The curious case of Brian Kendrick... and what irks me.

[DCLXVI]

So I was ecstatic when Brian Kendrick was announced as a regular part of the active (Cruiserweight) roster as a opposed to simply being a trainer - I wasn't watching around the time of his original run with the company (the period of time John Cena's white rapper gimmick was in full swing) - but after looking into old shows I really hated missing his work, the stuff he was doing with Big Zeke has his "bodyguard" was gold and I feel he could have reached the moon as far as talent.

Now he's back - painted as a wily, slightly unhinged and at times intense veteran. I read he took off more weight (he does look like the 170 he's billed at legit) to have more of a "cruiserweight" appearance and cut out any fat. His style is now crafty and grounded... you won't see a bunch of flips and his new finisher is a bully choke. His character is 3d dimensional in a division of mute indy guys who do flips... only one major gripe I have aside from being levels above anyone he is working with...

WHY DO THEY KEEP BRINGING UP THE NARRATIVE OF HIM BEING 37 AND IN HIS TWILIGHT? Is it not glaring that the average age of top guys in NXT are around that age or older, hell - AJ Styles is 39! Chris Jericho is 45 and not only is he doing some of his best stuff of his career, he is the glue that holds RAW together. God himself aka Triple H is closer to 50 than 40. Goldberg is paraded out at 50 with very little mention of how old he is.

This only really kind of annoyed me when Booker T said to Kendrick "What are you, like 39, 40?" on Raw Talk following the pay-per-view....when their world champion IS actually 39 or 40 and easily one of the top three wrestlers in the world.

Am I alone here? Are they making too big of a deal about Kendrick's age?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Well, one reason why they bring up the aspect of him being 37 and this being his "last chance" is because he's someone who hasn't done remotely as much as guys of a similar age or older. Styles was an international star and multiple time World Champion before he set foot in WWE, Chris Jericho has won almost every title that's been available during his tenure in WWE, as has Triple H, Goldberg is still riding the hype train that WCW masterfully constructed for him almost 20 years ago, he doesn't have the decade + dominance in New Japan that Shinsuke Nakamura and Finn Balor enjoyed. Since Kendrick left WWE, or rather was released, the guy's career has essentially been in limbo; probably the biggest thing he's done is when he showed up in TNA years back with this whole zen/yoga/monk thing he was doing and it was only memorable because of how lousy it was and that his roughly 2 month run as X Division Champion ultimately led to Austin Aries record setting 1st run of 301 days.

Kendrick himself has stated numerous times that he made a lot of wrong choices in his career, both in and out of WWE. These mistakes and choices ultimately got him fired from WWE and many of those same mistakes essentially helped bring his career to a grinding halt once he left WWE. Kendrick wasn't some big international star before he came to WWE, nor did he become one after he left so his stock isn't remotely as valuable as some of the wrestlers I mentioned. As a result, he genuinely probably doesn't have all that much time of viability in WWE compared to some who're of a similar or even significantly greater age.

They're using Kendrick's age, his past mistakes, his past choices, etc. as part of what ultimately makes his character tick. The notion that he's someone who, to a significant degree legitimately, squandered many opportunities to be a major player when he was young is part of his self justification for why he's now a conniving, backstabber and con artist. I think it gives his character a unique edge and, in retrospect, Kendrick may well have been the guy who should've won the Cruiserweight Classic to begin with.

 

[Navi]

He's sort of seen as the veteran of this division, I mean everyone seems to be years younger than he is. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems he's the only one with any WWE experience at all. That might be why they bring up his age, to show that he has the experience for newer fans who might not remember him. It like JH said is also giving his character some depth, which quite honestly is a reason to get invested in him. He's the only one with any character at all, the rest of them are quite forgettable.

I liked Kenrick when he was in the WWE before and never thought he would come back, so very happy that he is. Yes he's made a lot of mistakes that almost cost him having any sort of comeback at all. Actually the first I heard of him being back in the WWE was when it was reported that he was helping Eva Marie. Now he's helping these new guys get their feet wet in the WWE ring. His reign as champion will undoubtedly not be a long one maybe a couple of months, but when he drops the belt back to Perkins or Swann, they should be more established.

Still think they made a huge mistake putting the cruiserweight division on RAW, it would have been better served on NXT or SD.

 

[DCLXVI]

Well, one reason why they bring up the aspect of him being 37 and this being his "last chance" is because he's someone who hasn't done remotely as much as guys of a similar age or older. Styles was an international star and multiple time World Champion before he set foot in WWE, Chris Jericho has won almost every title that's been available during his tenure in WWE, as has Triple H, Goldberg is still riding the hype train that WCW masterfully constructed for him almost 20 years ago, he doesn't have the decade + dominance in New Japan that Shinsuke Nakamura and Finn Balor enjoyed. Since Kendrick left WWE, or rather was released, the guy's career has essentially been in limbo; probably the biggest thing he's done is when he showed up in TNA years back with this whole zen/yoga/monk thing he was doing and it was only memorable because of how lousy it was and that his roughly 2 month run as X Division Champion ultimately led to Austin Aries record setting 1st run of 301 days.

Kendrick himself has stated numerous times that he made a lot of wrong choices in his career, both in and out of WWE. These mistakes and choices ultimately got him fired from WWE and many of those same mistakes essentially helped bring his career to a grinding halt once he left WWE. Kendrick wasn't some big international star before he came to WWE, nor did he become one after he left so his stock isn't remotely as valuable as some of the wrestlers I mentioned. As a result, he genuinely probably doesn't have all that much time of viability in WWE compared to some who're of a similar or even significantly greater age.

They're using Kendrick's age, his past mistakes, his past choices, etc. as part of what ultimately makes his character tick. The notion that he's someone who, to a significant degree legitimately, squandered many opportunities to be a major player when he was young is part of his self justification for why he's now a conniving, backstabber and con artist. I think it gives his character a unique edge and, in retrospect, Kendrick may well have been the guy who should've won the Cruiserweight Classic to begin with.

He did make some mistakes - but correct me if I'm wrong... weren't him and Paul London some of the longest reigning tag champs in history? He also had a singles run, going against Cena in segments... had a lot of talking air time in a relatively short span of time, and even wound up winning the WWE title for a few minutes in a scramble match... after this he had a short run in TNA, and appeared in New Japan for the Super Jr tournaments wrestling guys like Liger, Tiger Mask, The Young Bucks, Finn, etc.; runs his own school and taught at NXT for the past year trusted with high investment talent... all this, in addition to just being extremely solid on the mic and having great, believable ring psychology instead of doing standing 450's. In other words, if he bulked up to even Balor's size he could work in any program. He cuts better promos than the NXT guys.

You're telling me a guy like Bobby Roode or even half the guys on the current roster who are 37 have achieved all that? Nothing that happens outside of WWE really matters anyways. Look at what they've done to The Club. Thrown pies on them and put pumpkins on their heads, and the announcers continue to remind us how dominate they were in Japan with IWGP titles. Unless you are super protected like Kevin Owens by Triple H, Vince doesn't even watch other companies. If Shinsuke Nakamura was called up Vince would cast him as a ninja or some kind of comedy side kick jobber like he did Tajiri - who had way more versatility... he was a killer in ECW and relegated to a comedy character to get over in WWE. Shinsuke speaks good English for a Japanese guy, but he'll be 38 by the time he gets to the main roster and Vince will never allow him to carry segments on live TV.

Shinsuke has already messed up Joe's jaw with a stiff kick and broken Austin Aries orbital bone. I don't know if they will allow that to take place with their higher card guys - and that is Shinsuke's total gimmick -shoot kicks where he doesn't slap his side or thigh in a lot of cases. Even Kevin Steen had to go through several weeks of hazing with segments of him eating and taking shots about his weight - and passed the pencil test because he is a comfortable talker, can brawl well and you can tell Vince allows him to use bullet points and embellishment, rather than reading dry material word for word. Daniel Bryan had to make storylines like anger management classes with Kane work to get over with Vince. Not a bunch of flips and kicks.

