WWE (Wrestling) - Brian "Spanky" Kendrick Gives WWE his notice

Carrie99 · 01-14-2004, 05:33 PM

from 1wrestling.com

WWE SMACKDOWN STAR GIVES COMPANY HIS NOTICE

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 they 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 added this.

As Dave Scherer noted earlier today on the Newsline, Brian Kendrick, known professionally as Spanky, has given notice to World Wrestling Entertainment. I was told last night was his final night with the company.

Kendrick requested to be released on Tuesday 1/13 at 4 PM while at the Smackdown tapings as he wanted to go back to ZERO-ONE in Japan, where he had been a regular under the ring name Leonardo Spanky. He had been scheduled to work the taping with Paul London for this Saturday's Velocity against Akio and Sakoda, but once he asked for his release, they instead booked London to work a dark match against Akio.

ZERO-ONE has Kendrick scheduled to return shortly. He is expected to be a full-time gaijin again along with Steve Corino, Tom Howard, The Predator, and Low Ki.

I am told Kendrick's request being granted is an amicable situation, so the door is open for his return down the line as WWE management was impressed with the way he handled the situation.

Kendrick, who was trained by Shawn Michaels and Rudy Boy Gonzales, signed with WWE in October 2002. He had received a short Cruiserweight push under his real name prior to Wrestlemania 19 before morphing into his longtime persona Spanky during an angle with John Cena.

In recent months, he had been paired on the Smackdown roster with another Gonzales trainee, Paul London as a babyface tag team, working mostly on Velocity. Kendrick had been under a developmental deal several years back but was released.

As Dave noted, there is more and more unhappiness among undercard wrestlers who feel they aren't getting their shot. Many of the veterans in the company will advise them that they have to grab their shot and not wait for it to be handed to them. At the same time, they are frustrated because of the feeling that it's impossible to grab anything when week after week the creative team tells them, "We don't have anything for you right now." That frustration worsens when suggestions the wrestlers make to the creative team (in essence helping them do their job) are shot down as well.

One wrestler likened it to me as watching the New York Yankees your entire life and making your way to the team to sit on the bench for an entire season. When you think about it, Spanky is following the veterans' advice, and grabbing his shot, just outside of WWE.

Vacate · 01-14-2004, 06:33 PM

That's a real shame--Brian had a real talent but like so many others--he was never utilized to his full potential.

ChristianRulesMe · 01-15-2004, 01:46 PM

Hopefully he will go to TNA and play a big part in the X Division.

John Cena · 01-15-2004, 04:13 PM

This sucks.

I'm a huge Spanky fan and as a guy (a tough guy,mite I add) I'm am very heartbroken over this. Yea, his push wasn't there, but he still had fans like me who believed maybe he could've followed in HBK's footprints. I thought that Spanky and London were going to be the next Rockers, but since SPanky made that decision, he looks more like a quitter to me.

And I'm sure London will be cut before the start of the second quarter.