Brian Kendrick On Returning To WWE For The Cruiserweight Classic, 205 Live

Brian Kendrick has had a noteworthy career in pro wrestling. While his first stint in WWE is notable for his tag team championship reign with Paul London, and his time as the longest reigning interim WWE Champion, his second run with the company was memorable for showcasing the cruiserweight division. 

In an interview with "PWMania," Kendrick elaborated on what his second run with WWE meant to him.

"I was floundering for years, and with [William] Regal being a friend and a mentor of mine, he told me to keep my head up as they look to get the cruiserweight thing going. When that time came, I took the opportunity and gave it my all," he said, "Matches against people like [Kota] Ibushi where I was eliminated were all about highlighting what I could do."

The Cruiserweight Classic led to Kenrick's re-signing with the company, and his subsequent appearances on "205 Live." As a regular on the show, which was then taped after "SmackDown," Kendrick said he gained a new perspective.

"It's hard to go on after SmackDown at whatever o'clock at night. The only thing keeping these people there is the dark match that's going on after 205 which is going to be with wrestlers that have already wrestled for the whole week. They're tired, they're beat up, and now they have to go and perform after the cruiserweights just to keep people there for the 205 show," he said. 

"But what I loved is within 5 minutes of us getting in the ring, an audience that probably didn't care about us loved what we were doing. TJ Perkins, Noam Dar, Rich Swann, these guys put it out there every time, and all of a sudden, the crowd was invested. I loved that show."