Brian Kendrick Brian David Kendrick ( May 29 , 1979 ) is an American professional wrestler , currently signed to WWE on the Raw brand . He is also appearing on the independent circuit . Kendrick has wrestled for numerous promotions in his career . While situated in these promotions , he has won various championships , both in tag team and singles competition . He was the last ever MCW Southern Light Heavyweight Champion , a title he held three times , and also won the MCW Southern Tag Team Championship with American Dragon . In addition , Kendrick was the first NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion . During his time in WWE , Kendrick and his tag team partner Paul London became the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions since the title ' s inception . Together they also held the World Tag Team Championship for a brief period . Kendrick is also a one - time WWE Cruiserweight Champion . Early life . Kendrick was born in Fairfax , Virginia , and is the son of Barbara Kendrick and the oldest of three children — a brother named Neal and a sister named Shannon . He later moved to Olympia , Washington where he attended North Thurston High School in Lacey , Washington . During his senior year , he worked as a dishwasher in a pizza parlor while saving money to attend wrestling school . While growing up , Kendrick ' s favorite wrestlers included Ultimate Warrior , Blue Blazer and Koko B . Ware . He was also a fan of Shawn Michaels , who trained him , and Chris Jericho . He was very good friends with Lance Cade and Bryan Danielson , both of whom he trained with . Professional wrestling career . Early career . In 1999 , he moved to Texas to begin training at the NWA Southwest wrestling school and later attended the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy . It was there that Kendrick adopted the ring name Spanky , a nickname he was given due to his method of staying awake during long drives on the indy circuit . He made his professional wrestling debut on October 8 , 1999 in a match with American Dragon that ended in a 10 - minute time limit draw . In February 2000 , Kendrick signed a developmental deal with the World Wrestling Federation , spending a year in the company ' s " farm territory " , Memphis Championship Wrestling ( MCW ) , before the promotion closed and Kendrick was released from his contract . Kendrick won his first Championship in MCW when he defeated American Dragon for the MCW Southern Light Heavyweight Championship on September 22 . He later teamed with American Dragon to win the MCW Southern Tag Team Championship , on December 1 , becoming a double champion . The tag team disbanded after they lost the Championships to The Dupps . On December 30 , however , the Southern Light Heavyweight title was declared vacant after a match that Kendrick had with Derrick King . In a match for the vacant championship , Kendrick regained the title after beating King , on January 6 , 2001 . He later dropped it to Tyler Gates , before regaining it on May 11 . On June 1 , however , Spanky was stripped of the title and it was abandoned , making Spanky the last ever MCW Southern Light Heavyweight Champion . He also holds the record for most reigns , with three . In October 2001 , Kendrick wrestled American Dragon in the first round of the King Of the Indies Tournament 2001 , but lost . The crowd , however , gave both men a standing ovation after the match . On February 23 , 2002 , Kendrick wrestled on the premiere show of Ring of Honor ( ROH ) , winning the match to gain an ROH contract . While in ROH , Kendrick competed in several other promotions such as Heartland Wrestling Association and All Pro Wrestling , before leaving for Japan in June to compete in Pro Wrestling Zero - One ( Zero1 ) . There , he wrestled under the ring name Leonardo Spanky , a gimmick proposed by Shinya Hashimoto due to Kendrick ' s resemblance to Leonardo DiCaprio . On June 29 , he became the first NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion in company history . He dropped the title to Low Ki a few months later . World Wrestling Entertainment ( 2002 – 2004 ) . In late 2002 , Kendrick signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) but was unable to compete until he completed his time in the independent circuit . He made his WWE debut on the January 9 , 2003 edition of " Velocity " under the gimmick of a mascot representing the local sports team of the town in which he was competing . He continued wearing masks for several weeks , each time competing under a different identity . After acting as a telegram deliverer for Big Show to Undertaker , and getting a Last Ride for his troubles , he showed up the