As PWMania.com previously reported, veteran wrestler Brian Kendrick traveled to Puerto Rico a few weeks ago to assist Bad Bunny in his preparation for his San Juan Street Fight victory over Damien Priest. It was originally reported that Kendrick assisted Jamie Noble in producing the match, but he reportedly only assisted Bunny in training. This opportunity came after Kendrick reportedly had a WWE Producer’s tryout at Survivor Series in November, when then-SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey requested that Kendrick be brought in to produce her victory over Shotzi. That night, he worked alongside Jason Jordan, and it was noted how Kendrick’s Survivor Series gig was described as something akin to a tryout, but not a typical tryout for the role.
In an update, a report from PWInsider confirms that Kendrick is not currently working full-time for WWE, but that he is brought in on occasion to work behind-the-scenes.
Kendrick appeared on the Hitting The Turnbuckle podcast and revealed how Roderick Strong and Marina Shafir helped him connect with Rousey.
“The Ronda training came about because of Roderick Strong’s wife, [she] and Ronda go way back,” he said. “Ronda was thinking about getting into pro wrestling, and Roddy said, ‘Well, Spanky lives out in LA,’ and so I got a text from Ronda Rousey. She reached out to me, and we started training then she had her agents started talking with the WWE, and that was that. Ronda Rousey came to me for training.”
Kendrick also stated that he was invited to Backlash because he assisted Bunny in preparing for his WrestleMania 37 debut, in which he and Priest defeated John Morrison and The Miz.
“I think because of the comfort level we had built with Bunny and I, they requested me to come back for that,” Kendrick said, adding that he did not produce the match at Backlash.
Kendrick also discussed the San Juan Street Fight.
“I know Bunny put in a lot of training. He was training for months. I thought the match was awesome,” Kendrick said.
Kendrick hasn’t worked with Logan Paul yet, but he says he and Bunny are “very motivated” because “they want to be good at this.”
Speaking of Kendrick, he recently spoke exclusively with PWMania.com. He discussed his career, his thoughts on different companies, and who would be his dream opponent in 2023. You can check out the complete interview below:
