Note on When WWE Granted Release of Brian Kendrick

Earlier this week, it was announced that Brian Kendrick had been granted a release from WWE, which he asked for weeks ago. While it seemed that he was given the release and then subsequently was picked up by AEW, that is not the case.

In the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that WWE actually granted Kendrick’s release weeks ago. The release was granted “well before” the December 14th edition of NXT, in which he was attacked and thrown down the stairs by Harland. According to Meltzer, when Kendrick cut a promo to challenge Harland to a match and said that he quit his job as a trainer, he had actually quit before that and they approved his release. They asked him to come back for the match and he agreed, but it never actually happened.

As for why the match didn’t happen, Meltzer explained that it was due to a “transportation issue.” His flight in for the match was cancelled due to COVID, but he didn’t have it himself.

So for those wondering how AEW was able to acquire his services so soon, it’s because it wasn’t soon. His thirty-day non-compete would have been up well before last night’s advertised match with Jon Moxley. Of course, AEW would later drop Kendrick from their plans for last night’s Dynamite due to antisemitic comments and other conspiracy theories he spoke about in the past.