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

Well, one reason why they bring up the aspect of him being 37 and this being his "last chance" is because he's someone who hasn't done remotely as much as guys of a similar age or older. Styles was an international star and multiple time World Champion before he set foot in WWE, Chris Jericho has won almost every title that's been available during his tenure in WWE, as has Triple H, Goldberg is still riding the hype train that WCW masterfully constructed for him almost 20 years ago, he doesn't have the decade + dominance in New Japan that Shinsuke Nakamura and Finn Balor enjoyed. Since Kendrick left WWE, or rather was released, the guy's career has essentially been in limbo; probably the biggest thing he's done is when he showed up in TNA years back with this whole zen/yoga/monk thing he was doing and it was only memorable because of how lousy it was and that his roughly 2 month run as X Division Champion ultimately led to Austin Aries record setting 1st run of 301 days.

Kendrick himself has stated numerous times that he made a lot of wrong choices in his career, both in and out of WWE. These mistakes and choices ultimately got him fired from WWE and many of those same mistakes essentially helped bring his career to a grinding halt once he left WWE. Kendrick wasn't some big international star before he came to WWE, nor did he become one after he left so his stock isn't remotely as valuable as some of the wrestlers I mentioned. As a result, he genuinely probably doesn't have all that much time of viability in WWE compared to some who're of a similar or even significantly greater age.

They're using Kendrick's age, his past mistakes, his past choices, etc. as part of what ultimately makes his character tick. The notion that he's someone who, to a significant degree legitimately, squandered many opportunities to be a major player when he was young is part of his self justification for why he's now a conniving, backstabber and con artist. I think it gives his character a unique edge and, in retrospect, Kendrick may well have been the guy who should've won the Cruiserweight Classic to begin with.

Couldn't agree more, well said.

I personally have really enjoyed the development of Kendrick. They're using Kendrick's past to give fans a reason to care. They've done a greater job building Kendrick(a wwe alumni) than they have giving fans a reason to care for the now former cruiserweight champion, TJP and the rest of the wwe/cwc rookies.
Looking at just a few of the cruiserweight stars most of them are young, under 30, and looking to make an impact.
Swann (25)
Alexander(27)
Ariya Daivari (27)
Gran Metalik (28)
Gulak (29)
Lince Dorado (29)
Nese (31)
TJP (32)
Kendick is 37 and on his third wwe run! It makes perfect sense that this is the direction they decided to go with. WWE will need a veteran to work with these guys to get them over, and that veteran will need to have some type of connection with the fans, if they want this division to be a success. Though I don't agree with the use and development of the cruiserweights as a whole, I think they've done a wonderful job with Kendrick so far.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

He did make some mistakes - but correct me if I'm wrong... weren't him and Paul London some of the longest reigning tag champs in history?

That's been brought up a number of times as it happened about a decade ago. It's been acknowledged but, to be perfectly honest, the tag titles weren't remotely as relevant then as they have been the past several years.

He also had a singles run, going against Cena in segments... had a lot of talking air time in a relatively short span of time, and even wound up winning the WWE title for a few minutes in a scramble match... after this he had a short run in TNA, and appeared in New Japan for the Super Jr tournaments wrestling guys like Liger, Tiger Mask, The Young Bucks, Finn, etc.; runs his own school and taught at NXT for the past year trusted with high investment talent... all this, in addition to just being extremely solid on the mic and having great, believable ring psychology instead of doing standing 450's. In other words, if he bulked up to even Balor's size he could work in any program. He cuts better promos than the NXT guys.

So what? LOTS of people in the business have had almost the exact same career as Kendrick has. A lot have wrestled in New Japan, wrestled in various tournaments and, like Kendrick, ultimately was nothing more than a good hand to have. Many run their own schools as well. I'm not sure what the point of this is supposed to be. As far as Balor's size, what's that got to do with anything? Balor's all of about 6'0" and 190 lbs. so he's not exactly Braun Strowman.

