Paul London & Brian Kendrick *RAW Spoilers*

[Mr. Nerfect]

So Brian Kendrick took a walk during The Hooliganz's Handicap Match against Umaga. Do you think this will go anywhere? That would seem to imply that the WWE cared about London & Kendrick enough to give them the kind of attention for a feud.

The WWE recently gave them an honorable mention in their ten greatest teams of all-time list, and they did get moved to RAW, despite being "vanilla midgets" as some call them. That shows the WWE at least sees their tag team efforts as being "A-show worthy."

A feud between the two would be pretty sweet, actually. Both guys can wrestle, and both have a deceptive amount of personality. I think the fans would bite for a program between the two. Will they be used to pad out a new tag team division with Matt Sydal, TJ Wilson, Super Crazy and Nunzio after WrestleMania XXIV? Will they remain on RAW and actually be used in the IC Title scene, and actually have some guys chasing for the belt? Or there is the possibility that this will just be used to cause some drama (in an attempt to interest people), and then re-affirm them as a tag team. Hopefully with more of a following.

There is also, of course, the chance the WWE will pretend nothing ever happened.

My questions to you:

1) What do you think will happen?

2) What should happen?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Personally, I think if the WWE really cared about the tag team division, they could have made London & Kendrick as big as The Hardys were (I mean, in terms of ratio to the success of the industry at the time of their respective runs). Paul London & Brian Kendrick had Ashley for a while, so they had the hot girl thing covered. London & Kendrick, at the tag team stage of their careers, are all-round better performers than Matt & Jeff were when they got started. Jeff was always quite sloppy, and Matt was not the ring general he now is. Both guys are just as willing to do crazy shit, too. Both London & Kendrick are also better on the mic, in my opinion.

The WWE missed the boat with these guys as a team, despite giving them a strong WWE Tag Team Championship reign, and maybe it is time to turn them towards singles competition? Brian Kendrick could play a whiney, self-righteous asswipe really well. Turn up the cockyness, and just make him a bitter son of a bitch. Paul London would generally play the face better, but I could see him handling the heel role quite well, as he seems like the more "dominant" of the team, so him slapping around Kendrick, calling him a pussy, until Kendrick socks him one is believable, at least.

I say what the hell, it's worth a shot: Move these guys into the IC Title division. I can't see either guy taking the IC Title off Chris Jericho, but the matches alone could establish them. Have Jericho drop the belt to Carlito, or someone, and then have the belt switch to the face in the feud, before they trade it with the heel a few times.

[ddpBANG]

So Brian Kendrick took a walk during The Hooliganz's Handicap Match against Umaga. Do you think this will go anywhere?
It will go to Heat.

The WWE recently gave them an honorable mention in their ten greatest teams of all-time list, and they did get moved to RAW, despite being "vanilla midgets" as some call them. That shows the WWE at least sees their tag team efforts as being "A-show worthy."
They're not on the "A" show, though. They're on Heat. They only got moved to "Raw" because of Heat.

A feud between the two would be pretty sweet, actually. Both guys can wrestle, and both have a deceptive amount of personality. I think the fans would bite for a program between the two.
I agree. I think a feud would be pretty good. Especially if they let them show off a bit.

Will they be used to pad out a new tag team division with Matt Sydal, TJ Wilson, Super Crazy and Nunzio after WrestleMania XXIV?
The Tag division is dead and should be buried.

There is also, of course, the chance the WWE will pretend nothing ever happened.
There's a good chance they have already forgotten about it.

[Outsider]

I would be happy for them to fued it if resulted in a PPV match between the two followed by moving the two on into well thought out places on the roster.

What will happen is they will have a match next week on RAW, be told that there are no plans for them, job on heat a couple of times each and then get released.

[Dave Youell]

See, now, I could of sworn they were moved over to Raw because they had heat for something they did, and the initial plan was to have them job out loads, which is exactly what has happened.

Look, I love the guys, but they don’t get enough reactions as it is, splitting them into singles wouldn’t be a good idea right now, they have no mic time and have done no actual angle’s in over a year, why should the fans care about them

If they are desperate to split them, I’d say best case scenario is to create 2 new teams, get Matt Sydal to tag with London and say someone like Johnny Jetter to tag with Kendrick, establish one heel and one face team and then build a feud out of that

[Hanso Amore]

In a Perfect world, A Heel Kendrick would take on a face london, have a series of great matches ending in a ladder match, egtting both guys over.

