Paul London and Brian Kendrick

In late 2002, Brian Kendrick was hired by WWE, and in July 2003, Paul London joined the company as well. Once in WWE together, and both on the *SmackDown!* brand, London and Kendrick began teaming together. They became a mainstay on *SmackDown*'s sister show *Velocity* until Kendrick left the company in February 2004.

## Paul London and Brian Kendrick

### Managers

Ashley Massaro

Kendrick returned in mid-2005, and in September 2005, London and Kendrick reformed as a tag team. Upon reuniting, the team began competing in matching shorts and vests as well as wearing theatrical masks to the ring. Subsequently, they were quickly elevated into the WWE Tag Team Championship picture, receiving a non-title match against WWE Tag Team Champions MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) on the February 10, 2006 episode of *SmackDown!*, which London and Kendrick lost. On the April 7, 2006 episode of *SmackDown!*, London and Kendrick once again faced MNM, this time picking up a win in a non-title match. London and Kendrick continued their winning streak against the champions, earning singles victories for Kendrick and London over Nitro and Mercury respectively, leading to a title match at Judgment Day, where London and Kendrick won their first WWE Tag Team Championship as a team (London's second WWE Tag Team Title reign and Kendrick's first championship in WWE).

Their first main competition for the titles came when KC James and Idol Stevens defeated London and Kendrick 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, 2006, they became the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions of all time, surpassing MNM's previous record reign of 145 days. The record stood until it was broken by The New Day in July 2016. The team began a losing streak to the team of William Regal and Dave Taylor, with Regal defeating both London and Kendrick in singles matches and losing a non-title tag team match to the pair on the December 8 episode of *SmackDown!*.

A scheduled title match between the two teams at Armageddon was changed at the event to a four-way ladder match, also involving The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) and MNM. In the match, London and Kendrick were able to retrieve the belts to retain their championship. When a regular tag team rematch was signed with Regal and Taylor two weeks later, London and Kendrick were successful in defeating them. On the February 16, 2007 episode of *SmackDown!*, General Manager Theodore Long scheduled another ladder match between the teams of London and Kendrick, Regal and Taylor, MNM, and The Hardys for the WWE Tag Team Championship at February's pay-per-view event No Way Out, but WWE's official website announced the match had changed to pit The Hardys and Chris Benoit against MNM and MVP, while London and Kendrick faced rookie team Deuce 'n' Domino in a separate match; they were booked to successfully retain the titles against Deuce 'n' Domino. Their almost year-long reign came to an end when they were defeated by Deuce 'n' Domino for the titles on the April 20, 2007 episode of *SmackDown!* in Milan, Italy. London picked up an injury, resulting in Kendrick challenging Deuce 'n' Domino in singles matches, losing to Deuce, but defeating Domino. London returned on the May 11 episode of *SmackDown!*, defeating Domino in a singles match. London and Kendrick then unsuccessfully attempted to regain the Tag Team Championships, losing to Deuce 'n' Domino in a triple threat match also involving Regal and Taylor, and in a standard tag team match two weeks later.

London and Kendrick were drafted to *Raw* as the first picks in the WWE Supplemental Draft on June 17, 2007, and were successful on their *Raw* debut, defeating The World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) via a *Sliced Bread #2* performed on Haas. On the September 3 episode of *Raw*, London and Kendrick defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team once again to earn a World Tag Team Championship match at Unforgiven against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, in which they lost. Two days later, they defeated Cade and Murdoch for the title at a house show in South Africa. Three days later, at another house show, Cade and Murdoch regained the title in a rematch.

Near the end of 2007, London suffered a foot injury and was unable to compete, and Kendrick was mainly used as a singles wrestler on *Raw*, where he lost to the likes of Umaga and Mr. Kennedy. London made his return on February 4 in a loss to Santino Marella and Carlito. London and Kendrick returned as a tag team on the March 17 episode of *Raw* in a loss to Umaga when Kendrick walked out on London. The two reunited on *Raw* on March 31, with commentator Jim Ross explaining the two worked out their differences, and they got a win against the then-World Tag Team Champions, Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly. On April 14, they lost a number one contendership match to the team of Carlito and Marella. They competed sporadically on *Raw* in the following months, defeating Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, before receiving a World Tag Team title shot against Holly and Rhodes on the May 26 episode of *Raw*. They lost when Holly pinned London following an Alabama slam.

The team came to an end in June 2008, when Kendrick was drafted to the *SmackDown* brand as part of the 2008 Supplemental Draft, while London stayed on *Raw*. He made his return to the brand on the July 18, 2008 airing of *SmackDown!* as a heel, with new ring attire defeating Jimmy Wang Yang with the help of his new bodyguard, Ezekiel Jackson. Kendrick was later given the name "The Brian Kendrick".

London was utilized sparingly during the next few months, making his only television appearance in a loss to Lance Cade on the July 21 episode of *Raw*. London was subsequently released from his WWE contract on November 7, 2008. On July 31, 2009, Kendrick was also released.