following week and began a series of events trying to impress the then General Manager of Smackdown ! Stephanie McMahon in order to earn a contract for the WWE . His first major storyline within WWE came on the May 1 , 2003 episode of " SmackDown ! " . He reverted to his former " Spanky " ring name after he interrupted a promo by John Cena . The two feuded over their similar hip hop gimmicks , until May 22 when Cena defeated Spanky in a match . On October 30 , Spanky began teaming with Paul London until January 13 , 2004 when Kendrick left WWE to return to Zero1 . Independent circuit and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2004 – 2005 ) . After leaving WWE , Kendrick wrestled in different independent promotions . He returned to Zero1 as " Spanky " and was quickly pushed to capture the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship . This occurred with partner Low Ki on February 19 , 2004 , when they defeated Dick Togo and Ikuto Hidaka . They lost the championship to Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Tomohiro Ishii a few months later . Kendrick gained a new tag team partner in Kaz Hayashi , on September 19 , 2004 , and won back the championships . They held onto the titles until March 2005 , when they dropped them to Hidaka and Minoru Fujita . Although he lost the tag titles in March , Kendrick , as Spanky , received a singles push , and won the Zero - One United States Heavyweight Championship that same month . Alex Shelley defeated him for the title in September 2005 . Kendrick had a brief stint in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in November 2004 , where he defeated Kaz , Matt Sydal and Amazing Red , in a four - way match . He then returned to ROH , as well as debuting on its sister promotion Full Impact Pro ( FIP ) on December 17 , 2004 , winning the first ever Florida Rumble . Throughout the match , the crowd chanted " Welcome Back ! " and " SmackDown ! Sucks ! " , and both men received a standing ovation after the match . During his time in ROH , Kendrick was booked as a mid - carder , consistently having matches late on the card . Kendrick also competed in the Trios Tournament , but lost in the first round with his team members , Gibson and Nigel McGuinness . He unsuccessfully competed for several titles such as the ROH Pure Championship , ROH World Championship and ROH World Tag Team Championship . In July 2005 , Kendrick announced that he had re - signed with World Wrestling Entertainment , and would be returning there after he had fulfilled his obligations on the Independent circuit . In FIP , Kendrick won the FIP Tag Team Championship with Sal Rinauro on August 6 , 2005 , but lost it to The Heartbreak Express less than a month later , shortly before he returned to WWE . Return to WWE ( 2005 – 2009 ) . Teaming with Paul London ( 2005 – 2008 ) . In July 2005 , Kendrick announced that after he had fulfilled his obligations on the independent circuit , he would return to WWE . He made his return during a live event on August 22 , 2005 , losing in a Fatal Four - Way match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship . He then reformed a tag team with his former partner Paul London on the September 30 edition of " Velocity " . On December 16 , the pair remade their image , wearing theatrical masks to the ring with matching vests and shorts . They were quickly elevated into the WWE Tag Team Championship picture , receiving a non - title match against WWE Tag Team Champions MNM on the February 10 , 2006 edition of " SmackDown ! " , which London and Kendrick lost . On April 7 , they faced MNM again , picking up a win in a non - title match . Their storyline feud continued , as London and Kendrick continued their winning streak over the champions , including singles victories for both Kendrick and London on MNM members Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury , respectively . London and Kendrick won the WWE Tag Team Title at Judgment Day , thus defeating MNM six times in a row in singles and tag team matches altogether . Their first main competition for the titles came when K . C . James and Idol Stevens defeated the champions in a non - title match , in early August , igniting a storyline feud between the two teams . During the rivalry , WWE Diva Ashley Massaro began accompanying London and Kendrick to the ring , acting as a valet to the team while combating the actions of James and Stevens ' manager Michelle McCool . On October 14 , London and Kendrick became the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions of all time , surpassing MNM ' s previous record of 145 days . Despite this , they were still booked as the underdogs in their