In this world They will have a Heat Fued.

I love them, but they are too small for singles. as a team they are the pesky quick guys, alone they can really only work a good fued with each other.

Had they ever billed them as HBK's prodigys and put them in a fued, they would have been mad over, people love high flying under dogs.

[Azriel]

I was thinking maybe they're splitting them up for the upcoming draft

[Mr. Nerfect]

I would be happy for them to fued it if resulted in a PPV match between the two followed by moving the two on into well thought out places on the roster.

What will happen is they will have a match next week on RAW, be told that there are no plans for them, job on heat a couple of times each and then get released.

I agree with your first paragraph. Your second one does use sound reasoning, but for a cruiserweight, Paul London is pretty decorated in the WWE (three Tag Title reigns and a singles reign), and Brian Kendrick walked away and got welcomed back. So yeah, I agree with everything up to the part where they get released. Smaller, talented guys may not be the top of Vince's priorities, but I honestly believe he knows these guys are good.

[KingofOldSchool]

They don't care about tag teams.

Get over it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

See, now, I could of sworn they were moved over to Raw because they had heat for something they did, and the initial plan was to have them job out loads, which is exactly what has happened.

Look, I love the guys, but they don’t get enough reactions as it is, splitting them into singles wouldn’t be a good idea right now, they have no mic time and have done no actual angle’s in over a year, why should the fans care about them

If they are desperate to split them, I’d say best case scenario is to create 2 new teams, get Matt Sydal to tag with London and say someone like Johnny Jetter to tag with Kendrick, establish one heel and one face team and then build a feud out of that

I didn't hear the thing about being moved to RAW because they had heat on them. You do hear things about London pissing people off every now and then, but he is actually the better protected of the duo. You'd think that if the WWE had a problem with London, they'd turn him into the "weak link" of the team? Of course, knowing the WWE, they probably can't tell them apart and London got lucky.

The move to RAW appeared to be reward to me. I mean, the WWE could have very easily shoved them on ECW if they wanted them punished. Plus, London & Kendrick were the first guys drawn in the WWE.com draft. They were made to seem like a pretty big deal as such, and got to win their first match on RAW. I think they may have won their second and third ones too, before the WWE decided to have Kendrick start taking falls.

As for why the fans would care about a London/Kendrick split? Personally, while this is a bad thing, I think WWE fans consider any kind of singles competition more important than tag team stuff. I think Kendrick turning on London, or vice versa, would send the message to some people that these guys are arriving.

With the added promo time, the eventual video packages, the character development, and the increased focus on each guy, the fans would quickly garner more of an interest in each guy. Paul London vs. Billy Kidman is one of my favourite WWE matches of all-time (as ridiculous as that sounds), and I think London and Kendrick could have an even better one.

Your idea of the tag team mitosis thing is interesting, though. It creates two new teams for RAW, and it allows there to be singles matches between the guys, as well. I guess he is kind of busy with his FCW duties, but I'd love to see Brian Kendrick take on Billy Kidman as a tag team partner, just because it would make sense since Kidman has also teamed with London before, they broke up, and Kidman injured London. There was never really a payoff to that. Call them "Team BK" or something simple like that. They'd be the heels. Have Jamie Noble come over from SmackDown!, just because he has good chemistry with Kendrick, and maybe say that Noble and London are training buddies from way back, or something. London & Noble would be a fun tag team, for sure.

[Mr. Nerfect]

They don't care about tag teams.

Get over it.

That's kind of an underlying point, though. Would the WWE grow to care more about London & Kendrick if they weren't a tag team.

[KingofOldSchool]

No, they are nothing but cruiserweights and they are not named Rey Mysterio.

[Mr. Nerfect]

No, they are nothing but cruiserweights and they are not named Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, CM Punk, Shawn Michaels, Spike Dudley, Tajiri, The Hurricane or <s>Chris Jericho</s>

[KingofOldSchool]

Shawn Michaels and CM Punk are cruiserweights?

[KingofOldSchool]

Oh and the guys you mentioned minus HBK and Punk (who aren't even cruiserweights) are either dead, injured, or not even with the company any more.

