Brian Kendrick was recently released from his WWE contract and will surely have a lot of options in front of him. With his “Loose Cannon†Gimmick, he could revolutionize TNA, but then not work Japan. If he chose Japan, New Japan and NOAH would have to have interest after his fairly prominent WWE run, while the American indies would benefit. Over here, Ring of Honor would naturally welcome him back with open arms, while PWG and Dragon Gate USA would clearly have the most interesting matchups for him.
The X-Division has been a mess since Vince Russo came on. Long gone are the days of Samoa Joe, Chris Daniels and AJ Styles. Even with Daniels still there, he’s mostly a jobber. Besides the Machine Guns and, occasionally, Jay Lethal, no one there is great, and everyone fluctuates between jobber to big guys and exciting talent. Kendrick can change that in one fell swoop. By doing what he wants, ignoring or punking non X-Division guys and then putting on great matches with the talent within the division, he immediately adds the credible star at the center of that division needed to be a draw once more.
Of course, in the past, Kendrick has preferred Japan. I don’t have a lot to add here, but a heel Leonardo Spanky (as he’s known in Japan) against Kanemoto, Tiger Mask, Devitt and more for New Japan would be almost as great a rivalry with KENTA or Nakajima in NOAH.
This would allow him to work at least part-time around various indies. First in line would naturally be Ring of Honor, his previous stomping grounds. Even as a part time wrestler, Kendrick could there add a viable top threat who is doubtless ready for main events. Where ROH has failed in the past to create a main eventer, a simple feud with Kendrick would do wonders. With all his fresh match-ups that fans would pay to see, this has to be a nearly ideal scenario for Ring of Honor, assuming they actually let good matches happen outside of title situations again.
Over in Dragon Gate USA, Kendrick would be reunited with the booker who helped make him into a star, Gabe Sapolsky. There he could slot in with Bryan Danielson and Davey Richards as the top gaijin or, even better, bring in Paul London for the team to challenge the Young Bucks. The buzz that would provide alone would be worth it for the new company, however, another company is more likely to get to that match first.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla already has Paul London, Roderick Strong, Bryan Danielson, Davey Richards, Steen and Generico, and the Young Bucks working for them. How would those teams be in combination with Kendrick? Would London and Kendrick vs. Danielson and Strong be enough to topple ROH in DVD sales? How about a Round Robin with former TWA alums, London, Kendrick and Danielson? The sheer amount of possibilities for Kendrick in PWG has got to be seen as a huge coup for that company, assuming they capitalize.
I enjoyed Kendrick’s WWE run greatly in severely limited time and saw one of the most talented performers of his generation. Now, its time to see what he can do without the restraints.
For more from me on Kendrick’s release, check right here.
