Brian “Spanky” Kendrick gave WWE his notice last night at the Smackdown taping. I am not sure when he will finish out with the company, but people close to him have been telling us for a while now that he has not been happy with his mostly nonexistent role in the company. After a nice initial push, the company has largely ignored the talented young worker.
It’s interesting to note that a number of the wrestlers were talking about Spanky leaving WWE, on his own terms, at Smackdown last night. With talk of the annual winter talent cuts being on the minds of many in WWE of late, Spanky’s move shocked a lot of people. I have talked to three people in the company who have told me that the respect his decision, pointing out that for many young wrestlers, the dream of going to work for WWE has almost turned into a nightmare once they get there. Mike Johnson will have more on this story shortly.
Credit 1wrestling
He'll most likely have to put in a lot more work to make the money he was making in the WWE, but more power to him for leaving on his own.
Well, I'll miss him, but I can't say that it's really a bad decision on his part. The longer he stays with the company in this capacity, the more fans are just going to react to him as a jobber, until that's all he can do. This way, as long as he leaves on pretty good terms with the company, he can always come back in a few years and see if they're willing to push him for real. By the way, what's the source on this?
Spanky's not just an adorable scamp, he's a smart scamp too! I say he did the right thing and I hope to see him in Ultimate X III.
After a quarter of a century on this planet, there's three things I know for sure... 1)Ain't nothing like a Dirty Pair marathon on New Year's Eve. 2)I'd make a fine Mrs. HHH II. 3) I'd make an acceptable Mrs. Orton. 1400 reasons to luv me!
Probably a pre-emptive move on his part, figuring he'd get sacked eventually. The guy can probably make okay money doing Japan, indies and TNA. I have no doubt he could probably return to WWE one day, instead of ruining his own value in the interim.
That's a shame, since he & London were getting very good reactions as a team. With Eddy and Chavo feuding, London & Kendrick could have been a great addition to the tag title scene, since the only other face teams are APA (ugh) and Rikishi/Scotty (double ugh).
Originally posted by Spaceman SpiffThat's a shame, since he & London were getting very good reactions as a team. With Eddy and Chavo feuding, London & Kendrick could have been a great addition to the tag title scene, since the only other face teams are APA (ugh) and Rikishi/Scotty (double ugh).
I agree ... I wish Spanky would take Paul London with him ... those two could have a future together as a great tag team ...
Another update at 1wrestling.com says that Spnaky is going to do some ZERO-ONE shows.
"Yeah cake rocks the body that rocks the party." - Christian
Good for Kendrick. I'm glad he had the balls to do this, knowing some people would ridicule him for leaving a job like that. Vince just can't get it through his thick skull that fans want to see cruiserweights, so Kendrick would be stuck on Velocity for life. The way they handled Paul London's debut is the DEFINITION of what WWE thinks of cruiserweights. It's a shame, too.
Good for him. He can make money in Japan, the indy scene here in the US, and not have to be subjigated to WWE politics. More WWE wrestlers need to pack their bags so all that's left is RAW maint events featuring Test vs. HHH vs. HBK 52 weeks a year.
Also, this makes my incoming "Best of Spanky in the WWE" worth at least two Wrestlemania tapes and a Survivor Series. Who wants to trade?
Good for him, although he probably should've stuck around to see if any push was forthcoming in the depleted tag team division. The guy is an astounding worker, and his story represents pretty much everything that's wrong with WWE. Hopefully he got a few good shots in at the staff meeting-maybe he even told it like it is to Vince. I know I would if I was on my way out.
"You're A Big Hunk Of Hero Sandwich, And You Wanna Save The Girl!"
This sucks, I was a huge fan of Spanky, and from what limited indy work of his I've seen in ROH and stuff--and his limited WWE stuff--he's good. I saw him live at Smackdown and he got a big pop, I don't think an awesome Cruiserweight division will save the WWE, but it sure can help things out, and Spanky could have too.
"I wear it for the thousands who have died, believen' that the Lord was on their side. I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died, believen' that we all were on their side." RIP Johnny Cash
Awww man...even though I didn't see a whole lot of Smackdown (you know, when he was actually on it) and I NEVER see Velocity (damn work), Spanky was probably one of my top five favorite Smackdown wrestlers. And he was the cutest thing I ever did see (like puppy dog cute). I was even gonna bring a sign for him next week at the Smackdown taping I'm going to. I can understand his decision but it still makes me mad/depressed/REALLY pissed off at the WWE for not seeing the pure potential of this guy.
