# Brian Kendrick
**Brian Kendrick** (full name Brian David Kendrick) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his runs in WWE under his real name and as "The Brian Kendrick," for a lengthy WWE Tag Team Championship reign with [Paul London](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-london), and for a later career as a veteran of WWE's cruiserweight division on 205 Live. He is listed by WWE at 5 feet 8 inches and 157 pounds, from Venice, California, with the Captain's Hook and Sliced Bread No. 2 as his signature moves.[1](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/the-brian-kendrick)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Training | Broke into the business at Shawn Michaels' wrestling academy in San Antonio, training alongside Daniel Bryan and Paul London[2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/2015-02-23/who-is-the-brian-kendrick) |
| WWE Tag Team Champion | Won the titles with Paul London from MNM at Judgment Day 2006; reign lasted 331 days[2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/2015-02-23/who-is-the-brian-kendrick) |
| Other WWE honors | WWE Cruiserweight Champion; briefly held the World Tag Team Titles after the 2007 draft; named interim WWE Champion during a 2008 Championship Scramble match[1](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/the-brian-kendrick) • [3](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1289044-wrestling-gold-the-history-of-the-tna-x-division-championship) |
| TNA X Division Champion | Defeated Abyss at Destination X on July 10, 2011; lost the title to Austin Aries on September 11, 2011[4](https://thehistoryofwwe.com/tna-x-division-title-history/) |
| Cruiserweight era | Competed in WWE's inaugural Cruiserweight Classic, joined 205 Live, and captured the Cruiserweight Championship before losing it to Rich Swann on the show's debut episode[1](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/the-brian-kendrick) • [5](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwe-205-live/2016-11-29/article/rich-swann-def-the-brian-kendrick-to-become-the-new-wwe) |
| Departures | Released by WWE on July 30, 2009; announced his retirement from wrestling on March 31, 2021, while working backstage as a producer[6](https://slamwrestling.net/interviews/kendrick-speaks-out-against-the-backstabbers-power-hungry-people-suck-ups-weak-people/) • [7](https://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profile/brian-kendrick/) |
## Training and early career
Kendrick learned the trade at the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy in [San Antonio](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-antonio), Texas, where the trainers were [Shawn Michaels](https://www.edgepedia.org/shawn-michaels) and Rudy Boy Gonzalez and his fellow students included Paul London, Lance Cade, and a young [Bryan Danielson](https://www.edgepedia.org/bryan-danielson), later known in WWE as Daniel Bryan. Danielson recalled that only three training days a week were mandatory, but he and Kendrick trained six days a week, setting up rings and staying hours past the end of class to learn new material.[8](https://www.wwe.com/classics/superstars-training-grounds)
After working the independents around the country and traveling to Japan, he joined WWE in 2003, earning his roster spot partly through attention-getting stunts, including delivering a singing telegram to [The Undertaker](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-undertaker). After a brief rivalry with [John Cena](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-cena), he left WWE in 2004 and returned to Japan and the independent scene.[2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/2015-02-23/who-is-the-brian-kendrick)
## London and Kendrick
Kendrick returned to WWE in the summer of 2005 and was teamed with Paul London, another Shawn Michaels trainee. The pair worked a fast-paced, high-flying style and became one of WWE's most prominent tag teams of the mid-2000s, feuding with teams including MNM and Deuce and Domino.[2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/2015-02-23/who-is-the-brian-kendrick) • [9](https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/brian-kendrick-believes-he-and-paul-london-complimented-each-other-very-well-as-far-as-their-styles/)
**The title reign.** London and Kendrick had beaten then-champions MNM five times on television before defeating them a sixth time at Judgment Day on May 21, 2006, to win the WWE Tag Team Championship; it was Kendrick's first championship reign of any kind.[10](https://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/05262006/articles/londonkendrick) • [11](https://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/06232006/articles/rolereversal) They held the titles for 331 days. WWE's own retrospective calls this a record-setting reign that still stands, while a Slam Wrestling interview states it was the fourth longest tag team title reign in WWE history; the two characterizations differ, and the 331-day figure is common to both.[2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/2015-02-23/who-is-the-brian-kendrick) • [6](https://slamwrestling.net/interviews/kendrick-speaks-out-against-the-backstabbers-power-hungry-people-suck-ups-weak-people/) After being drafted to Raw in 2007, the duo also briefly captured the World Tag Team Titles.[2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/2015-02-23/who-is-the-brian-kendrick)
Kendrick later reflected that the partnership worked because the two styles blended well: "we complimented each other very well as far as our styles... he's like very brave and creative... he had good speed and pacing."
