKalisto, winning by disqualification.[144] On the premiere episode of205 Live on November 29, Kendrick lost the title to Rich Swann, ending his reign at 30 days.[145] The following week on205 Live, Kendrick lost to Swann in a rematch for the title.[146] AtRoadblock: End of the Line, Kendrick again failed to regain the title in a triple threat match also involving TJ Perkins.[147]
In 2017, he developed a gimmick by offering to teaching lessons to the newAkira Tozawa, who declined. This eventually led to a street fight on the May 23, 2017, episode of205 Live, in which Tozawa defeated Kendrick. Kendrick then began a feud withJack Gallagher, with Kendrick impersonating and mocking Gallagher after the latter's matches. The feud ended on the edition August 29 edition of205 Live, when Kendrick defeated Gallagher by referee stoppage in a no disqualification match, which led to Gallagher turning heel and the two regularly competing as a tag team on205 Live, having notable matches against Kalisto and Gran Metalik.
On the December 25, 2017, episode ofRaw, Kendrick suffered an injury during a match againstHideo Itami, after Itami performed aGTS on Kendrick. After going to a local medical facility, it was revealed that Kendrick suffered a fracture to hisorbital bone andnasal bridge and would be out of action for two months.[148][149] Kendrick returned on the April 17, 2018, edition of205 Live, teaming with Gallagher to defeat two local competitors.[150] On the October 3 episode of205 Live, Kendrick was attacked by his allies Gallagher and Gulak during one of Gulak's PowerPoint presentations, with Gulak calling Kendrick the "weakest link" in the group, turning Kendrickface again. On October 17 episode of205 Live, Kendrick saved his former rival Akira Tozawa from a post-match attack by Gulak and Gallagher. On the October 30 episode of205 Live, Kendrick defeated Gallagher after Tozawa prevented the interference of Gulak. They two sides went on to trade victories over the next few weeks. On the December 19, 2018, episode of205 Live, Kendrick returned to his old clean shaven look and blonde hair as he and Tozawa defeated Gulak and Gallagher in a Street Fight match to end the feud. On the February 26 episode of205 Live, Kendrick was defeated by Drew Gulak in the first round of the tournament to decide the number one contender for the Cruiserweight Championship atWrestleMania 35.
Following this, Kendrick would team withAkira Tozawa regularly while also managing him during his chase for the Cruiserweight Championship. In August, Kendrick and Tozawa began a feud withJack Gallagher after Kendrick accidentally knocked Gallagher's foot off the rope during a match with Tozawa, costing him the match. On the September 10 episode of205 Live, Kendrick and Tozawa faced Gallagher and his mystery partnerKushida in a losing effort.[151] The following week, Kendrick would face Gallagher, where he lost by disqualification after assaulting Gallagher with a kendo stick. After Tozawa confronted him, Kendrick would proceed to assault him with the kendo stick, thus turning heel again.[152] On November 15, Kendrick announced on Twitter that he would be taking an indefinite hiatus from205 Live.[153] He returned on the January 3 episode of 205 Live where he costDanny Burch his match againstAriya Daivari and proceeded to attack him afterwards. On the January 21 episode of205 Live, Kendrick defeated Danny Burch with the help of Daivari.
During January and February 2020, Kendrick wrestled two televised matches forNXT UK, losing toTravis Banks in his first and then losing toA-Kid in his second. After a brief hiatus due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, Kendrick made his return on the August 28 episode of 205 Live where he defeated Tehuti Miles. After the match, he shook hands with Miles thus turning face in the process.[154] Kendrick would continue wrestling on 205 Live in the coming months losing to the likes of Ashante "Thee" Adonis (Tahuti Miles),Isaiah "Swerve" Scott andMansoor.[155][156][157] On the October 30 episode of 205 Live, Kendrick would team with Mansoor to defeatEver-Rise.
On March 31, 2021, in a video released on theWWE Performance Center's YouTube channel entitled "Brian Kendrick: Life After Wrestling", Kendrick announced that his match on October 30, 2020, would be his semi-retirement match as he would be transitioning to a backstage producer role and that he would only wrestle part-time.[158][159][160] On the December 14 episode ofNXT 2.0, Kendrick was involved in an angle where he was thrown down a flight of stairs by Harland after trying to escort him out of the arena. On the December 21 episode of NXT 2.0, Kendrick announced that he had resigned as a coach and would make his in-ring return against Harland.[161][162][163] However, the match never took place as scheduled and on January 25, 2022, it was reported that Kendrick had asked for his release from the company,[164] which was granted six days later on February 1.[165]
In November 2022, he briefly returned to produceRonda Rousey's match atSurvivor Series WarGames with Rousey having specifically requested he produce her match.[166] He made another brief return on May 6, 2023, in which he co-producedBad Bunny's match atBacklash. He was requested to do so as he was the one who had produced Bunny's match atWrestlemania 37 and as such Bunny was used to working with him.[167]
On the same day he was granted his WWE release on February 1, 2022, it was announced that Kendrick would make hisAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut on the February 2 episode ofAEW Dynamite, where he would faceJon Moxley.[168] The match was pulled from the card, however, whenTony Khan was made aware ofcontroversial comments made by Kendrick in the past.[169][170] Kendrick would be released from AEW in May 2022, never having made his debut.[171]
In 2011, Kendrick told theconspiracy theory website Truth is Scary that he believed theSeptember 11 attacks werefaked with holograms and that thekilling of Osama bin Laden never happened.[172] In 2013, a Highspots Wrestling Network video interview titledBrian Kendrick Presents: The Kendrick Theory featured him discussing his belief that theSandy Hook Elementary School shooting wasfaked and thatHolocaust gas chambers were used fordelousing rather than murder, as well as repeating a false claim that theRed Cross had once admitted that "only 250,000 Jews were killed" duringthe Holocaust and that the number wasexaggerated in order to justify the creation ofIsrael.[173]
Kendrick's comments, along with additional statements regarding his belief in other conspiracy theories, went largely unnoticed until they resurfaced in February 2022 and resulted in mass outrage onsocial media; his scheduledAEW Dynamite debut, which had been announced the previous day, was cancelled.[174][175] Hetweeted in response, "I apologize for all the hurt and embarassment [sic] I have caused with my words. These are not my beliefs and never were beliefs of mine, and I crossed the line. I spread the most vile comments without thinking of the damage it would cause. I will live with this regret for the rest of my life. I am truly sorry for the pain I have caused."[176] He was released from AEW in May 2022 without ever appearing for the company.[171] That same month, he claimed that his statements were part of an attempt to establish himself as a "villain" in order to generate bookings as a professional wrestler; he also revealed that he had begun working with The Survivor Mitzvah Project, a charity that supports elderly Holocaust survivors.[177]
Kendrick married fellow professional wrestlerTaylor Matheny in August 2008.[178]
Kendrick played the role of 'Skull' in the movieSlammed (2004).[179] Kendrick also appeared in Season 4 ofTotal Divas, trainingEva Marie.[180]
London & Kendrick would hold those titles for nearly a year before being defeated, making them the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in history.
London and Kendrick are sporting new matching ring attire and theatrical themed mimist masks.
MNM Dec. 30, 2005 – May 21, 2006 (Note:SmackDown! was recorded on Tuesday, making their title reign commence on Dec. 27, 2005)
145 Days
146 Days
331 Days
Just three days after[...]
Brian Kendrick addressed his attacker, saying that he has resigned as a coach in NXT and that if Harland wants an apology from him, he can get it in the ring next week.
,Cagematch