5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE Raw (Sept 26)

5. Winner: Brian Kendrick

Brian Kendrick emerged as an unlikely star of WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic, and his quarter-finals match with Kota Ibushi was one of the tournament’s finest. Moreover, his gripping redemption story and gritty in-ring style were hugely compelling, and built on his pre-existing name value to make him one of the tournament’s most popular acts.

He’ll likely play the Cruiserweight division’s veteran gatekeeper role going forward, but he’s already one of the group’s major players. Kendrick’s opportunistic tendencies allowed him to become TJ Perkins’ number one contender last week, and though he fell short at Clash of Champions, he’s still firmly in the mix.

Last night saw the former WWE Tag Team Champion approach Perkins to set up next week’s rematch, and Kendrick’s character is already well-established. He’s a hard-nosed, experienced fighter who lost his spot before, and now that he’s back, there’s not a length he won’t go-to to prevent that from happening again.

Ruthless, cunning and Machiavellian, Brian Kendrick has made himself relevant in WWE seven years after his initial release, and he deserves great credit.