[GD]

guys weighing below 240 lbs are either featherweights, cruiserweights or light heavyweights in order. Michaels, Carlito, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho are light heavyweights whereas Punk, Morrison, Chavito, Mysterio, Jeff
Hardy, Burke etc. are cruiserweights.

[Verbose Minch]

London & Kendrick, at the tag team stage of their careers, are all-round better performers than Matt & Jeff were when they got started.

London, I agree with you. Kendrick though, no. The only thing he does is that little running forearm chop/headbutt thing...over and over and over...

[Kane Knight]

They say the definition of insanity is trying the same thing and expecting different outcomes.

[BigDaddyCool]

Vince will see they are putting 2 cruiserwieghts in a fued on Raw and pull the plug on it. It will be forgotten in a month.

Still I love how those guys can from being tag team champions for a year on Smackdown to featured once every few months a jobbers on Raw. Gets me everytime.

[KingofOldSchool]

guys weighing below 240 lbs are either featherweights, cruiserweights or light heavyweights in order. Michaels, Carlito, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho are light heavyweights whereas Punk, Morrison, Chavito, Mysterio, Jeff
Hardy, Burke etc. are cruiserweights.

This isn't boxing and when is that last time any of those guys outside of Rey and Chavo have actually been put over on TV as a cruiserweight?

Thank you.

[KingofOldSchool]

Vince will see they are putting 2 cruiserwieghts in a fued on Raw and pull the plug on it. It will be forgotten in a hour.

[Heros Welcome]

With the potential split between London and Kendrick on the horizon, I must say I am excited in a way. Sure this might turn into nothing but a Heat feud for the next 3 months, but for the time being I will get excited. I mean COULD bring an extremely exciting element to RAW, fast paced singles matches, with some high flying they could lead to going for the IC title. As long as they don't split them come draft the IC division could be something special. With Jericho as the champ now, with contenders being built up in London, Kendrick, and the man I see getting the IC belt in the near future, Burchill.

The time seems to be now to build up the IC belt again, as well as establish young singles competitors....Will this happen, my guess is no, but I will keep a ray of hope.

[Kane Knight]

I seriously do wonder how many threads this makes where someone is looking forward to something involving Londrick.

And I think the number of disappointments is n-1, where n is the number of threads to date.

[Porcupine]

I actually hope they do break up and go singles.

IMO, they should have been called "Team Boredom" because they were so dull and characterless in their tag team run on SD and still are. I hope they go singles because they can now develop their own characters and actually become *gasp* interesting.

Hopefully Kendrick reprises his Spanky character and name and London, well, I dont know.

[Kane Knight]

I actually hope they do break up and go singles.

IMO, they should have been called "Team Boredom" because they were so dull and characterless in their tag team run on SD and still are. I hope they go singles because they can now develop their own characters and actually become *gasp* interesting.

Hopefully Kendrick reprises his Spanky character and name and London, well, I dont know.

The logic there is rather baffling. Well, I say baffling because "404 logic not found" isn't as succinct.

[Hanso Amore]

I read that Vince really wants to start marketing to Kids, and honestly, that bodes well for these guys.

These guys are compared to the rockers....who loved the rockers? Kids.

Kids can get into Daredevil High Flyers, and these guys could really rope them in.

Is a 7 year old going to want to watch these to fly around, or an Incest angle they dont really understand?

If this is true, some booking is going to change, because few of their guys appeal to kids.

[Kane Knight]

Yes, but Vince has been marketing to kids for ages.

[James Steele]

Remember the Paul London/Billy Kidman feud? That is where its headed.

[BigDaddyCool]

Remember the Paul London/Billy Kidman feud?

No...

[Porcupine]

Remember the Paul London/Billy Kidman feud? That is where its headed.

I liked that feud. If this is where it's headed, that'll be grand.

[Tommy Gunn]

I can't see a a Kendrick/London feud getting any time on Raw. Move them to ECdub or just let them fester on heat I say.

[Porcupine]

I can't see a a Kendrick/London feud getting any time on Raw. Move them to ECdub or just let them fester on heat I say.

True, WWE should throw em on ECW or Smackdown as they would have way more time there that they can use.

[Afterlife]

O.k.: Obviously, they're turning BK heel, b/c he walked out of the match and left his partner for dead. The reasoning behind this will probably be that London has been inactive and basically a load that has been hindering Kendrick. While London was out on Injury, Kendrick couldn't do anything serious b/c he was a "tag team" guy without a partner, and now that he's back, he's lost his edge, timing, etc. Basically, it's time for BK to drop the load and go out on his own -- no more counting on someone who's not going to be there.

