Why Brian Kendrick Should Go to WWE SmackDown Live Instead
By AJ Balano
Despite losing to Kota Ibushi in a thrilling match, Brian Kendrick will still get his second chance by being a part of Raw’s Cruiserweight Division. But should he be on SmackDown instead?
Brian Kendrick put on perhaps the match of his life against CWC odds-on-favorite Kota Ibushi. The fans, and Daniel Bryan included, rallied behind Kendrick due to the underlying narrative of Kendrick’s quest for redemption. People wanted to see him get a second chance, and winning the CWC would be his ticket to do so.
However, he would ultimate lose to Ibushi, his Cinderella story seemingly coming to an end. But, all may not be lost for the 37 year old Kendrick. A promo for Raw’s upcoming Cruiserweight Division featured Kendrick, leading many to believe he will join the likes of Neville and Cedric Alexander on Monday nights.
Perhaps he should be on Smackdown instead. Rather than being pigeonholed as a cruiserweight and compete only against fellow cruiserweights, Kendrick has the undeniable charisma and personality of a top superstar. Furthermore, his “The” Brian Kendrick, post-apocalytpic scavenger gimmick could potentially serve as one SmackDown’s top heels, which would truly be the resurgence in his career that he has strived for.
Add to the fact that SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan’s unabashed favoritism and bias towards Kendrick due to their long-standing friendship a la Shawn Michaels and Triple H, the dynamic could play out well on TV. The concept of perennial fan-favorite Daniel Bryan having heelish tendencies by undermining someone like Kalisto or Apollo Crews (or Creed, as Bryan misspoke) in the name of supporting his friend would certainly help Kendrick establish himself as a major villain in future SmackDown storylines. When you possibly throw Eva Marie with him, the woman Kendrick helped train, the heat towards him could be nuclear.
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Kendrick’s size and his character would allow him to feud with physically bigger superstars on SmackDown as opposed to the cruiserweight circuit on Raw, where he would most likely rehash matches from the CWC, only to a much larger audience. On SmackDown, he could potentially compete for the Intercontinental Title, or even the WWE Championship as the defacto heel, something that would not be met with much resistance considering Daniel Bryan’s vocal praise of him, and the fact that Bryan himself competed against the much bigger Triple H, Batista, and Randy Orton at Wrestlemania XXX to win the richest prize in the industry.
Kendrick has something that many of the other cruiserweights do not possess: inherent, natural charisma, which translates to a character on TV. Many of the cruiserweights are simply tremendous wrestlers and incredible athletes, but as we’ve seen with Apollo Crews and Andrade Almas, that can only get you so far before you start to become viewed as one-dimensional.
By being on Raw, he would no doubt be the standout superstar on the cruiserweight roster. However, if he were to go to SmackDown instead, he could quite possibly be the top heel of the show and be a major part in storylines and rivalries due to his character.
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While Raw may be his second chance, SmackDown would appear to be the bigger opporunity for someone such as himself. If you remember, he initially got over as a singles start as The Brian Kendrick on SmackDown alongside his muscle bodyguard, Ezekiel Jackson. There is no doubt that the passion and fire burning inside him to make the most out of his second chance would propel him to do it all over again.