On July 27, 2009, Brian Kendrick wrestled his last WWE televised match, losing to Kofi Kingston on an episode of WWE Raw. For seven years, Kendrick has continued to work hard on the independent circuit, as well as a stint in TNA in 2011.
During that year, Kendrick won the TNA X Division Championship from Abyss, before losing it two months later to Austin Aries. Unfortunately, his run in TNA was short-lived, and he went back to the indies, along with facilitating his wrestling school, Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy.
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Five years later, he was able to relive his days of competing in a WWE ring, with his career being successfully revived as a result of competing in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic.
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Although he was unable to win the tournament, he was able to regain the adulation of the fans, so much that WWE decided to keep him as a roster member and a mainstay for the Raw Cruiserweight Division.
After an unsuccessful attempt to become champion, Kendrick had one more opportunity against the reigning Cruiserweight Champion, TJ Perkins, and was able to win his first WWE title since he and Paul London lost the WWE World Tag Team Championship against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch on September 8, 2007.
Now, TJ Perkins wants revenge, and is immediately invoking his rematch clause to compete against Kendrick on WWE Raw in Hartford, CT.
Being the crafty veteran that he is, Kendrick used an underhanded tactic during their match at Hell in a Cell of feigning a knee injury in order to get Perkins vulnerable enough to tend to him and see if he was able to continue the match.
As a result, he received a vicious headbutt, followed by the Captain’s Hook finisher, which caused him to tap out and allowed Kendrick to win his first singles championship of his WWE career.
Brian Kendrick is truly what the division needs to maintain its relevance on the Raw brand. Not only does he offer a plethora of experience, but he also has the ability to give names such as Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann the right foe to make them the next top Cruiserweight stars.