You're telling me a guy like Bobby Roode or even half the guys on the current roster who are 37 have achieved all that?

As a matter of fact, yes. Guys like Bobby Roode, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor and others have done what Kendrick ultimately didn't do: make names for themselves. As I said, so Kendrick has worked in various indie promotions and has worked here & there for some of the bigger promotions putting other guys over. Again, so what? I'm not putting Kendrick down, I like the guy, but that doesn't change the fact that some of his personal choices sabotaged his career and that his name isn't remotely as valuable as many others. That's just simply how it is, Kendrick himself has all but said as much.

Nothing that happens outside of WWE really matters anyways. Look at what they've done to The Club. Thrown pies on them and put pumpkins on their heads, and the announcers continue to remind us how dominate they were in Japan with IWGP titles. Unless you are super protected like Kevin Owens by Triple H, Vince doesn't even watch other companies. If Shinsuke Nakamura was called up Vince would cast him as a ninja or some kind of comedy side kick jobber like he did Tajiri - who had way more versatility... he was a killer in ECW and relegated to a comedy character to get over in WWE. Shinsuke speaks good English for a Japanese guy, but he'll be 38 by the time he gets to the main roster and Vince will never allow him to carry segments on live TV.

Yeah, you go right on ahead and believe that if you like. Guys like Styles and Gallows & Anderson were contacted because of their work in New Japan. All that "nothing that happens outside of WWE really matters" stuff is all hype because if it didn't matter, these guys wouldn't have left lucrative gigs in Japan to wrestle for WWE to make even more money than they were already earning. You think Vince isn't going to make himself familiar with the work and abilities of wrestlers that he's going to sign to deals with high six figure downside guarantees? As far as Gallows & Anderson, I don't think the problem is that they've had a few comedy spots here & there, they're just not remotely as good of a team as they've been hyped out to be. They're a decent team, but they're not the game changers New Japan marks have made them out to be and laying it all on WWE booking decisions is nothing more than a crutch. Just being a couple of guys who act like grim badasses might get you over there, it won't in the United States. As far as Shinsuke Nakamura goes, he doesn't care if he gets called to the main roster or not. I mean, why should he? Most NXT "rookies" don't make more than $50,000 a year but Nakamura's deal gets him paid a big money deal like a top level player on the main roster. He was making a fortune in New Japan and while I don't know exactly how much he's earning, you can damn sure bet it's significantly more than what he was making in Japan.

As I said, I like Kendrick but the truth of the matter is that his name isn't remotely as valuable as most of the guys on the roster who're the same age or older. People can debate as to which wrestler is better, who tells the better story, who uses more psychology, etc. until they're blue in the face. That's all well and good but, comparatively speaking, Brian Kendrick is essentially a nobody who ultimately fucked ups his own career with his own mistakes. Whether someone likes Owens, Rollins, Balor, Nakamura, Joe, Aries or not, they're simply bigger names and, therefore, more valuable names than Kendrick. Using the fact that Kendrick made mistakes and has spent much of the last 10 years in relative obscurity.

 

[DCLXVI]

He is booked in a no-win situation... the entire division has no character - no one can cut a promo... they either dance and make funny faces, do a bunch of flips and corny dives onto groups of one another. If that isn't the case they wrestle with a mask. There is nothing to really get invested in. Finn Balor is safe because his merchandise will sell boat loads but is technically a cruiserweight. I don't think Kendrick really ever intended to come back to wrestling full time because he dropped considerable weight unexpectedly before the tournament, he likes smoking weed I'm sure and really enjoys training wrestlers as it is a more relaxed schedule. I imagine he's there to season up the younger guys. It's just a shame. I guess better to be a big fish in a small pond.

We will see what happens as far as Joe and Nakamura - those guys are just as close to 40 and Bruce Prichard has said Vince just viewed Joe as a "Fat Samoan"... when asked about Umaga, Prichard said Joe wasn't in "that Samoan family" and that he has passed on him for years. As far as Shinsuke, I just can't see him working on the main roster as a major player with all the goofy shit you have to endure... from losing to James Elsworth to having Trick or Treat street fights and the ability to carry 10 minute talking segments.

