Why AEW Kicked Out Ex-WWE Champion Minutes Before Debut
A former champion in WWE was kicked out of the building by AEW just minutes before they were meant to make their debut for Tony Khan’s company.
In February 2022, Jon Moxley was set to take on former WWE Tag Team Champion Brian Kendrick in an AEW ring. But that match never happened. Shortly before the show, word made the rounds that footage of Kendrick repeating lies regarding the Holocaust and the Sandy Hook school shooting had resurfaced.
AEW made the decision to cancel the match and send Brian Kendrick home. He has never appeared in the company since then.
Speaking on the TMPT podcast, Brian Kendrick gave his side of the story, noting that a lawyer for the company told him his comments could be an embarrassment to AEW:
I showed up to debut, I was in my gear, ready to wrestle Jon Moxley in the opening match. About an hour and a half beforehand, I got a call from their lawyer. The lawyer said an old video resurfaced — a clip of me talking about conspiracy theories… They didn’t like what I talked about. It was seen as an embarrassment to the company, so they made me leave the building.
Brian Kendrick Not Paid By AEW For Months
At the time, Kendrick contends he had two contracts with AEW, one for coaching and one for wrestling, and he wasn’t paid for months after being sent home:
I wasn’t getting paid during that time. I was reaching out to different lawyers, and finally I got a hold of someone who had no idea what was going on — so I only got paid for one of my contracts.
Kendrick also noted he was warned by AEW not to make any public statements about the situation at the time:
I might have been in breach of contract if I made a statement that wasn’t approved by AEW at the time, so I just sat there for three months while my stomach rotted.
Brian Kendrick maintains that the whole situation was silly, and he feels he was forced out due to simply not being liked:
It’s really silly. It was just words said a long time ago. No violent actions, no crimes… There are people who’ve done worse things, but people like those people. I might not be the most likeable person, and that’s the difference. The right people don’t like me — and if they did, I’d be okay. So that’s that.
Former Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey has apologised for stupid comments she made about the Sandy Hook school shooting.