Brian Kendrick was scheduled to open this week’s AEW Dynamite by taking on Jon Moxley. News of the former WWE Cruiserweight and Tag Team Champion being granted his release from the company broke on Tuesday night and within the hour AEW confirmed they were bringing Kendrick in to face the former AEW World Champion. However throughout Wednesday Kendrick started trending when fans reposted a 2011 video of him spouting a number of conspiracy theories, directly mentioning the Holocaust and Sandy Hook.
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AEW president Tony Khan then announced Kendrick had been pulled from the show, tweeting, “We’ve been made aware of abhorrent & offensive comments made in the past by Brian Kendrick. There’s no room in AEW for the views expressed by Brian. We think it’s best for all that Brian be pulled from tonight’s card as we gather more info. We’ll announce a replacement bout ASAP.” Wheeler Yuta was eventually picked as Kendrick’s replacement and lost after Moxley nailed him with a Paradigm Shift.
Kendrick took to Twitter midway through Dynamite with an apology — “I apologize for all the hurt and embarassment I have caused with my words.These are not my beliefs and never were beliefs of mine, and I crossed the line. I spread the most vile comments without thinking of the damage it would cause.I will live with this regret for the rest of my life.I am truly sorry for the pain I have caused.” There’s no word yet on Kendrick’s status with AEW. Stay tuned for more updates on his status as they become available.
Kendrick had been in and out of the WWE since 2000, with his latest stint starting in 2014 when he became a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. He returned to television via the 2016 Cruiserweight Classic and was a staple of the 205 Live roster until pivoting into a producer role for NXT. He nearly got back in action on NXT 2.0 in December after being hurled down a flight of stairs by Harland (and was advertised for a match against the big man), but the angle was dropped a week later.
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