After their first match, have Bian Tweek Paul's foot, playing up a possible re-up in the injury. Classic dirty fighter shtick. A regular dose of taking out the frustration and what have you. Have Kendrick cut a promo about being the most underrated wrestler on the roster and capable of taking down anyone that comes his way, up to and including the man who trained him: Shawn Michaels.

For a few weeks, have him start beating other midcarders and refer to himself as a hot commodity, starting the nick name "Hot" Brian Kendrick; having his model girlfriend escort him to and from the ring might help the cocky prettyboy thing along. After so many victories, with the continued, even if subtle, remarks about having surpassed his teacher, Michaels confronts him backstage about his attitude. From there, we get a month or two of HBK vs. HBK. I'm not saying Kendrick should win the whole fued, but it'd be a good fuckin' rub.

That kinda leaves London in the dust, but I can only focus on one guy at a time, and Brian is cuter. :drool: Let Noid do London.

[The Optimist]

I seriously do wonder how many threads this makes where someone is looking forward to something involving Londrick.

And I think the number of disappointments is n-1, where n is the number of threads to date.
You can't blame people for trying to estimate or pray for what's happening next. For the larger part, threads about them are created in reaction to something good, or something that would seem like it's good for them. Then almost universally, the opposite happens. Tag team titles? Awesome, I bet they'll get reactions now! Second longest reign in history? I'm sure the WWE will respect them! Moved to Raw? Finally, they're on the marquee show, now they can show everyone how good they are!

[Mr. Nerfect]

They say the definition of insanity is trying the same thing and expecting different outcomes.

The WWE haven't tried this before.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Oh and the guys you mentioned minus HBK and Punk (who aren't even cruiserweights) are either dead, injured, or not even with the company any more.

You thought I was being completely serious? Good lord, man...

But yes, they are all cruiserweights. CM Punk is billed as 222lbs; Shawn Michaels is still the smallest guy to win the WWE Championship ever; Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Gregory Helms, Tajiri and Spike Dudley were all cruiserweights who went on to win "heavyweight titles" of some form in the WWE.

This isn't boxing and when is that last time any of those guys outside of Rey and Chavo have actually been put over on TV as a cruiserweight?

Well, just before he got injured, Gregory Helms was Cruiserweight Champion. Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho have won the belt in the past.

"But they're not put over now as cruiserweights!"

Fucking right. Which means it is all about perception. Technically, the guys I listed have all been cruiserweights at different points throughout their career (or still are), and have found at least moderate success elsewhere in the WWE. Many of them have been World Champions.

If you go around saying "Look at these cruiserweights," of course people are going to put limits on the guys. But if you stop putting them over as "small guys" and instead focus on their abilities, they can get over on their own merits, and people will eventually stop seeing them as being "too small."

It's not likely the WWE will do it, of course, but it's possible if they decided to go that route.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Personally, I think they should get a match at WrestleMania. 0% chance of happening, but why the fuck not? All the "name" talent left will probably be in the Battle Royal, and the WWE needs the occasional buffer between their big matches.

Fuck, WrestleMania still doesn't have a clear-cut opener. If the WWE were doing MVP vs. Matt Hardy, that would be it, but right now it's either going to be Money in the Bank or the Battle Royal, and personally I think the prizes in both those matches are "too big" to kick-off the show. Neither feels right first out the gate.

Let London & Kendrick work the opening match, put on a bit of a show, take the limits off them, and just have them serve as a way to add depth to the card. WrestleMania needs its occasional "mid-card" match, and the occasional "Bunnymania" bullshit to afford toilet breaks. That's why I'm also a fan of adding Jerry Lawler vs. Santino Marella to the card.

Fuck, even put the IC Title on Kendrick as early as RAW, with some help from another of the MITB guys. It would add some tension to the MITB Match. London then comes out, confused, asks Kendrick why he's going off on his own, and Kendrick can't give him an answer. London tells Kendrick he's disappointed, and when London goes to leave the ring, Kendrick attacks from behind, screaming "I am better than you! You are the disappointment!"

