Brian Kendrick on What Has Been Lost in Wrestling Today, the Change of the Current Product, Competing Against Daniel Bryan and More

I’m more of a hermit. I don’t do much outside hanging out with my wife. I train kids on Thursdays, but other than that, I don’t leave the house unless it is to go eat, grocery store, tanning, and looking at my skin, I don’t tan much—so yeah, I don’t leave the house much. On my spare time, I try to do different projects. For a few years I’ve been trying to create a kids show with live-action puppets that wrestle in a kids’ imagination, good vs evil, it’s a nonsense that I’ve been dabbling on for years. I run a wrestling promotion called Wrestling Pro Wrestling, it’s a comedy promotion and try to occupy myself with goofy little hobbies, conspiracy theories, just nonsense.

I’m a fan for so many reasons, but what I like about you [Steve Austin] particularly is the way you move. The energy which you do everything, and so I think the product has changed as far as being PG now, and they have to try and sell it in China, India, it can’t be the same, but I don’t think it’s entirely that. I think that you were magic in a bottle. Everything that you did and how you moved, if there were people that genuine today the houses would be selling all over I think.

There was never any animosity; we were never against each other, he was a driving force for me. If he wasn’t around, I don’t know—for me to work harder against the next guy, if he wasn’t the next guy I wouldn’t of had to work nearly as hard. He absolutely loves Pro Wrestling. He had all these tapes from Japan, stuff I wasn’t even aware of at the time because the internet was dialed up and this was when I first got to watch All-Japan Heavyweights which made me look at Wrestling in a totally different way, and I’m forever grateful for the way things worked out and got to be able to work at the same place. He’s also from a small place in Washington, the stars aligned.

I just turned 38 this week, and the old man in me—the complaint that I have is that there isn’t any of that anymore where people go backstage and criticize each other about their match. I go back and harass the agents, and I will sit in Gorilla next to an Agent, unless another Agent needs a seat. I will start picking brains; earlier it was [Mike] Rotunda, there was also Paul Heyman, but whoever is there—Dean Malenko, I will start pestering him and I see guys walk by and they’re not asking anyone for advice. When I was there before, Chris [Benoit] or Eddie [Guerrero], I would ask them in advance if you have time would you please watch this match, and they always would, and when I would get back, sometimes they would be screaming in my face, you’re doing a Tornado DDT, it’s not the finish, you’re killing the business, etc. Now it’s gone, so I’m stuck with just talking with Agents. If he has a chance to watch I will pick his brain. I’ve been lucky enough to have Rhyno watch a match. Maybe it is just me getting old, but I think that it is getting lost unfortunately is asking these guys who have had success, who have done it all, who have drawn money and just picking their brain and even if you’re in a headlock, and you’re against the rope and you get shot off, why would you let go of the headlock? Nobody cares, I’m not saying nobody cares, but the problem is that getting back to the locker room, they have their sweat and their opponents sweat, and all they’re doing is looking their name up on Twitter and so if they can hear all this positive feedback from the fans it’s like, who the hell cares what Dean Malenko has to say? That’s not me saying this, this is the impression I get from them and I think it’s a shame.

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