Brian Kendrick Apologizes for Offensive Comments After Being Pulled from AEW Dynamite
February 3, 2022
Veteran pro wrestler Brian Kendrick apologized Wednesday after insensitive remarks he made several years ago regarding the Holocaust, 9/11 and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting resurfaced.
As part of his apology on Twitter, Kendrick called his comments "vile" and noted that the things he said "never were" his actual beliefs:
Some of the comments in question were made by Kendrick during a 2011 interview (Warning: Some opinions expressed are offensive):
Kendrick had been scheduled to make his AEW debut on Wednesday night's episode of Dynamite in a match against Jon Moxley, but AEW President Tony Khan called the match off in light of Kendrick's comments:
Tony Khan @TonyKhanWe’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.
Instead, Moxley faced and defeated Wheeler Yuta, which led to a promo segment between Moxley and Bryan Danielson.
The 42-year-old Kendrick had been working with WWE as a backstage producer, primarily in NXT, until he was granted his release from the company this week. AEW announced the match between Moxley and Kendrick shortly thereafter, but it never occurred.
Per TMZ Sports, some of the insensitive comments made by Kendrick in 2011 included him calling the Holocaust "overblown" and claiming Jewish death rates weren't as high as what was reported.
He also suggested an Illuminati group was behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center in New York City and in a later video called the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting "bulls--t."
Kendrick has been an active wrestler since 1999, and he is perhaps best known for his stints in WWE from 2003 to 2004, 2005 to 2008 and 2016 to 2022.
He was a WWE and world tag team champion with Paul London for much of 2006, and he held the Cruiserweight Championship during his most recent WWE run after competing in the Cruiserweight Classic tournament.
Kendrick has also been the X-Division champion in TNA, and he spent time in both Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
Kendrick is real-life friends with Danielson since they trained together while breaking into the business, and it was likely that he would have had some involvement in the Danielson vs. Moxley rivalry in AEW.
Now, it is difficult to envision Kendrick landing with AEW or any other major wrestling promotion.