Arrrrg...just a moment...I have to release my pent up anger...please excuse me for a moment...
GOD DAMN YOU WWE! WHY COULDN'T YOU IGNORANT CLUSTERF***S SEE WHAT YOU HAD!
Ahem...thank you.
Anyways, good luck to Brian Kendrick in whatever direction he takes.
Spanky's worked in Zero-One before, doing the Leonardo Spanky gimmick where he comes out to a remix of Celine Dion's Titanic song. Then he does the King of the World pose (once with a girl who didn't understand what he was doing, but I heard once he did it with the ref.)
On the one hand, ts a shame that he's leaving, since he is so talented and the WWE is the big place for North American wrestlers. On the other hand, at least he enjoys Japan (he was close to signing a contract with Zero-One right before the WWE snatched him up), and it will be good to see him in RoH again. The interesting thing is that if he's willing to go, this has to send a signal to Vince that there are others who are considering it. Could this be the beginning of the mass exodus to TNA?
It will also be interesting to see what happens to London. As hhhgamewmx7 observed, this could prompt Vince to push London. This could also prompt Vince to say 'screw all those unhappy bastards on velocity' and axe him with authority, since there's speculation he's on the chopping block anyway.
I'm actually pretty happy about this as well. I mean Spanky's a guy i've been high on since before WWE signed him and they really had a great performer here on their hands. But they had to go and fuck it all up (hey, what else is new?). It's good to see someone stand up and actually do something. Plus it's not like Spanky didn't have any reasons behind the move. It's true that they were pretty much not doing much with him. And though i've been high on the London/Spanky team, they should've at least given them a small push (or at least a freakin' Smackdown match!) by now just to get them over as a team.
TNA will definitely give Spanky an offer and maybe i'll get a chance to see him at a PWG or RevPro show down here in SoCal or something.
As far as London, i'm sure he's a little frustrated as well but he's been around WWE probably half the time Spanky has so maybe he feels it's still a little early to make a move. I wouldn't mind seeing WWE push him now (as their way of spiting Spanky). And maybe if London does get himself over with the fans, WWE creative and Vince might actually listen.....but i'm doubting it.
edit: just as I finished typing up my reply, 411 had an update.
Originally posted by 411wrestling - As reported, Brian "Spanky" Kendrick has left WWE. He is headed back to ZERO-ONE in Japan for now. The word is that WWE management is not upset with Kendrick and the door remains open for him to return in the future.
Originally posted by EddieBurkett The interesting thing is that if he's willing to go, this has to send a signal to Vince that there are others who are considering it. Could this be the beginning of the mass exodus to TNA?
Tommy Dreamer & Kanyon could make nice additions to the TNA roster as well ... who wouldn't wanna see another Raven/Dreamer match?
"Yeah cake rocks the body that rocks the party." - Christian
Originally posted by hhhgamewmx7I'd expect Paul London to be pushed soon as a way of saying to Spanky 'Hey, look what you're missing' to rub it in.
And I'd expect that push to last about two weeks before London goes back to Jobberville.
Best of luck to Spanky, who made a good career move (even if it's not necessarily the best financial move). He wasn't about to do anything in WWE, except become a Velocity mainstay, and even he realized it. ROH would love to have Spanky back and I'd enjoy seeing him compete with the X Division. Spanky has many options, so he should be just fine.
You really SHOULD think about going back to your old Yankees cap, yo!
I'm really glad this happened. I was always very pissed off every week when I'd read that Spanky was left off of SmackDown and put on Velocity, AGAIN! Now, he can go back to Japan and Ring of Honor and prove what a great worker he is. I never thought he'd quit WWE (it was his life-long dream to get there), but I certainly glad he did. I hope more wrestlers start standing up for themselves like this in the future (Paul London, I'm looking at YOU!).
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3.R-Truth- "Damn Young, look at all the bronzer you left on the ring mat!" 4. Big Show and Punk discussing the finer points of Kantianism and its impact comparative to other notable philosophies of the 18th and 19th centuries. Or... 4A.
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