Brian Kendrick Explains TNA Departure

Former TNA Wrestler Brian Kendrick spoke with Unlimited Wrestling Radio about his release from TNA, how his release came to be, what is he doing now and and much more. This week's guest host was none other than former WWE star and Ring Ka King wrestler Chavo Guerrero. Below is a quick recap of some of Kendricks comments.

On his departure from TNA:
"I no longer work for TNA. Ive been for the longest time pitching ideas. One was to bring in Paul London to rejuvenate the tag team division. Another, Shelly Martinez pitched an idea to be more or less a Courtney Love to my Kurt Cobain. I would be the shy bashful guy and she would dress me up and put me on twitter and stuff. Both ideas i pitched and really liked and a lot of times i wasn't getting responses to emails."

"There's also a lot of changes going on in TNA right now. New guys coming on board, Vince Russo leaving. So it all sort of got lost in the shuffle i suppose. About a month ago i asked if i could pursue other options. I dealt with Bruce Prichard and he spoke with whoever he needed to speak to. As of Tuesday of last week I signed the papers i needed to sign. It was something i initiated but i think it was something they were all to happy to please me in that sense."

"It was my fault in signing the contract that i signed. I really had a good time there. I really like the people there. I signed a pay per appearance deal. My wife just went from working a job she really liked to a job working six days a week. She's going to school for comedy stuff so it is putting a real stress on her."

On What he does in his spare time:
"On my spare time ive been doing cartoons. Thats what ive ben doing. I've had, i don't I guess the last 120 days off or so Ive been making stop motion animation. It's called Fun Time Pro Wrestling. I draw them out and paste them to a little poster board i have. I take a picture then move it over just a bit and take another picture. Anywhere between 500-800 pictures. I actually had to go out and purchase a real tripod and cannon camera to get this going."

Chavo comments on how all wrestling contracts are one sided deals, this leads to Kendrick talking about the time Vince Russo Spoke with the TNA undercard:
"Yeah and they can release you at any time but i cant release them at any time. It's funny, Russo had a meeting with us about 8 months ago, maybe more. He was explaining that we have 60 guys on the roster and that certain guys have ridiculous contracts and some of you have contracts that I don't know why you signed them. You guys must really love wrestling that much to prostitute yourself out like that."

"He told us this in a meeting we are prostituting ourselves out and he is right. So i asked him, in front of everybody, are you suggesting or do you endorse starting a union, is that what you are saying? Russo answered by saying well you are going to get me in alot of hot water but yeah thats exactly what you guys need and we all know it. Its you know it would be easy for the lower card guys to start it but you would need some of the upper card guys to say yes, I am willing to lose a bit of my salary to all have retirement and treated justly."

His thoughts On Dixie Carter:
"I like her. The thing is, as soon as i got my (release) paperwork sent in, i got a text right from her. It was her thanking me for my time and hoping we could work together in the future. I thanked her for the time. I think they gave me a place to work; I got to do what i love for a living and truthfully I couldn't have asked for a nicer boss. She is so nice, the company is so nice."

"I'm going to miss the crew, I loved sitting out and drinking with my red river saloon buddies. All of the guys who work behind the scenes in the stage. We would hang out at the double tree and get drunk."

On The backstage feel in TNA:
"It was different from the respect i guess that not so much locker room enforcers and intimidation. If you are a young guy in the WWE, you better know who's in charge. If the undertaker tells you to do something, you better fucking do it."

"In TNA we got separate trailers where we dress in. Everybody gets along with Kurt or Bubba but there isnt so much of the passing on of knowledge as there is in the WWE. There isn't much of that locker room enforcement. The locker room its looser."

"All of the guys who came up through Nashville who had been there for a long time, your James storms Bobby Roodes, AJ Styles, Frankie Kazarian, Christopher Daniels, Abyss all great guys, would dress in their locker room. Then what we would call the X-division, the people of color, anyone who wasn't "white" under 250 pounds would dress in another locker room. It never felt cliqy but nobody bounced around from locker rooms. The main event guys would just dress in the offices."

Kendrick also spoke candidly about his drug habits and mentioned he has been clean for some time now. Brian mentioned that it was simply a health choice that he had to face and that he feels much better physically and emotionally since being clean.