## The Brian Kendrick and the 2008 singles run
The 2008 WWE Draft split the team. Kendrick then adopted a new persona, demanding to be called The Brian Kendrick and claiming to walk the line between genius and insanity, with his sights set on the [WWE Championship](https://www.edgepedia.org/wwe-championship). He came close to winning the title in a Championship Scramble Match: according to a [Bleacher Report](https://www.edgepedia.org/bleacher-report) history of championship situations, he pinned [Jeff Hardy](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-hardy) during the match and was recognized as interim WWE Champion, losing the distinction when Triple H pinned him in turn.[2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/2015-02-23/who-is-the-brian-kendrick) • [3](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1289044-wrestling-gold-the-history-of-the-tna-x-division-championship) He left WWE in 2009; Slam Wrestling reports his release date as July 30, 2009.[6](https://slamwrestling.net/interviews/kendrick-speaks-out-against-the-backstabbers-power-hungry-people-suck-ups-weak-people/)
## TNA, Japan, and the independents
On July 10, 2011, at Destination X in Orlando, he pinned X Division Champion Abyss with a roll-up to win the title, and lost it to [Austin Aries](https://www.edgepedia.org/austin-aries) at No Surrender on September 11, 2011, a reign of 63 days by CAGEMATCH's count.[4](https://thehistoryofwwe.com/tna-x-division-title-history/) • [12](https://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=106&page=11) In May 2012 he returned to Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling's Best of the Super Juniors tournament, and he later competed for the company for two years.[13](https://gerweck.net/2009/10/28/brian-kendrick/) • [14](https://prowrestlingpost.com/brian-kendrick/)
## Return to WWE and the cruiserweight division
In February 2015, NXT General Manager William Regal announced Kendrick's return to a WWE ring, nearly six years after his departure.[2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/2015-02-23/who-is-the-brian-kendrick) After an extended hiatus, he competed in WWE's inaugural [Cruiserweight Classic](https://www.edgepedia.org/cruiserweight-classic), joined the cruiserweight division, and captured the WWE Cruiserweight Championship in short order.[1](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/the-brian-kendrick) He was Cruiserweight Champion when 205 Live, WWE's weekly show for competitors 205 pounds and under, premiered on November 29, 2016; on that debut episode, [Rich Swann](https://www.edgepedia.org/rich-swann) defeated him for the title.[5](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwe-205-live/2016-11-29/article/rich-swann-def-the-brian-kendrick-to-become-the-new-wwe) • [15](https://corporate.wwe.com/f/docs/press-releases/11022016_432.pdf)
On 205 Live, Kendrick was presented as a scheming veteran, "The Man With a Plan," who formed and ended alliances for his own benefit; [Drew Gulak](https://www.edgepedia.org/drew-gulak) and [Akira Tozawa](https://www.edgepedia.org/akira-tozawa) were among his allies-turned-rivals.[1](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/the-brian-kendrick) He remained with the company into the NXT 2.0 era, wrestling a program with Harland in December 2021.[1](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/the-brian-kendrick)
## Retirement and later activity
On March 31, 2021, Kendrick announced on the [WWE Performance Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/wwe-performance-center)'s YouTube page that he had retired from wrestling and was working backstage as a producer.[7](https://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profile/brian-kendrick/) He has since returned to the ring on the independent circuit, including a victory over VSK for Battleground Championship Wrestling on August 6, 2022.[7](https://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profile/brian-kendrick/)
## References
1. [The Brian Kendrick, WWE.com superstar profile](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/the-brian-kendrick)
2. [Who is The Brian Kendrick?, WWE.com (February 23, 2015)](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/2015-02-23/who-is-the-brian-kendrick)
3. [Wrestling Gold: The History of the TNA X-Division Championship, Bleacher Report](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1289044-wrestling-gold-the-history-of-the-tna-x-division-championship)
4. [TNA X Division Title History, The History of WWE](https://thehistoryofwwe.com/tna-x-division-title-history/)
5. [Rich Swann def. The Brian Kendrick to become the new WWE Cruiserweight Champion, WWE.com](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwe-205-live/2016-11-29/article/rich-swann-def-the-brian-kendrick-to-become-the-new-wwe)
6. [Kendrick speaks out against the 'backstabbers, power hungry people, suck ups, weak people', Slam Wrestling](https://slamwrestling.net/interviews/kendrick-speaks-out-against-the-backstabbers-power-hungry-people-suck-ups-weak-people/)
7. [The Brian Kendrick, Online World of Wrestling profile](https://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profile/brian-kendrick/)
8. [Superstars' Training Grounds, WWE.com](https://www.wwe.com/classics/superstars-training-grounds)
9. [Brian Kendrick Believes He And Paul London Complimented Each Other 'Very Well As Far As Their Styles', Fightful](https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/brian-kendrick-believes-he-and-paul-london-complimented-each-other-very-well-as-far-as-their-styles/)
10. [London (and Kendrick) Calling, WWE.com (May 25, 2006)](https://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/05262006/articles/londonkendrick)
11. [London & Kendrick hope to avoid role reversal, WWE.com (June 23, 2006)](https://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/06232006/articles/rolereversal)
12. [Titles: Brian Kendrick, CAGEMATCH](https://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=106&page=11)
13. [Brian Kendrick, Gerweck.net](https://gerweck.net/2009/10/28/brian-kendrick/)
14. [Brian Kendrick - Wrestling's Unrelenting & Unsung Cruiserweight, Pro Wrestling Post](https://prowrestlingpost.com/brian-kendrick/)
15. ["205 Live" Premieres Tuesday, November 29 on WWE Network, WWE Corporate press release](https://corporate.wwe.com/f/docs/press-releases/11022016_432.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Combat sports and professional wrestling › Professional wrestlers and stables › American wrestlers › Ruthless aggression era wrestlers › Surnames A to K*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license