 

[DCLXVI]

I just feel he could really be useful in their talent pool right now - if he gained back 10 or 15 pounds he could have hellacious programs with AJ Styles, Nakamura, Seth Rollins or just about anybody really... his moveset is mostly veteran tricks, and dirty moves now like eye raking... give him a big counterpart again to help him win matches, they have plenty of big guys in developmental that can't talk. He could even use the angle of having been there long before these new guys and learning all the tricks of the trade. Wishful thinking. He is out of place in the cruiserweight division where it is random three on three spot fests and TJ Perkins coming out doing the dab to Mike Tyson Punchout music. Brian Kendrick has the range of being a lacky of Bray Wyatt like a Kidman who can cut a promo or in a group like Sanity with Eric Young... I am just really impressed with his recent promo work and it's a criminal misuse of the guy even though I never expected to see him on TV again anyway. He clearly has some trust in the company with being allowed a live mic, stays in character on after shows, not relying on pretape promos (like Finn Balor) and plays either a really good sociopathic heel, or an out there type of character.

Maybe it is the presentation of the division - it feels like 20 pounds of shit stuffed into a 5 pound bag with the condensed segments and no real character development... but putting him in promo segments alongside guys like TJP - if the intention is to help get those guys over... it just makes them look nerdy and levels below him with their acting level. Not that many guys can even talk on the main roster and the intention of the Cruiserweight Divison was to be like a highflying spotfest deal wasn't it? I mean everyone to Roman Reigns does suicide dives now... Seth Rollins does two or three back to back now. A jobber to the stars seems like a better position, or even a solid spot in the midcard... he has a better head of hair at 37 than most of the guys on their roster who are 30 and doesn't look old at all. You never hear anybody say "Brian Kendrick is no good"... he's just in a lame program with a low ceiling.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

This thing would work perfectly but for one thing... He's on RAW not Smackdown...

If the Cruisers were on SD then it this would make a lot of sense when you remember that Daniel Bryan and Kendrick were the 2 highest profile guys trained by HBK.

Kendrick got to "the big time" first and yes he did well, but like Shawn he was a dick and screwed it up...although Vince also played a part (allegedly hating him for smoking, really Vince?...Really?) in it. If the Cruisers were on SD they could have the interactions... instead of Booker digging him out for his age it'd be Bryan... "We had the same start dude...what happened to you?" type thing.

Perhaps that IS what they're doing by the back door, without overtly naming Bryan as the reason. I get the sense that for Kendrick, the plan isn't a long stay in the Cruiser division but a move back up the card... so this could work for that... if he was added to Team RAW for example and "defected", that might make sense for him.

The important thing to remember is that this isn't the first time a talent has spent a lot of time training others and then returned... Kendrick is basically getting the same push/treatment Finlay got a few years back. He's a veteran cruiser in an era where the REALLY known cruisers are either too old or out of the company like Rey...

In 1996, WCW didn't really have known names to start the division off... they used Benoit much as WWE are using Kendrick now... he had some recognition from his WCW past and was the easiest to push as something more... he never stayed in the division long and I doubt Kendrick will once they can get hold of a bigger name to anchor it - or as I suspect, move Neville over to be that guy.

At the moment, they are trying to get over as many cruisers as possible in a short space of time... When WCW did it, at least the names had ECW recogition or Japan recognition... Guys like Swann, Gulak, Nesse don't have the same pull that Guerrero, Malenko, Mysterio and Jericho had... so Kendrick is filling that gap in the short term. I am also thinking that they REALLY are waiting to either get Ricochet, Zack Sabre Jr. and/or Will Ospreay into the division before anyone really gets the "big push" but for that to then work, they need a few guys who are credible for them to beat... let's face it, this thread could very easily have been about Tajiri getting a push as Cruiser champ...

 

[Glacier]

They are trying to turn his age into a sob story where the crowd will get
behind him.

Sort of like how Heath Slater his to fight to feed his kids.