Backstage News On Brian Kendrick's Survivor Series Role

Former Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick returned to WWE this past Saturday in a backstage role at Survivor Series: WarGames where he helped to produce the "WWE SmackDown" Women's Championship match between Ronda Rousey and Shotzi Blackheart alongside Jason Jordan. However, according to Dave Meltzer in the latest "Wrestling Observer Radio," the controversial producer has not been hired on a full-time basis by WWE. 

Kendrick worked as Rousey's trainer in the past when she was getting into professional wrestling, and the former UFC star specifically asked for him to be brought in at Survivor Series to be involved in producing her match. Meltzer noted that you could say that it was a tryout, but it wasn't a normal one as this was done because Rousey specifically asked for it. In the end, she would retain her title by defeating Blackheart. 

The news that Kendrick was involved in the show is something that caught many fans by surprise, as he had been released by WWE at the start of 2022. The veteran wrestler was announced to debut for AEW in an in-ring capacity earlier this year, but Tony Khan ended up pulling that after clips of a 2013 Highspots interview that he conducted ended up surfacing on social media. 

The interview saw Kendrick make comments about a range of conspiracy theories which included The Illuminati's supposed control of world powers, lizard people potentially existing, the Skull & Bones, antisemitic theories about Jewish doctors stealing body parts from Haiti, and he questioned the number of people that died in the Holocaust. He also suggested the Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting was a hoax, which is something that Rousey has also brought up in the past.

Neither WWE nor Kendrick himself has commented on his recent return backstage, and it remains to be seen whether he is used again in that capacity moving forward.