Brian Kendrick

"Spanky (wrestler)" redirects here. For other uses, see Spanky (disambiguation).
Brian Kendrick
Kendrick in 2019
Birth nameBrian David Kendrick
Born (1979-05-29) May 29, 1979 (age 45)[1][2]
Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.[2]
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2008)​
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Brian Kendrick[3][4]
The Brian Kendrick[3]
Leonardo Spanky[4]
The Pittsburgh Penguin
Spanky[4]
Billed height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[3]
Billed weight175 lb (79 kg)[3]
Billed fromVenice, California[5]
Olympia, Washington[3]
Orlando, Florida[6]
Trained byShawn Michaels[7]
Rudy Boy Gonzalez[7]
Texas Wrestling Academy[8]
Tracy Smothers
DebutOctober 8, 1999[7]

Brian David Kendrick (born May 29, 1979) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE. He is also known for his time in Ring of Honor (ROH), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1).

Kendrick began his career in 1999. During the early years of his career, Kendrick wrestled as Leonardo Spanky or simply Spanky for several small American promotions like ROH and TNA and for Japanese promotions like Zero1, where he won the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship and Zero-One United States Openweight Championship.[9][10] In the early 2000s, he also had two stints with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later World Wrestling Entertainment), one as a developmental wrestler and a second stint where he appeared as part of the main roster before departing. He would make his return to WWE in 2005, where he was paired with Paul London. During his time as a tag team, they would win the World Tag Team Championship and the WWE Tag Team Championship, with the latter becoming the longest reign of the title until 2016. After the team was dissolved, he began a singles career as The Brian Kendrick, with Ezekiel Jackson as his enforcer. He would leave WWE in 2009. The next year, Kendrick would make his return to TNA, where he stayed for two years, winning the TNA X Division Championship. He also worked until 2016 on the independent circuit and toured occasionally with NJPW.

In 2014, Kendrick began to work with WWE as a trainer. He would make his return to the ring during the 2016 Cruiserweight Classic, a tournament held by WWE for cruiserweight wrestlers. Despite not winning the tournament, Kendrick was assigned to 205 Live, a newly-created cruiserweight brand, where he would capture the WWE Cruiserweight Championship once. During the following years, Kendrick worked on both the 205 Live and NXT UK programs, until he began to work as a backstage producer for the NXT brand.

Kendrick is also a promoter. He currently owns and operates his own promotion, called Brian Kendrick's Wrestling Pro Wrestling, as well as a professional wrestling trainer at Pro Wrestling Unpluggeds Kayfabe college [11]

  1. ^ ブライアン・ケンドリック. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference slambio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d e "The Brian Kendrick". WWE.com. WWE. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference OWWProfile was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Pro Wrestling Guerrilla roster". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  6. ^ "Brian Kendrick Bio". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  7. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference TWint was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "TWA Graduates". Texas Wrestling Academy. Archived from the original on June 29, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2007.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference zero1 junior heavy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Paul London Bio". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 10, 2008. Retrieved August 4, 2007. London & Kendrick would hold those titles for nearly a year before being defeated, making them the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in history.
  11. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Brian Kendrick's Wrestling Pro Wrestling (BKWPW)". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved January 9, 2017.