feuds , and this was shown when they began a losing streak to the team of William Regal and Dave Taylor . Regal defeated both in singles matches and on the December 8 episode of " SmackDown ! " , Kendrick and London lost a non - title tag team match to the duo , although Kendrick beat Taylor on the December 9 episode of " Velocity " . London and Kendrick had a scheduled title defense at Armageddon , against Regal and Taylor . Before the pay - per - view , the match changed into a Fatal Four Way tag team ladder match with London and Kendrick defending their titles against Regal and Taylor , MNM , and The Hardys . London and Kendrick won the match and retained the titles . On February 2 , 2007 , London and Kendrick suffered a non - title loss to the rookie team Deuce ' n Domino . In a title match at No Way Out , London and Kendrick retained the championship . London and Kendrick , however , dropped the championship to them on the April 20 edition of " SmackDown ! " , ending their reign at 331 days ( " SmackDown ! " was recorded on April 17 ) . In the storyline , London missed a moonsault from the ring apron to the floor during the title match , injuring his ribs , leaving Kendrick to battle Deuce ' n Domino alone . London and Kendrick unsuccessfully competed for the title on June 1 in a triple threat tag team match , which also involved Regal and Taylor , and lost a rematch on June 15 in a standard tag team match . Kendrick , along with London , was drafted to the Raw brand on June 17 , 2007 during the Supplemental Draft . They won their debut match on " Raw " against The World ' s Greatest Tag Team on June 18 . They were soon established as a threat to the tag titles , and on the September 3 edition of " Raw " , they won a number one contender ' s match for Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch ' s World Tag Team Championship . Kendrick and London then worked a feud with Cade and Murdoch , and at a house show on September 5 , they defeated Cade and Murdoch to win the titles , only to lose it back to Cade and Murdoch three days later . London and Kendrick continued to feud with Cade and Murdoch and lost to the Tag Team champions at Unforgiven . For the rest of 2007 , London and Kendrick mainly competed on " Heat " or in tag title bouts , until London got injured in late 2007 . As a result , Kendrick was mainly used as a jobber on " Raw " , until London returned at the start of February 2008 , although Kendrick still won sometimes on " Heat " . In his next storyline , Kendrick abandoned London during a handicap match with Umaga . This abandonment resulted in Umaga performing the Samoan Spike on London , allowing Umaga to pick up the win over the duo . London and Kendrick still teamed together with no apparent dissension rising between the former tag team champions . After defeating Charlie Haas and Robbie McAllister on " Heat " , London and Kendrick said they were ready to win the World Tag Team Championship . London and Kendrick beat the champions Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes next week on " Heat " in a non - title match . However , they failed to win the World Tag Team Titles on " Raw " after Holly pinned London . The Brian Kendrick and departure ( 2008 – 2009 ) . As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft , Kendrick was drafted back to the SmackDown brand while London stayed on Raw , thus ending the team . He made his return to the brand on the July 18 , 2008 airing of " SmackDown ! " as a major heel , with new ring attire defeating Jimmy Wang Yang with the help of his new bodyguard , Ezekiel , who was later given a surname and became Ezekiel Jackson . Kendrick was later given the name " The Brian Kendrick " . On the August 22 edition of " SmackDown " , Kendrick won a 10 - man battle royal to qualify for the WWE Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven . Kendrick failed to win the title at the event , though he did have the longest reign as " interim " champion , which is not officially recognized per the pre - match stipulation . He later teamed with Jackson on many occasions , becoming number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship held by Carlito and Primo , but they never managed to win the championship . On April 15 , 2009 , Kendrick was separated from Jackson as he was drafted back to the Raw brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft while Jackson was drafted to the ECW brand . He wrestled his return match on " Raw " on the April 27 episode , when he lost to Kofi Kingston . He won his first match on " Raw " after defeating Carlito on the May 11 episode before declaring his intention to win the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship ; in the following weeks , Kendrick tried several unsuccessful pairings . In his final match , he was defeated by Kofi Kingston after cutting a promo on Jerry Lawler . The match was simply Kendrick turning around into Trouble In Paradise . On July 30 , 2009 , Kendrick was released from his WWE contract . Return to the independent circuit ( 2009 – 2010 ) . Kendrick signed with Dragon Gate USA on August 6 , 2009 . His first match for the company , a losing effort against Cima at Untouchable , aired on pay - per - view edited down to only the highlights of the match . On August 28 he made his return to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla at " Speed of Sound " where he , wrestling as a heel , defeated Bryan Danielson after a low blow . Afterwards he formed an alliance with PWG World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks and started a feud with El Generico , Colt Cabana and the PWG World Champion Kenny Omega . On December 19 Ring of Honor announced that Kendrick would be making his return to the company on February 13 , 2010 , at the " 8th Anniversary Show " . At the event Kendrick was defeated by Roderick Strong . On January 30 , 2010 , at PWG ' s WrestleReunion 4 the Young Bucks decided that Kendrick didn ' t fit in with them and turned on him , only for him to be saved by his old tag team partner Paul London . Later in the night , Kendrick and London defeated the Young Bucks , now renamed Generation Me , in a non - title match . Kendrick was scheduled to make his first independent UK appearance for Pro Wrestling 101 , based in Doncaster & Sheffield , on March , 14 ' s ' Unstoppable ' event wrestling El Ligero . However , Brian didn ' t make his flight for several reasons and Ligero instead faced British wrestler , Lionheart . On March 27 , 2010 , at the tapings of Dragon Gate USA ' s " Mercury Rising " pay - per - view , Kendrick was defeated by Jimmy Jacobs in a Loser Leaves Company tag team match , where he teamed with Paul London against Jacobs and Jack Evans and as a result was forced to leave the company for good . Return to TNA ( 2010 - 2012 ) . EV 2 . 0 ( 2010 ) . On January 17 , 2010 at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) ' s pay - per - view Genesis , Kendrick made his return to the promotion using his real name , Brian Kendrick , losing to Amazing Red in a match for the TNA X Division Championship , under a similar gimmick to his The Brian Kendrick gimmick used in WWE . On April 7 , 2010 , Dixie Carter announced on her Twitter account that Kendrick had signed a new multi - year deal with the company . On the May 3 , 2010 edition of TNA Impact ! , Kendrick turned face by attacking his partner Douglas Williams after their match against Ink Inc . ( Shannon Moore and Jesse Neal ) , but then Samoa Joe came out and attacked both of them . The following week , Kendrick picked up his first singles victory since returning to TNA by defeating Williams after a distraction from Kazarian . As a result of his victory , Kendrick was given a shot at Williams ' X Division Championship at Slammiversary VIII , but was unable to win the title . Kendrick received a rematch the following month at Victory Road , but was defeated again by Williams , this time in an Ultimate X submission match . On the September 2 edition of " Impact ! " , Kendrick joined Extreme Version 2 . 0 ( EV 2 . 0 ) , a stable consisting of former Extreme Championship Wrestling performers . At Bound for Glory Kendrick interfered in a Lethal Lockdown match between EV 2 . 0 and Fortune and helped his team win the match between the two factions . At Turning Point EV 2 . 0 faced Fortune in a ten - man tag team match , where each member of EV 2 . 0 put their TNA careers on the line . Kendrick was taken out of the match immediately , after being attacked by Douglas Williams . In the end , EV 2 . 0 lost the match and Sabu was released from TNA . X Division Champion ( 2011 - 2012 ) . After the dissolution of EV 2 . 0 , Kendrick spent months wrestling mainly house show matches , before returning to PPV on April 17 , 2011 , at Lockdown , where he wrestled in an eight - man X Division number one contender ' s Xscape match , where he outlasted six other men , before losing to Max Buck . On the May 5 edition of " Impact ! " , Kendrick came together with Amazing Red and Generation Me to battle for X Division ' s future , after the legitimate firing of Jay Lethal . On June 12 at Slammiversary IX , Kendrick failed in his attempt to win the X Division Championship from Abyss in a three – way match with Kazarian . On July 10 at Destination X , Kendrick defeated Abyss to win the TNA X Division Championship for the first time . On the July 21 edition of " Impact Wrestling " , Kendrick made his first successful defense of the X Division Championship by defeating Alex Shelley , following outside interference from Austin Aries . The following week Kendrick successfully defended the title against Abyss in an Ultimate X match to end the feud . On August 7 at Hardcore Justice , Kendrick successfully defended the title against Alex Shelley and Austin Aries in a three - way match . On September 11 at No Surrender , Kendrick lost the X Division Championship . On the September 29 edition of " Impact Wrestling " , Kendrick won a five - man ladder match to earn a rematch with Aries . On the October 6 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , Kendrick was attacked by Kid Kash for disrespect on Kash . On October 16 at Bound for Glory , Kendrick failed in his attempt to regain the X Division Championship from Austin Aries , this was Kendrick ' s last TNA pay - per - view appearance . On the November 17 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , Kendrick teamed up with Jesse Sorensen to help defeat Austin Aries and Kid Kash in a tag team match , this was Kendrick ' s last appearance in TNA . After three months of inactivity , TNA announced that Kendrick was released from his TNA contract on February 27 , 2012 . New Japan Pro Wrestling ( 2011 – 2013 ) . On June 18 , 2011 , at Dominion 6 . 18 , Kendrick made a surprise debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling in Osaka , teaming with Gedo and Jado in a six - man tag team match , where they defeated Jushin Liger , Kushida and Tiger Mask IV , when Kendrick pinned Kushida with the " Sliced Bread # 2 " . Three days later Kendrick , Gedo and Jado were eliminated from the J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament in the first round by the team of IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi , Kushida and Máscara Dorada . The two matches built to a singles match between Kendrick and Kushida on June 23 , where Kushida managed to pick up the win . During his time in New Japan , Kendrick became an associate member of Chaos and competes for Chaos whenever he has toured New Japan . On May 11 , 2012 , New Japan announced that Kendrick would return to the promotion to take part in the 2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament as Davey Richards ' replacement . In the round - robin stage of the tournament , which ran from May 27 to June 9 , Kendrick won five out of his eight matches , but a loss to Ryusuke Taguchi in his final round - robin match caused him to narrowly miss advancing to the semifinals of the tournament . Kendrick returned to New Japan on October 21 , when he and Low Ki entered the 2012 Super Jr . Tag Tournament as " Chaos World Wrestling Warriors " . However , the team was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by Apollo 55 ( Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi ) . In May 2013 , Kendrick returned to participate in the 2013 Best of the Super Juniors , where he managed to win four out of his eight matches , failing to qualify for the semifinals . Kendrick returned to NJPW on October 25 to take part in the 2013 Super Jr . Tag Tournament , where he teamed with Baretta . They were , however , eliminated in their first round match by The Young Bucks , following a pre - match assault by Bullet Club . Kendrick teamed with various Chaos stablemates in midcard six - man and eight - man tag team matches for the rest of the tour , which lasted until November 6 . ICW - Reunion with Paul London ( 2014 – present ) . On March 30 , 2014 , Kendrick made his ICW debut in a match against Joe Coffey at ICW - Still Smokin ' in the O2 ABC in Glasgow , Scotland where he was narrowly defeated . On 8 September 2014 , it was announced that Kendrick would once again team up with Paul London to take on The New Age Kliq in Newcastle , England on October 5 for the Insane Championship Wrestling Tag - Team Championship . Both men have already competed in singles action in ICW , but this will be the first time the duo have completed as a team in well over a year . Second return to WWE . NXT ( 2014 – present ) . Kendrick returned to WWE with his old The Brian Kendrick character at the " NXT " television tapings on December 12 , 2014 , losing a dark match to Solomon Crowe . Kendrick made a televised return on the February 25 , 2015 episode of " NXT " ( taped February 12 ) , losing to Finn Balor in the main event . Kendrick also reportedly had a tryout as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center . Later that week WWE added The Brian Kendrick to the NXT Roster page . He has since been quietly moved back to the alumni page .