William Regal comes out with referees, they pull London & Kendrick apart, and Regal announces the first IC Title match at WrestleMania in six years: Brian Kendrick vs. Paul London. Kendrick realises that attacking London made the match official, and he's not too happy, and London looks like he wants Kendrick's blood. JR and King can just act taken aback by it all at ringside, and that their destruction as a tag team happened so fast.

At WrestleMania, give them some time, and just let them do their best to put on a mid-card classic. Have the feud continue past WrestleMania (of course), and spill into a Best of Seven Series, a Steel Cage Match, a Street Fight, a Ladder Match and finally an I Quit Match. Most of them over the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Remember the Paul London/Billy Kidman feud? That is where its headed.

That feud was pretty fucking great. Their match at No Mercy 2004 was fantastic. It was dropped when London got injured, though. I assume the mysterious dropping is what you were referring to?

[DarKCentaur]

To be honest, I may be a little drunk, and perhaps incoherent (and therefore didn't read most of the argument) but I just wanted to comment that when Jericho was Cruiserweight Champ in WCW, he was booked as being too heavy for the title, and constantly had to cut weight to compete.

[Juan]

I found it odd that JR and King didn't even bother to acknowledge that Kendrick took a walk.

[Mr. Nerfect]

To be honest, I may be a little drunk, and perhaps incoherent (and therefore didn't read most of the argument) but I just wanted to comment that when Jericho was Cruiserweight Champ in WCW, he was booked as being too heavy for the title, and constantly had to cut weight to compete.

This is true. Jericho was 227lbs in the WWE, though, which is under WCW Cruiserweight Title weight limit.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I found it odd that JR and King didn't even bother to acknowledge that Kendrick took a walk.

Me too, actually. There could be two reasons for it:

1) They were confused, and didn't know which story to focus on: Kendrick walkg out on his partner, or RAW vs. SmackDown! at WrestleMania, so they just went with the bigger on.

2) Brian Kendrick walking out on Paul London was done entirely because the WWE wanted to do the promo with Regal and Triple H talking about Orton getting stripped or Cena getting kicked out of the match, and that there was no purpose for it other than to lead to *gasp* DRAMA in the main event.

The WWE really have to acknowledge it, though. Let me just say that Paul London takes a sick Samoan Spike. Brian Kendrick also got quite a bit of heat for walking away. A feud between them could work.

[NYDon]

Kendrick got more heat for walking away than Umaga did for destroying London.

[Dave Youell]

I think the reason behind JR and King not mentioning it was more to do with Vince’s new directions for the announcers, not to explain storylines and just call the matches, anything involving angles ‘should’ explain themselves

In one way it’s good, because if something doesn’t explain itself, rather than having JR lay it all down, it generates discussion, as we are doing here.

JR could of just said: ‘Bah gawd, he’s a coward leaving his friend like that’

And instantly we would of all though, fully fledged heel turn.

When this could now go either way, he might not fully turn yet, could apologise and admit that he was hurt or scared or whatever

[Kane Knight]

The WWE haven't tried this before.
Spoilers: It ain't the WWE I'm talking about. End Spoilers

[Porcupine]

When this could now go either way, he might not fully turn yet, could apologise and admit that he was hurt or scared or whatever

OMG, great new angle idea.

"Wuss" Brian Kendrick. Kendrick becomes afraid of, well, everyone!

[Mr. Nerfect]

Spoilers: It ain't the WWE I'm talking about. End Spoilers

I'll put my spoilers in black, just to be extra safe:

It was is the WWE this thread is talking about.

[Mr. Nerfect]

OMG, great new angle idea.

"Wuss" Brian Kendrick. Kendrick becomes afraid of, well, everyone!

Todd Grisham: What scares you, Brian?

Brian Kendrick: Everything!

*JBL walks past*

*Kendrick backs against the wall*

Yeah, I could see the WWE doing it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Hey, it sort of worked for Eric Young.

[Kane Knight]

I'll put my spoilers in black, just to be extra safe:

It was is the WWE this thread is talking about.

Yeah, unfortunately, that means little. :p

[Mr. Nerfect]

Yeah, unfortunately, that means little. :p

I'll give you that much. :kiss:

I am being far too hopeful for this, I know, but with a product as crappy and disappointing as the WWE can be, at times, I need a little hope now and then.

At least London & Kendrick didn't get squashed outright.

[Afterlife]

I dunno. London got squashed pretty good with the undaunted might of Yoomanga's bulbous ass!!!